After Loud Restaurant My Ear Hurts and Tinnitus Is Louder. Will It Go Back Down?

I feel like I've screwed up... restaurant last eve had a lot of noise from music and talking but at the time I didn't think it was that bad (stupid!) We measured the decibels after being there approx 2 hours and it measured at 70-80 decibels.

Last eve and today my ear hurts and the T is louder.... wow, I feel like I've f'd up. At the time, it didn't seem that loud, just like there was a lot of sound, but 70-80 seems like too much. I'm so worried that the T will stay louder.

Have you had an experience like this and has the T gone back down? I need encouragement! My life feels like it's spiraling out of control (not just from the noise damage but other things going on.)

Has your T gone back down after something like this? Thanks for your help.

 

Mine usually eventually does settle back down but it can take up to 3 weeks mostly.

 

It did go down for me in a week or two.

 

hopeful1
luca

Thanks, that make s me feel hopeful. Do you think that restaurant 70-80 was too loud to be in?

 

dont trust phone decibel meters, if you can fully understand an speak to a person 2 feet away from you (normal conversation volume), then you should be ok. If you have to shout to be heard then run away or wear plugs next time.

 

We didn't even have to shout to hear one another but there was so much background noise.

Do you think those meters are significantly off? We compared 2 apps and one was reading approx 3-5 decibels different from the other.

 

shower noise is 70-74 dba measured with my noise meter so it should not cause any issues.

 

I'm going on 24 hours of ear pain after being in a loud restaurant (approx 75 decibels) for over 2 hours last eve.

How long does the ear pain generally last?

Thanks so much.

 

This rule hasn't worked for the author of this thread. I believe that during the first 6-12 months after onset, it makes sense to stay away from all of the places that could potentially be considered noisy. It goes without saying that it is a good idea to wear earplugs if there is a chance you will be near one of those places.

 

By the way you describe the level of sound it seems it was not objectively very loud, but listen to your body. If you feel awful today, then something went wrong with your hearing. Just rest for a couple of weeks. Hearing issues sometimes come back to normal, but very slowly.

 

Now things have changed again and I'm so frightened for what I've done. Overnight last night the volume increased again and the sound of T changed. It went from a high-pitched even tone to a high-pitched static tone.

Did more damage occur? Is this normal with hyperaccusis? What did I do? Please help!

 

75 db is actually rather quiet. It CANNOT do damage.

Phone meters are notoriously wrong, however they OVERSTATE readings, not understate, and their accuracy doesn't fall off until about 90-95db. It gets worse from there with reporting numbers TOO HIGH.

Loud restaurants cause my ears to fatigue, but I'm talking about NYC restaurants that easily reach 95db.

Your tinnitus is VERY new. Almost any "spikes" you have can be chalked up to limbic system response. In this phase it makes the most sense to slowly reintroduce louder events. Get some musicians earplugs to make you feel more comfortable.

 

I should have worn the earplug.... unbelievable. Another stupid mistake. I just thought it was okay in there...restaurant voices and music. And it worsened in the middle of night last night - volume increased and T changed to static type sound. I'm so freaked.

I'm thinking maybe I should take prednisone again? Do you know if people take pred in situations like this?

 

I would take prednisone. It is most effective very early after the acoustic trauma. One problem you could encounter is your doctor refusing to let you have prednisone...

You are not alone - I hurt my ears multiple times after my initial acoustic trauma. For example, I used my food processor without ear protection (I never thought of it as being loud), I got close to a speaker translating very loud nature sounds, in an unsuccessful attempt to mask my T, etc., etc., etc.. Eventually, I learned my lesson. I guess each of these incidents postpones one's recovery by months. Hopefully we can still recover or at least get better...

I think a static sound is easier to handle than a high pitch tone. I still think that it is a good sign that your t sounds are changing.

 

I saw recent posts about this. I am having trouble finding those posts...

 

Yeah, there are so many loud (and unpredictable too) sounds out there and we have to be careful. But then I read about not being too care in order to not worsen H. Such a fine line and I'm not sure where it is, though I think I learned about my threshold on Saturday. Can't believe I risked that.

