Can Outdoor Restaurant Bands Damage Hearing Beyond a Temporary Tinnitus Spike?

Preface: The group I was hanging out with earlier decided to go to a local restaurant I'd never been to and so I followed along. I had no idea it was a restaurant where there were 2 guys playing amplified guitar rock the entire time and I unfortunately did not have my earplugs on me this evening.

• Outdoors.
• Two guys playing classic rock covers and both had their guitars hooked up to decently sized PA speakers.
• Speakers were facing our table from around 3-4 meters away (10 to 13 feet away or so).
• One of the rare times I did not have my earplugs on me and so I panic'd and just gently placed a ball of dry paper napkin into each ear. Apparently you're supposed to wet them but I did not. Also did not stick them very far in the ear since I didn't want to get them stuck.
• I had a lot of trouble hearing anyone talk unless I leaned in and got really close to them. had to really raise my voice when speaking as well.
• Duration was around 90 minutes since the place was really crowded and everyone was socializing despite the loud music.

How loud are these types of outdoor groups on average? It was two guys playing what sounded like amped up acoustic guitars or guitars without distortion pedals + singing, so so no drums or bass guitar, etc. But it seemed really loud and I was basically yelling to the people next to me (not sure if it was because of the ball of napkin in my ear, but everyone else was leaning very close in to hear as well).

Does it sound like something that would cause permanent damage beyond a typical temporary spike? I still hate that both I did not have my earplugs on me and did not have the courage to just leave since they are my friends and I guess I got self-conscious in the moment.

 

I would like to know this too. I normally run an app which tells me the dB of my surroundings.

I think my ears are comfortable with a level below 80 dB. And I also think this is more or less the standard limit to not hurt your ears.

 

An outdoor restaurant probably peaks at 90 dB or so. One thing about music is that it is not a constant level. I mean I’m only guessing, I DJ and usually immediately in front of the speakers it’s peaking at around 90 dB.

You probably blocked 5-6 dB with the napkins in your ears. So you are ok. I hate when that type of stuff happens.

Also, I highly doubt you’ll get permanent damage from that situation.

 

Oh damn. Must have been really hard to enjoy that time with your friends.

 

And? Did it resolve? My guess is that after such events we tend to panic and over monitorize our tinnitus. That makes it seem or even actually be louder. Tends to go back to bearable levels with time.