Headphones — Sudden Loud Noise

Hi guys,

Before anything, no I did NOT listen to music. I use my NC headphones as a suppliment as protection since I had problems in my ear canal. It's always on mute (basically only allowing the NC to be on). My boyfriend had borrowed my headphones yesterday and I was on my way to work and browsed facebook. One of the videos in my feed started to play, and the sound was set to max so I panicked for a sec or two before throwing them off. The headphones "remember" the last setting even if it is paired with a new phone. I didn't even think about that because my headphones are always on mute.

My ears are ringing crazy now and so does my anxiety. So pissed at my boyfriend too. Should I just shake this off? Would it do damage? It was max straight to my ears

 

Hi @Fangen ,
If it was seriously loud then have a chat with your doctor.
It could be just a normal spike and will settle but try stay calm and relaxed so anxiety doesn't cause a spike also.
Love glynis

 

Hard to say. My phone indicated it was on max. Got suprised and as I wasn't expecting it. I don't think the doctor will care about this as they dont prescribe stereoids for noise trauma here. Thanks Glynis.

 

Where are you living?

In the UK steroids for noise trauma isn't a standard procedure but if you take articles or evidence to your gp they might be willing to prescribe it also if you pay privately.

I'm not staying you need steroids, I'm just saying if you do need them there's probably a way

 

I live in Sweden.
Trust me I tried at the onset of T, but they refused to even acknowledge there were steroids that could be used for audio trauma.

 

Hello Fangen.
I undertstand your concern, I also worry a lot when similar situations happen. But I try to keep in mind that the human ear can withstand amazingly loud noises for short periods of times (partially thanks to the stapedial reflex).

Of course, with every very loud noise there is a risk of damage, but in a lot of cases there is no need to worry. Take care of you and try not to worry over this. The stress has a huge impact on our T.

 

@Julien87

Can you explain more about this stapedial reflex? I googled it and I think I understood the concept of it, but more if that would still the same for us with T? I mean, the loudness was very loud for me, but maybe not as much for someone that does not have T (slightly uncomfortable but maybe not "need to get this headphone now"-kind of uncomfortable).

Thank you for the comforting noise, it was only a second or two (as fast as one could react and get it off), I know it should be fine but as I have not encountered loud noises straight through headphones (only when I have been outside and a car honked out of the blue), it felt worse as I know the sound can't escape anywhere and really just send it through my ears. But I will try to stop thinking about it, I know medium/high level noises over a longer period tends to be worse than one burst of loud noise but hard to not worry sometimes.

 

Hi Fangen,

Why not? Yes it still works for us generally. Some rare people do not have this reflex (it can disappear after a case of otospongiosis, for example), but it is not linked to the onset of a T, and to my knowledge acoustic traumas do not impact the efficiency of the stapedial muscle.

Great So forget the but
This kind of accident is likely to happen again in the future (not necessarily with headphones). With fire alarms for example, this sh*t is extremely loud... But once again if that happens and you protect yourself immediately you should be fine.

I believe we tend to get startled more easily because of our fear, and also have the feeling that those accidental loud sounds are louder than they actually are

Oh yes, tell me about it

 

@Julien87

You really hit all the points there. I do get startled by anything really. Someone could sneeze loud next to me and I'd almost fall out of my chair out of suprise. And yes, life does seem a lot louder after T, I don't know max db on the headphones but I read my headphones can go to 103 db that's really loud!

But thanks, you do make a lot of sense (that I know deep inside!) and it always help to hear it from someone else that understand ^^

 

The initial incident that gave me T, and the two acoustic traumas I had afterwards, all lasted a fraction of a second and involved comparable noise volume to what she had experienced. Now I am not fine...

 

I also wrote this Bill :

By the way, maybe your ears are especially sensitive. Generally, when people are subject to an acoustic trauma its only after one or several hours of very loud noise or after an extremely loud impulsive noise, such as an explosion.