I do see people writing that it's potentially good when the T tone changes. I'll hold onto that.

Have you had improvement with your T? I see your onset was just this past Feb.

 

80 decibels wont cause a permanent setback. I would not be surprised if your back to "normal" in a day or so.
Going to a "louder" restaurant or gathering also causes my T to spike for a day or so. My advice is to do what I did/do, and that's is to purchase some "Rave High Fidelity" ear plugs from amazon. around $15. They are clear and have a carry case that I hook yo my key chain. That way I always have ear protection with me if it gets too loud. Also being clear they are not noticeable in my ears. I think you'll be fine

 

It is normal with T and H to have spikes, to feel really bad at times, particularly after being exposed to loud sound. Still, there are times when T and H change for absolutely no reason due to so many factors that are impossible to control.

As for prednisone, there is nothing awesome that prednisone can do to restore your hearing or to accelerate recovery. Prednisone works to a very limited extent (if it works at all) and the studies carried out with prednisone to help with hearing damage report results that do not seem very different from those obtained doing nothing, just resting your ears and giving them enough time to recover.

Also, prednisone has to be taken in a dose related to your weight, and has to be tapered off, and may have side effects in the long run if used often.

Prednisone is one kind of anti-inflammatory drug and there are many others. Some people react better to certain anti-inflammatories. To find the right kind of anti-inflammatory for you is just really a matter of trial and error.

 

I really don't think so.
Maybe your T has increased because you did not sleep a lot (and maybe drank some alcohol?)?

 

No. Don't. Eating steroids like candies is really, really bad idea.

It was barely a noise exposure, absolutely not anything that would make taking prednisone viable.

 

Thanks for your responses. Okay, now I think it was louder than 70-80 decibels. Now I think it was probably more of 90. Reason I say this is, I just bought a handheld decibel meter and I can't believe how loud sounds are measuring! Regular kitchen sounds regularly spiking at 90 decibels and hovering around 70 ish. Makes me think phone decibel meter at restaurant was reading low. Anyway...

T volume is still higher with strange sensations and fluctuations since 3 nights ago at restaurant. I think my ear is wayyyy more sensitive than I even realize. I'm kicking myself and just hoping it will come down again. BTW, I do have a variety of earplugs and wear them (normally) when in loud environments. Guess on sunday eve I was feeling too confident to wear one! What a mistake!

A lot of people say spikes go down after a couple days or weeks. Wondering what an average amount of time is for a spike to go down?

So my doctor did prescribe prednisone. I know it's a very dangerous drug not to be taken lightly but if it may help I'm willing to take the risks. The thing is, has there been new damage? I realize now I definitely have hyperacusis so with the H, because of the H, can my ear be damaged from lower decibels? This question I'm having trouble finding the answer to?!

What do you think?

 

This would depend on the volume of the sound that caused the primary acoustic trauma, on the damage it did, on the volume of the sound that caused the spike, on your general health, etc. So I think the information about the average length of a spike is not very useful.

 

Just compared new decibel meter to smartphone meter app and they are wayyyyy different! And not in a good way!!! The smartphone was reading approx 15 decibels lower than the handheld meter. So, based on that, the loudness in restaurant was around 85-95 decibels. Two hours of that and I now I feel I've really done harm.

 

Is this happening every single time you compare them? How many times did you try it?

 

We let both run for about 15 minutes together. Just got handheld today (this evening.)

 

My phone reads a lot lower too. A really accurate sound meter is an expensive device, very expensive.

 

@Zinnia Can I get a update on your T? Did your spike end?
Today I was 40 minutes at a restaurant that was playing pretty loud music.

 

Yes, playing loudly in restaurants and malls and speakers....makes me very nervous and despressed. I wish we had an on/off switch in our ears! I wonder how come I went to the Greenday concert when I was young. That was the only experience I went to such concerts and i always marble at those people who frequently goes to those concerts and dont feel uncomfortable in their hearing at all.