Low-Frequency Car Exhausts Make My Ears Feel Like They Are Bleeding

[tux]

I don't have any day to day issues with my hearing, but whenever I get into a car that has a deep sounding after market exhaust, I feel like my ears are bleeding, even if they're only cruising at 2,000-3000 rpm's. It's very strange because loud exhausts that don't produce low frequencies don't bother me. It's just the cars with low frequency (deep sound) exhausts that give me terrible ear pain that lasts for days.

The cars with low frequencies are only producing 65-75 db's in the cabin, but yet they give me terrible pain, when cars with high frequency loud exhausts producing 85-100 db's don't bother me.

I had a hearing test performed and they said that I had some hearing loss, but didn't have an explanation as to why an aftermarket exhaust would cause this horrible pain. Could this be a Recruitment issue from my younger days of listening to music with loud bass?

 

[Rb86]

Not sure what you mean by recruitment issue, but I do know what you mean. I have a buddy who also has tinnitus and is sensitive to certain frequencies. My guess is that the way your tympanic membrane vibrates it gets "set off" at certain vibrations.

 

[GregCA]

I had a hearing test performed and they said that I had some hearing loss, but didn't have an explanation as to why an aftermarket exhaust would cause this horrible pain.

Can you post your audiogram?

Could this be a Recruitment issue from my younger days of listening to music with loud bass?

Possibly. If you've damaged your "low frequency hair cells", you may have triggered some maladaptive process that triggers your pain when there is too much energy in that frequency band.