Preparing to make my case about FIREWORKS / explosives

Hearing Loss
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A month or two ago I happened on an excellent fact-based article about hearing loss and one reason I particular WHY it happens. In my case I suspect it was a HEART concert I went to with my boyfriend at the time. He bought tickets for “good seats” way up front by massive speakers. I enjoyed the concert until we left it and there was this ringing in my ears. Hard to say which after effect bothered me the most, the nonstop ringing, a sense of vertigo and the nausea and inability to sleep.

I thought I stored a link to that article safely away in several places but, as usual, now I can’t find it. It would help me make my case to the town councilin the boring little town where I live. I want to convince them that the current law (or lack thereof) controlling detonation of exploxives for about two weeks of CELEBRATION of 4th of July. The LAW such as it is ow is a no-holds barred open season assault on our hearing, 24 hours a day, anytime day or not, idiots can blow up stuff that, as the article states, can destroy hearing with just one random explosion.

See, I am for all practical purposes, DEAF without .y hearing aids and even with them my ability to hear ain’t all that great. It takes something REALLY POWERFUL to wake up the people sadly in charge, and I want to distribute copies of the article to not just the bozos at the top, but hopefully every house in the neighborhood.

I still might find it ir a link to same but I come to you to ask people of this forum to share with me any pursuasive studies, research or articles. I recall precisely how unequivocally the article made it’s case that there’s no precise number, whether 1 or 10 or 100 shotgun blast or 4th of July percussive that can destroy hearing. Nobody knows ahead of time how far away or close you are.

I want to protect the precious little amount of hearing I have left and I hope to get support from the director of the state Association for Deaf and Hearing Impaired. He’s an outspoken advocate I know I can count on as hes come thru for be before. Maybe he can wake these people on the town council and if he can’t then maybe a lawsuit would get their attention.

So I hope to have my ducks in a row to make my case at the next meeting the first week in February.
I would really appreciate anyone here who has information to help me make my case would share it with me. It’s not just for my sake but for every resident and their children.

I apologize this post of mine is so long, but I’ve just been biding my time until I finally got hearing aids good enough for me to be able to hear any arguments pro and con. I’m still an outsider after living here 3 and a half years so I really could use any help you can offer.

I will add the article if/when I find it.

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Well, there’s July 4th Hearing Protection: ASHA Urges the Public to Take Simple Steps to Avoid Permanent Damage From Fireworks, Firecrackers.

Just as well I didn’t make some “only in America” crack, 'cause just after I saw your post I came across https://www.reddit.com/r/sydney/comments/18v8a8s/unauthorised_fireworks_in_sydney_park_where_did/.

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Music concert are very loud and should have used ear protection to prevent hearing damage. There’s an Dr. Cliff video of Rachael Cook.Aud talking about loud concerts and hearing protection.

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You are exactly right Terost, but of course that doesn’t help reverse damage. I’m looking for a proactive way to protect myself and educate all the goofballs out there blowing up stuff 24x7. To those who say they are just trying to show their patriotism I say phooey on that. Get yourself a nice big sturdy stars and stripes and it will show your patriotism without destroying your hearing or your neighbors.

I fully admit that I stupidly subjected myself to unnecessary extremely loud noise for several hours. If I had it to do over, I wouldn’t have gone. I was stupid but I have learned my lesson and part of the lesson is to educate others especially those like the town counsel who have enabled dumb, inconsiderate people to damage the hearing of anyone in the same area they are in by not putting appropriate laws in place. Too bad people violate the laws all the time with impunity - but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have laws because people don’t abide by them.

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Thank you your article and links have really important information that I file away in my E-FILE until its time to print it all out as EVIDENCE for distribution showing why its is the responsible thing to do for the town counsel to institute new laws and measure and ENFORCE THEM.

Comments about your article:

FIRST OF ALL ASHA is doing a disservice to suggest that their remedies are safe and simple to employ. It puts the onus on innocent citizens to block loud noises when the right thing to do is simply stop blowing things up. People can go to public fireworks displays that last maybe an hour or two which makes more sense.

** Keep a safe distance. Stand at least 500 feet away from noise sources, such as a fireworks launch site. The closer you are, the more likely you are to hurt your ears.*

There is no safe distance I can expect to keep since varying degrees of fireworks are being detonated any time day or night and its not practical since I live in the area where the explosives can happen anytime. I like to hang clothes outdoors to dry - I like going for walks to the library or thrift store at random times. I don’t think there’s any hearing protection to be had that doesn’t block my ability to hear what I want to hear. I shouldn’t have to impede my ability to hear to adapt to inconsiderate random incendiaries. It’s not safe to plug my ears so I can’t hear things I need to hear like sirens as just one example.

Also a problem for my poor dogs and cats who enjoy their time outdoors but its hard to relax and enjoy when frightening random explosions happen. I’m reminded of a new puppy I had years ago. I was enjoying the evening holding my puppy on my laps when the poor baby, who had no experience at all with such things actually defecated it was so frightened by when an unusually ground-shaking no-doubt explosive went off. It’s not funny for the poor dog or me and there’s no reason to traumatize animals. The birds at my feeder are jittery too. Why am I expected to grin and bear it - why aren’t the (in my mind) miscreants of all ages expected to use common sense.

  • Know your limits. If you are experiencing ringing in your ears or any other ear discomfort, leave the noisy situation. Listen to your body!

I DO KNOW MY LIMITS but too many people don’t, sadly. As I said, there is no way to remove myself from the situation when I live in the area where the bombs are going off. That’s why I hope to get some laws in force (common sense is preferable). As I said, the town where I live its OKAY to shoot whatever off 24x7 for almost two weeks.

Below is why we need laws because some people are stupid and hateful toward anyone who complains. Some blokes let some off in the park across from my house last night, set all the dogs barking etc, ol mate a few houses down started telling them to fuck off…Few seconds later they launched a firework at his front door…

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Another source of hearing damage is, surprisingly, when party balloons pop. A very deaf man we know attributes his hearing taking a sudden drop when a balloon was burst next to his head.

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Thanks for calling that to mind paul.cleary, yes, I’m sure it was painful to the poor man and contributed to his hearing loss. Balloons are added to my list even though the city council could not make any laws restricting their use in private homes and parties.

I don’t like sudden loud noises and balloons definitely qualify.