How easy it is to get tinnitus and hearing loss..
This is scary stuff and people are paying for it!
How many people do you know that enjoy motorsport? Thousands Probably!
The hot rod engines emitted a series of deafening roars, but for 5-year-old sisters Tessa and Danielle Hammond, the noise was muffled.
Mitch Osinka, 44, Indianapolis, has been going to drag races at O’Reilly Raceway Park for many years and sits as close to the track as possible. He says, “There’s nothing that’s equivalent in overall sensory integration that I can compare it to.†– This is inviting permanent hearing loss and tinnitus!
The Dayton, Ohio, girls played together quietly Sunday afternoon in a toy wagon, their ears cupped by yellow headphones affixed with cartoon stickers.
“It’s like an earthquake, tenfold,†their father, Dan Hammond, 48, said of the loud spurts. “I gotta protect my babies.â€
The 52nd Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park may trail the Indianapolis 500, Allstate 500 at the Brickyard or Formula One races in stature, but without question, the Nationals is the loudest motor-sports show in town.
The nitromethane-powered engines push top cars more than 300 mph down a quarter-mile in four seconds…
Decibel levels in drag racing reach between 153 and 163 — louder than a gunshot and just under the noise made by the takeoff of a Boeing 727, according to the Web site of Hyperdynamics, a San Diego business that specializes in high-tech sound research and development.
Audiologists say the threshold of pain is about 140 decibels, with consistent exposure to noise at that level causing tinnitus and hearing loss.
The 7,000-horsepower dragsters — compared with 860 horsepower for F-1 cars — have been known to rattle the windows two miles from the track.
But the biggest jolt comes from inside the track, where spectators find feeling the power through sound to be addicting.
“I love the sound,†said Mitch Osinka, 44, Indianapolis, as he sat in the bleachers Sunday, about 30 feet from the starting line. “It’s probably a cross between a severe thunderstorm and a really loud explosion. But there’s nothing that’s equivalent in overall sensory integration that I can compare it to.â€
Osinka said he keeps headphones with him, but often goes bare-eared. “I’ve been following racing for 35 years. My hearing is already shot,†he joked.
Anyone coming to the finale today is advised to bring ear protection. Vendors at the raceway offered quite a variety on Sunday: $2 for orange buds that fit snugly in the ear canal to up to $15.95 for headphones. Most fans don’t bother…
Race fans Justin Kruer, Franklin, and his father Al Kruer, Floyds Knobs, both wore heavy-duty headphones.
“It’s just too loud,†Justin Kruer, 32, said, pausing momentarily until a moment of quiet. “You get to a point where, if you don’t wear hearing protection, when you get home, for a day or two you can’t hear like you used to. Your hearing won’t come back for a few days.â€
According to the National Hot Rod Association, Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars leave the starting line with a force nearly five times that of gravity, the same force of the space shuttle when it leaves the launch pad.
For Dion Gayle, 21, Indianapolis, a security guard using ear protection as he roamed the bleachers Sunday, working the Nationals was much louder than previous gigs, like Indianapolis Indians baseball games.
“I can’t deal with it. It’s too loud for me. It feels funny.â€
He added: “It’s more exciting to me to see people race.â€
For as little as $2 to $15 hot rod fans can protect themselves but few do…
And all those fans who supported the sport for years without being aware of the damage they were doing to themselves are left wondering why they have impaired hearing and tinnitus.
Source: indystar  Â
