Shannon's Journal Discussion

[Shannon]

Okay so I used my aunts high quality, newer phone and realized that my phone wasn't reading properly... the max volume I listen to is actually -35 db and that's TS so US should be louder than that slightly... yeah wtf I hope this hasn't caused permanent hearing damage. A friend told me that he thinks that the loud noise is peeling the skin off my eardrum and if I let it rest it'll grow back otherwise I'll go deaf. Hopefully a doctor can give me some good news .

I don't want to quit WM2 now so close to the end so tonight I'm just gonna turn it down, I turned it down to -50db.

Edit: I also tried cleaning my ears out with hydrogen peroxide (suggested by somebody in my thread and also by my aunt) but it didn't do anything. In fact I think it made it worse if anything. My aunt thinks that the reason I can't hear well is built up wax but I disagree my ears feel clean, I washed them out vigorously with hydrogen peroxide and used q-tips. Everything seems slightly tinny and my ears are ringing with a very high pitch and it feels like I just got done swiming and there's water in my ears. My left is worse than my right.

Sorry if I sound irrational but I really don't want to go deaf or lose quality of life due to ***** up ears , its already annoying because my ears are slightly sensitive and I can't hear details in sounds very well.

-35 dB isn't going to make you go deaf. +35, maybe. -35? Not a chance.

Just use masked for a while and see if that helps. Whenever tinnitus is an issue, always favor masked format. You'd have to be playing an ultrasonic a lot louder than -35 dB and for a long time to affect your hearing. I understand that you've been using masked format primarily, is that correct?

I use them both about equally, TS while sleeping so 8-10 hours and US during the day to bring the hours up to whatever I want (was 16-20 so 8-12 hours). Since WM2 doesn't have unbalancing I hear, I will feel more comfortable listening only 8-10 hours TS on a lower volume for awhile (I'd been listening 16-20 on the stages 1-4 and I just started stage 5).

I looked up the symptoms of my problem and I think that the problem is built up wax or something because I had this high pitched ringing and hearing loss isssue right after I poked a cotton swab in my ears for cleaning. I think the "hearing loss" I was experiencing before this incident must've just been tinnitus from US making me not be able to hear/focus on sounds as well or something. In any case I'm gonna try to see a doctor to get this whole thing sorted out.

Thanks for answering my questions and putting my mind at ease.

P.S I had my volume pretty high before but I lowered it by 30% and the dream I had last night was more intense and absorbing than the ones I'd been getting before. Either lower/balanced sound is better or its because I started a new stage last night or something. I really wonder if its true that higher volume is better, maybe its a lower volume or a more balanced one...

My studies of the optimal volume to use have revealed the following.

Volume plots, for effectiveness, in a series of spikes on a chart of lowest to highest. Usually there is a small spike at the lowest volumes, and then a bigger one at the middle volumes, and another one somewhere in the higher volumes. There can be sub-spikes as well.

In almost all cases, the optimal volume plots out to somewhere in the middle or high volumes. But the specific volume is dependent on the person, personality, generation of sub, goal of sub, amount of resistance, amount of usage, etc.

I have to use the predictive models to achieve optimal volume. You guys can't do that, so you have to use a range. The optimal range usually is -65 to -55 at the source, presuming you're close by.

If you get the volume too low, it may be out of alignment with your brain activity or it may be easily overpowered by resistance. If you get it too high, you risk hearing issues and resistance based on too much perceptory pressure. Thus, -55 to -65 is usually a good range.

I use it higher sometimes, occasionally as high as -32, but that's with the guidance of the predictive models and for very specific purposes. When I listen overnight, I play it at -65 dB on my nightstand.

Too loud is just as bad as too soft.