I Was Habituated, Now Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Spike After Mustang Exhaust and Car Horn Exposures

[Jaysterk]

Need help and advice with this one.

I drive a sports car, and a Mustang pulled up next to me at a street light and revved it for about 6 seconds.

• The Mustang had a straight pipe exhaust and possibly long headers, so they usually clock in between 115 and 130 dB.
• A few minutes after the incident, my left ear became very hot and red. About an hour later, my tinnitus spiked from an average of 2 out of 10 to about 7 out of 10. The spike persisted for about a week.
• My car's cabin is well insulated. I tested it before by parking a pickup truck right up against the driver side door, honking for a few seconds, and capturing the inside and outside decibels with a meter. Inside readings were 71 dB and outside were 101 dB. Therefore, my car blocks around 20 to 30 dB.
• About 10 days after that incident, I was exposed to a car horn. I was standing next to a car in a parking lot when the alarm went off and it started honking. I immediately walked away but was hit by maybe 2 or 3 honks at about 10 feet from the front of the car (I was standing on the side when it happened).
• I woke up the next day with an even louder tinnitus spike, and this time a very intense hyperacusis spike that has persisted for 4 days now.

As a base:

• I've had hyperacusis and tinnitus since 2018, but for the last 3 years they have remained at a very manageable level at around 2 out of 10. I'm able to walk around and do most things without ear protection, although this was not the case in the beginning and it took a while.
• A car horn here and there never bothered me 2 weeks ago.
• My onset of tinnitus and hyperacusis started after I took Prednisone.
• This is also the first time I've ever gotten red and hot ears from a sound exposure, which is new to me.
• My spike is only in one ear; the other ear is fine.

Should I take Prednisone for this exposure or wait it out? It has been a while since I've dealt with something like this, and my ear has never taken this long to bounce back. It has been about 11 days since the first exposure and 4 days since the second exposure.