Griots Polisher (or any polisher) and Ears Ringing

[itstillruns]

Hey everyone, a little situation has come up recently... approx 2 weeks ago I started getting some ringing in my ears, visited the ENT today and have another visit on Monday.



I came here as one of the questions was whether you attended concerts, used power tools etc. Around July 3rd or so I spent ~3 days polishing my car in a closed garage... very spread out polishing as I was in no rush to finish.. id do the hood and take like an hour break etc etc.



I realized the machine was loud and wore some ear-buds that I felt brought the noise of the machine down to an acceptable level. The music through the I-pod was probably around 30-40% and I could still hear the music over the machine noise.



I did not notice any problems immediately either....



So I was just wondering if anyone has any input to share on this matter, I know some people on here do detailing for a living so this being the 2nd time I polished my car I would find it hard to believe this to be the cause.



Just a note tho using a Radioshack meter I recorded 92dbA so id kind of recommend people who do this a lot to get some earplugs.... 20-30db reduction.

[Ron Ketcham]

Sir, you have issues that are not normal, just my observation after reading you post.

Some people have a sensitive issue when it comes to certain levels of sound.

I would suggest, without knowing you or anything about you, that if this concern you are experiencing is that bad, one of two things.

One, don`t do it, hire it done.

Or two, get some real industrial "ear muffs" (Harbor Freight and Grainger and others have them) and drop the use of the ear plugs for the music.(forget that the "music or such" plugs will deal with the concern, that is not what they are meant to do, those are designed to amplifier the sound to your ears)

I have been running buffers, grinders, etc for since the 50`s and don`t have the concern you do.

I can hear a mouse turd drop from 10 feet away, at today 68, pissed off all my ex wives.

That said, each of us on this earth are different, so you appear to have something that is such as I have never had a concern with.

All that said, while I usually have the shop radio on, etc, I never hear it when running my grinders as I grind of metal, or paint, I don`t have a concern with my air DA, air grinders, buffers, etc, when it is running at 125PS, ETC.(and that is noisy, believe me)

I have two sets of true "industrial" quality ear muffs, which I will on occasion use, I keep them for buddies that want to be around and watch how some of the body/paint issues I deal with are actually done.

So, it would seem that you have a physical or what ever issue with noise.

(I also used to hold a license to fly twin engine air craft, and never, personally had an issue with the noise level of such)

We are all different, so figure it out, do what is best for you.

And I truly mean that, "take care of your hearing" or you may end up like Townsend of the Who, who while he loved what he has done, is "deaf" for all practical purposes.

Grumpy

[itstillruns]

I appreciate the reply, and not even sure if this is what caused it... its just I had to think of what noise related things I have been exposed to in the past year or so and there weren`t many.



I`m personally in my early 20s so the concept of having constant ringing for the next 30+ years the hell out of me.



As you mentioned, everyone is different

[Chaseme]

The ringing will hopefully go away. But it may be too damaged. I had a friend who went to a concert and his ears were ringing for a month or so; but I don`t think it lasted much longer.



However, my dad and another friend have heating loss issues. Word on thr street is that a lot of Millennials will have hearing damage due to all these portable devices, ear buds, loud sound systems, and over exposure.



Moral of the story: do your best to pressure that delicate tissue. Take it easy for the next month or so.



But see a specialist as soon as you can so you can properly address it.



Good luck.

[911fanatic]

Get some hearing protection. I have been detailing for 20 years and my hearing has really taken a hit. Pressure washers, vacuums and polishers going constantly have affected my hearing. I used to wear the soft foam ear plugs when polishing but since I got my Griots, i wear either my ear buds or foam plugs ( 25 db reduction ) as well as ear muffs (32db reduction). Be safe. You don`t want my hearing, or lack of it, in 20 years.

[Underdawg736GTC]

Definitely sounds like you may have something else going on with your ears, most likely like Grumpy stated about having sensitive ears. Have these symptoms ever occurred in the past and if so how long did it take to go away.

When I`m using a polisher, I almost always have ear phones on plugged into my phone listening to music, usually it`s cranked up to about 80%, just enough to hear the machine but not loud enough to be completely oblivious to my surroundings. That being said, due to past and current career fields, my hearing is already shot and have constant ringing in my ears. While it`s not debilitating it is a nuisance especially in complete silence or when engaged in a conversation in a loud environment.

What did the ENT folks have to say? If damage to the ears are minor, they will heal over time but repeated abused will most definately lead to hearing loss. As others said, use hearing protection and you should be good to go!

[itstillruns]

No never experienced this in the past. I have to go in for another visit on Monday and will let you guys know whats up



I never have time to machine polish the car, I have used this machine twice in my year and a half of ownership, its definitely not something I use a lot.

[imported_ww2717]

I would recommend going to home depot. They have multiple styles of hearing protection available. Lowes has similar hearing protection too.



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[togwt]

Dual Action Polisher at speed 6 – 45 dB A, which is not a high nose level but combined with music from ear buds is increasing the NL



A rise of 10 dB in sound level corresponds roughly to a doubling of subjective loudness. Therefore a sound of 80 dB is twice as loud as a sound of 70 dB which is twice as loud as a sound of 60 dB. Correspondingly, the 80 dB sound is 4 times louder than the 60 dB sound



Let us know what your DR has to say...

[Bunky]

[COLOR="#0000CD"]Dual Action Polisher at speed 6 – 45 dB A, which is not a high nose level but combined with music from ear buds is increasing the NL

45 dB A is low. I would guess at least 60 dbA but the level depends on measurement distance for sound pressure.



In another of your posts, you cited 55 dBA



You listed:



• Meguiar`s G110V2, 55 dB

• Porter- Cable 7424XP, 55dB

• Flex XC 3401 VRG, 79 dB



I do not think the measurement for the Meg`s or PC was done the same way as the Flex since they 15 dB apart in sound. Sound pressure measurements are dependent on microphone position.

[togwt]

As per usual there are no accepted standards within this industry so I only have mfgs data to go on, even though they only cite a dB level with no distance stated.



As a Mechanical Engineer perhaps you could expand on the measurement of sound and the differences between sound pressure level (SPL) and decibel (dB A) on a weighted scale

[itstillruns]

Just a final update, my hearing is withing normal range all the way up to 20khz, doctor found it strange with my age and all but I was told to give it some time to see what happens.



So while i`m not sure if this is what causes it I think the take home lesson with this thread is everyone has different tolerances but it is better to be safe than sorry, especially with your ears.