Hearing Damage from Tapping the Portafilter?

Hello everyone.

I was doing volunteer work at the Espresso House and the barista next to me used her coffee knocker (i.e. this portafilter) to knock loudly on the bar when she was making coffee for someone.

You can see an example in the 2 videos, they are from a famous YouTuber who works in the same branch (WARNING: The sounds in the videos are very loud. Do not use headphones and be careful not to turn the volume control on your device too loud):

Video #1

Video #2

I was standing right next to her (roughly from the perspective where the camera is in the videos). As soon as this happened, my ear closed. It felt like the hair cells in my ear froze and then suddenly burst.

Since then I've had the constant feeling that my ear is blocked and I can't hear high-pitched sounds, especially female voices (which are usually slightly higher than male voices) or sounds like "sh", f", "s". I can't hear my own voice, for example, when I whisper something to myself, I completely miss the fine tones and my ear feels deaf and dead. I think that my hair cells have died as a result.

What should I do? Will this continue now for the rest of my life?

Kind regards.

 

The ear is a delicate organ. My advice is to make an appointment as soon as possible with an ENT doctor, so a full examination can be carried on on your hearing and auditory system, as this is their area expertise.

Don't delay.

All the best,
Michael

 

Hit up the ENT, see about getting on Prednisone ASAP. Load up on NAC, vitamins A, C, E and Magnesium.

 

IMHO you'd be seriously unlucky for that to cause you hearing damage! I'd suggest it's more likely your ear doing what it's supposed to do and tensioning the tensor tympani and stapedius muscle to protect you from a perceived loud noise.

My ear muscles are overly reactive from having a very negative reaction towards anything even remotely loud! The sound you heard isn't loud, however even I'd be panicking needlessly. It's called phonophobia.

Every time I hear something I perceive as loud (cars in the distance, even gunfire on telly) I get all the symptoms you mentioned above and worse.

If you're worried, go see an ENT as mentioned. However, there is no magic bullet. Prednisone is a powerful steroid and there is little, but anecdotal evidence, to show that it helps hearing loss. It's more used to reduce the inflammation caused by viruses which cause sudden hearing loss.

Unfortunately, there is a dangerous culture on Tinnitus Talk of recommending steroids for every little noise. This isn't the answer.

Honestly I think you'll be OK. Try to relax and think rationally. That banging sound is not even remotely as loud as a gunshot!