Balloon Popped in Car

[Gman]

Hi everyone. I really need some advice. I was driving in the car and my kids had left a balloon in the very back and it just randomly burst. All the windows were up and it was way loud.

My tinnitus immediately went much louder with high, medium and low tones now (not just the usual high). One ear is more hissy and the other one ear is kind of muffled/numb with a lower hum sound. Kind of feel there's an imbalance with my hearing now.

I've already had a couple of acoustic traumas in the past couple of months, which felt similar, that I got over and tinnitus was becoming stable.

Today I just had returned from get my hyperacusis checked by the audiologist which involved listening to some tones to check my comfort level. I had improved and was pretty much at normal.

I'm living in a country that doesn't prescribe Prednisone.

I took maybe 1.2 g of NAC, but like seriously that hasn't been shown to be beneficial. Not sure what to do or if there is anything other than go get some benzo from my doctor to keep calm. Luck never seems to be on my side.

Also I've been getting regular vertigo in the past 2 weeks either because of my neck or a loose otolith. And now this.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I'm living in a country that doesn't prescribe Prednisone.

This has the potential to be very serious. I remember reading posts by at least two people who said that they got serious spikes after a balloon bursting inside of a car.

A popped balloon made it worse (permanently). But it did take a few weeks to get worse. I didn't realize at first and was exposed to loud sounds several times right after the balloon.

I just had to drive 3 hours twice during this week. But the full worsening took two months to appear. I made mistakes during this time though.

(By the way, to see the context of these posts, click on the "up arrow" near the username.) So, make sure you protect yourself like never before now that you had that happen to you.

12 years of mild tinnitus and hyperacusis, then a severe worsening of my symptoms because of a popped balloon next to my head in an enclosed space (a car). That's my field of expertise as far as this discussion is concerned.

So in his case the balloon was right next to his ear. Hopefully that wasn't your case, and hopefully things will work out better in your case.

The only thing you can do at this point, is to try to get prednisone. If you live in Europe, can you drive to a hospital in a country where you can get prednisone? If you can't easily drive to get Prednisone, perhaps someone in your family could take a plane to the closest country that prescribes Prednisone, go to the emergency there, claim to get a spike in tinnitus as a result of having to stop a fire alarm, and get Prednisone for you?

You might want to never be around balloons ever again.

 

[Gman]

@Bill Bauer, looking at charts for dB loudness balloons popping are way up there. Scary. It was at the very back of the car and I was driving but no windows open.

The fact the reaction was instant worries me too. Usually an acoustic event will kick in that night or next day. If it is this bad now, how will it be tonight...

I told the kids no more balloons.

I'm located in SE Asia at the moment. Just about to see a doctor so I will try but really know what he will say.

My right ear is whooshing like when I had my previous acoustic incident but that was a delayed onset.

 

[Gman]

Ok the doctor was very understanding and prescribed me some Prednisolone, even though he said it was not typically used for noise events. He also prescribed something to help me sleep.

He thought everything was likely to be ok i..e no damage but because I have hyperacusis and past acoustic traumas he could understand my sensitivity and anxiety. Whether this works or not at least I'm trying to do something about it.

If things get worse he asked me to see him again. So helpful and reassuring, I can't believe it.

 

[Gman]

I'm doing a lot better today after getting some sleep. My tinnitus has gone fairly quiet but I'm doing my best to avoid loud sounds and using 18 dB filtered earplugs outside and when driving.