Loud Motorbike Caused Spike, Worried If It's Permanent

Hi all, in the past week my tinnitus has been really kind to me - I've slept well and not really noticed it until I get to bed.

However, today I came out the shop with shopping bags, and an un-silenced moped came past very close to me. It was very loud, must have been way in excess of 100db as I could feel my ears tickling/vibrating and it was painful.

Since then my tinnitus has got louder, unfortunately I couldn't block my ears due to the bags. IS this likely to be permanent increase? Or just a spike. I really don't understand what makes the tinnitus permanently worse and what causes a temporary increase. Would anybody be able to explain please?

 

Dont worry. I have had harleys honked right next to me so many times it made my T and H worse the next day. It will go back to the baseline in a day or two. Dont overthink about it and keep busy or else you will feel its louder even if its gone back to the baseline already. Wear ears plugs all the time if possible for time being when your out till your ears are better than before. We have no option buddy but to protect our poor abused healing ears. Sound exposure of that short period won't make it permanently worse but it has to be of much longer duration. Take some sleeping pill for a day or two so maybe if you get quality sleep you will wakeup with low T. Good luck

 

Hi Asian,

Thanks for the support and help. So, I don't need to worry about horns, brief exposures of loud noises etc, only constant exposure for a period of time? E.g. a gig or something?

I'm trying to avoid wearing ear plugs as they make it worse and give me really bad H. I only wear them when attending football/soccer matches.

 

I don't see how ear plugs in the city outside can make your H worse? I don't think our auditory system needs things like motorbikes, cars honking etc. to keep our H at bay. I think you are better off with noise in a controlled environment using things like music, TV or even just talking to people. I don't think extremely loud abrupt noises are the answer to reducing sensitivity to noise, in fact it makes mine way worse. If this is the answer to keeping H in check, why not put loud crashing noises on headphones, turn em right up. I don't think anyone would advise this for healthy ears, not to mention damaged ones.

 

Unfortunately there are mixed answers as to whether you should protect your ears to a little uncomfortable environment or not. My audiologist told me she doesnt recommend protecting my ears in the day to day traffic outside and its not good for my H. But i cant afford to expose my ears to city traffic and not worry about it because i am the one to face the consequences later on. The general rule is that if its beyond your comfortable threshold, better avoid it. It will get better in time. Your ears will heal just give them a break. Simultaneously take little risks after a while and train your ears go develop tolerance for little loud noises, but do it very slowly and see if isnt causing any extended nuisance or trouble. H generally improves overtime. You will be fine. Look forward to TRT if your situation doesnt improve after maybe a year. There are treatments to stabalize you.

One neuro suggested me to try yoga as its considered good for a healing body. Many have gained massive benefits from it and keeping various illnesses at bay. Atleast we will have a sense of well being and a relaxed mind if not a perfectly healthy body. And who knows, it might help a bit with T and H?

Cheers and peace

 

It's been 8 months and h is starting to improve indeed, getting better and better all the time, but it take a long time, t is almost an on issue now

 

Next time, drop the bags. Material possessions come and go.

It was a brief exposure and I feel, based on some past experiences, that your spike will likely subside. Consider taking some antioxidants like NAC, ALA, A,C,E, Melatonin, along with magnesium. Free radicals are elevated in the ear for at least a week following acoustic overexposure. Just take things easy for a bit.

Edit: Oops, just saw that this thread is from 2015!