I Got Exposed to a Fire Truck and Ambulance Siren — Tinnitus Worse Now, How Long Will This Last?

Today at 2:00 pm, I was inside a two story building, I was on the 2nd floor and I heard a fire truck siren take off the road.

For a mere 5-8 seconds it was in front of the building outside about 18 to 25 meters away from me.

I wasn't wearing any hearing protection. It freaked me out.

Then at around 3:15 pm I was driving home and stopped at an intersection at a red light, and across from me was an ambulance and it had its siren on for 10-15 seconds and it was 25-28 meters away from me. This time I was in my car with my headphones and hearing protection on with a decibel NRR rating of 37 dB. It drove past me.

Then I finally got home and went to sleep, I managed to sleep for a mere 4-5 hours, I wake up at 10 pm now with no ear pain, but a noticeable ringing in my left ear and I can't go back to sleep because of it.

How long until the ringing subsides and do I have any permanent hearing damage?

Previously I was exposed to a fire siren February 28 and it took me almost a week to recover. And now I'm getting this new exposure on March 10.

 

I'm no expert or anything, but let's see if I can help you out.

18 to 25 meters is a good ways away. And you were in doors on the second floor. I highly doubt that this caused any issues.

Now, for the second siren.

I'm gonna assume you mean earmuffs when you say headphones? In which case, again, you probably have nothing to worry about. Double protection and you're in a car? Even without earmuffs you're totally fine.

Most spikes are temporary, and can last anywhere between a week to three months. But in all honesty, I don't think this spike is noise induced.

I imagine you were really scared when these two events occured? Perhaps this spike is related to your anxiety?

 

Imma second @aot. This is most likely an an anxiety spike. I think your previous experience with a spike from a fire siren has sort of predisposed you for this spike, but based on the info there is no way you could have noise damage.

my advice would be to release stress as much as possible(I know this is so hard during a spike) but stress spikes can last a while even after the trigger of the stress/anxiety has passed.

 

I am pretty sure that it has nothing to do with anxiety. Having said that, for now there is no reason to worry. Most spikes are temporary, and temporary spikes can take over 3 weeks to clear. If it doesn't begin fading after 4-6 weeks, Then you would be justified to be concerned about it being permanent.

 

I forgot to mention the day before I took 1 ibuprofen tablet, don't know if that corelates to my current tinnitus.

 

Speaking as a random person on the internet with limited experience and expertise: 1) around a week, and 2) no.