Could I Have Permanently Damaged My Hearing Further?

[sven1987]

So, basically yesterday at work I was exposed to a VERY loud noise. I was going outside to smoke a cigarette and I knew they were testing a high pressure waterblasting machine outside, but I could hear the that the engineers weren't actually running the machine and it was just idling. The door is about 65 feet away from the testing area, so I thought I was safe by just walking outside towards the smoking area in the opposite direction of the testing area.
But at the exact moment I stepped out the door they starter running the machine at full blast. I immediately put my fingers in my ears, but I must have been exposed to the sound for a second, but my tinnitus started spiking, but oddly enough not immediately but about 5 hours later.

I searched online and found that high pressure waterblasting equipment can reach sounds of up to 110 to 120 db.
I used an online calculator to see what sound level I was exposed to and found that if the noise was 120db at 3 feet, then the sound level at my distance from the machine was around 100 to 105db, but to me it sounded way louder.

I know in hindsight I was extremely stupid and should not have come even remotely close to this machine, but I guess I let my guard down at the worst time.

Should I be worried or will this just be a temporary spike?

 

[dpdx]

So, basically yesterday at work I was exposed to a VERY loud noise. I was going outside to smoke a cigarette and I knew they were testing a high pressure waterblasting machine outside, but I could hear the that the engineers weren't actually running the machine and it was just idling. The door is about 65 feet away from the testing area, so I thought I was safe by just walking outside towards the smoking area in the opposite direction of the testing area.
But at the exact moment I stepped out the door they starter running the machine at full blast. I immediately put my fingers in my ears, but I must have been exposed to the sound for a second, but my tinnitus started spiking, but oddly enough not immediately but about 5 hours later.

I searched online and found that high pressure waterblasting equipment can reach sounds of up to 110 to 120 db.
I used an online calculator to see what sound level I was exposed to and found that if the noise was 120db at 3 feet, then the sound level at my distance from the machine was around 100 to 105db, but to me it sounded way louder.

I know in hindsight I was extremely stupid and should not have come even remotely close to this machine, but I guess I let my guard down at the worst time.

Should I be worried or will this just be a temporary spike?

You will know in a week.

 

[Mystery Reader]

@sven1987
I had string of "bad timing" incidents with loud noises last week. I got myself worked up to the point where the anxiety about it all but overpowered me.

I don't know what has spiked your "t" in the past, and it's hard to tell sometimes if it's the noise or the resultant worry that ramps everything up, but if I had to bet, I'd guess that anxiety about the incident yesterday is surely contributing to it.

Hope things settle down for you soon.

Mystery Reader

 

[Bill Bauer]

Should I be worried or will this just be a temporary spike?

It will likely be temporary. (Keep in mind that temporary spikes can last for over three months.) If you keep giving yourself these temporary spikes, eventually one might end up being permanent. So, the next time please be more careful.