Ferry Horn Blasted Next to Me While on Top Deck → Instant Tinnitus Spike

Hi.

I was on a ferry just now on the top deck and they blasted the horn for 4-5 seconds right near me. I was on the top deck near the front of the ship where they blew the horn from.

It was so loud, crazy loud and vibrated through me.

I was wearing 25 dB silicone earplugs which I pressed in hard.

I started experiencing a spike in my tinnitus straight away.

How loud are ship/ferry horns? Will I recover due to wearing earplugs?

This is really really worrying and stressing me out. I’m meant to be on holiday, now I feel screwed. Any help or opinions if the spike will go down would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Sorry man. I just got hit by a YouTube video. I watched a bunch of videos no problem, volume at a normal lower level. Then I click on one and it starts up 1000 times louder than the others with a helicopter on the video, I was not even expecting to see a copter. Let alone get nailed by it. So now I have a good tinnitus hiss going on, and my ears feel like they got hurt again.

 

The db rating for a ferry horn can vary, but most are going to exceed 100 db's. Glad you had some earplugs in. Give this spike some time for you ears to recover.

These air horns are ridiculously loud. I had one go off on a semi truck in the winter, and I spiked for weeks after, but it did get better.

 

If this spike doesn't begin fading after a month, you will have a reason to worry about it being permanent. There is still a good chance that it will eventually fade. Goes without saying that from now on, you might consider avoiding ferries.

Do all ferries and ships blow their horn every time they leave a port?

 

That’s annoying man. Though it’s just computer speaker levels, hopefully I imagine you will be okay.

Thanks, I will. I hope it gets better too. Will let you know. This has really traumatised me though as it was such a loud noise.

Yes, the fact I had good earplugs in is my only thing I’m holding onto. I’m hoping that takes the main thrust of the horn out of it. It was just so, so f-ing loud and my ears feel sensitive that’s worrying me now.

I just want to know a decibel level so I can work out the exposure. I can’t seem to find one though.

It wasn’t painful to my ears, which is good. But it did resonate through my entire body.

 

If you wore 25 dB earplugs, you'll be fine. You might have a small tinnitus spike made worse by your anxiety.

For noise to damage your ears in 4-5 seconds, it has be to be around 104-107 dB. If you add your hearing protection, it has to be around 129-132 dB. There's no way it would have been that loud.

 

I just had about the same thing happen to me but without wearing earplugs. I had maybe a little under 1 second of exposure before I plugged my ears with my fingers. I can't feel a spike yet but I am very anxious.

 

I had a head MRI in December 2023 to see if I had a stroke. No stroke found, but my resultant spike lasted almost a month and raised my baseline. Sucks to be us.