Photo credit: Ali Müftüoğulları from Pexels by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist, Member, The Quiet Coalition If only all fireworks were low noise or quiet. It’s that time of year when noisy fireworks are set off in my residential neighborhood. I’ve been left with ear pain and ringing, while my dogs and cat are terrified
Photo credit: Monstera from Pexels by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist, Member, The Quiet Coalition I was horrified to read this article in Romper Toddler entitled, “Here’s when you should be concerned about your child’s fear of sound.” If parents follow the loud suggestions, they could cause permanent noise damage to their toddler’s hearing and
Photo credit: Tom Magliery licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist, Member, The Quiet Coalition The Sight and Hearing Association has published its annual 2021 Noisy Toys List. As an audiologist and parent, I wouldn’t buy or gift any toy on the list. In my opinion, they are all too loud for
Photo credit: GoToVan licensed under CC BY 2.0 by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist, Member, The Quiet Coalition People have targeted hospitals across Canada with noisy protests against government ordered pandemic public health measures, such as vaccine passports. Thousands gathered at hospitals to yell and chant, with news and social media showing protestors using airhorns, bullhorns
Photo credit: Kenan Babayiğit from Pexels by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist, Member, The Quiet Coalition Joe Cressy, the Chair of the Board of Health in Toronto, Canada, has called for a ban on the local annual air show. Cressy, who is also the Spadina-Fort York councillor, believes it’s time for new traditions, without this
Photo credit: Sven van Bellen from Pexels by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist A recent article by Tristin Hopper in Canada's National Post argues that motorcyclists are wrong when they say, “Loud pipes save lives.” I agree that aftermarket exhaust system modifications to make motorcycles louder don’t improve safety. Loud pipes don’t alert other drivers
by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist This article in Hypebot is yet another that asserts 85 decibels (dB) as point at which a noise level poses risk to musicians. It's true that music-induced hearing loss is permanent, painless, and preventable, but here are some corrections: If loud enough, only a minute or two of loud
by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist SoundPrint is hosting the October 2021 Find Your Quiet Place Challenge. This popular app lets users collect and submit sound levels from venues like restaurants, bars, and cafes. The SoundPrint app database helps people find quiet places and avoid noisy locations. This includes curated quiet city lists. I think
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition October is National Protect Your Hearing Month. And just in time, the adaptation of a paper published during the summer in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics with Jan Mayes was published in the October issue of The Hearing Journal. Jan and I adapted our article--with permission, of
This image by AlexChirkin has been dedicated to the public domain by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist This Healthy Hearing article on temporary threshold shift or muffled hearing after noise exposure varies between strong statements and caveats. I disagree with the quoted source who says, “[y]ou’ll be back to normal. Hence the name: It’s temporary.”
