Slight Ear Fullness After Noise Exposure (A Bus Took Off Closeby)

So here's the story.

My family and I went on vacation and they wanted to walk on the sidewalk to a near restaurant that was 2 blocks away.

Anyway as we were walking a bus was stopped at a red light. We walked right by it and it took off. The motor was in the back and it sounded loud to me.

I didn't have my earplugs with me. This happened twice.

After returning to the hotel I noticed my hearing was a little muffled, not too bad and I had a slight fullness in my bad ear which is still going on.

This happened Tuesday.

Did I just make my ear worse and am I screwed for life for going on a walk? My tinnitus is not ringing loud at all, just this weird feeling in my ear. My tinnitus didn't react to it at all and has not spiked. It almost feels like my ear needs to "pop" open or something.

 

There is not yet a medical explanation on why dangerous noise exposure causes ear fullness. The only thing you can do is let your ears rest, and pay attention many people with these problems falsely assume it's ETD or sinus related. They get comfort in lying to themselves that their ears are not damaged.

 

No. Just like pain or a bruise don't mean that you are screwed for life. This is a sign that seems to imply that right now you are very vulnerable and that it might be a good idea to avoid (if you can) being exposed to the kind of noises that give you ear fullness or tinnitus spikes. If you can't avoid those noises, consider wearing hearing protection when you are around the source of those noises.

Within 6-18 months you ought to become more resilient. You also would not want to over do it with hearing protection. Use your commons sense and listen to the signals given to you by your own body.

This is called "ear fullness." It is a sign that your inner ear couldn't handle the noise (I don't want to use the word "damaged", because I am pretty sure that even if there was damage, it ought to be reversible). It will eventually go away. It makes sense to not try to use Valsalva maneuver to pop your ear, as first of all it will not work in this case (you aren't flying in an airplane where you need to equalize the pressure), and second of all, Valsalva maneuver can actually harm your inner ear. If you are compelled to do that maneuver, at least do it gently.

 

Had the same thing happen to me a few months back on a walk with first a UPS truck, and then a school bus a few minutes later- back to back. I also had the ear fullness for a few days follow, and the tinnitus increased for a few days as well.

It passed.

When I go out for a walk during the week, I now wear my earplugs, and also now figure that Sundays are safer to be out without earplugs.