Old School Bell Went Off Near My Left Ear — Do You Think It Caused Hearing Loss?

I was at back to school night tonight and unbeknownst to me I was standing under the school bell. This is an old school so the bells ring really loud. As soon as it went off I immediately covered my ears. I was probably exposed to it for a second, maybe 2 at best. I came home and took some NAC and 60 mg of Prednisone.

Do you think I’ll have hearing loss? I have no idea how many decibels it was but it was loud. Scared the daylights out of me.

 

@Forever hopeful, I hope you're joking. If school bells were able to cause hearing loss, we'd all have been f*cked from childhood.

I'd say taking Prednisone after such a mild "incident" (not really an incident) puts your health more at risk than anything. You shouldn't pop Prednisone like candy.

Paranoia about normal everyday sound incidents isn't treated by Prednisone.

 

Thank you. I’m not normally this freaked out by loud noises I am only exposed to for a brief time, but I was literally standing right under the bell and it was so loud. I wouldn’t have been so worried and I’ve been shading away from the bell.

I also don’t pop Prednisone like it is candy. Just trying to preemptively ward off any hearing loss. My left ear is damaged and therefore my hearing in it is unstable. I’ve had tinnitus on and off in it for 1.5 years. I’ve currently been enjoying five months where the tinnitus is completely subsided. I’m just trying to ward off it coming back because it was my left ear that was right under the bell.

 

I wouldn't worry about it if I were in your shoes.

 

Thanks. I have enough to worry about like should I get the vaccine or not? I know I have to but can’t stomach the thought of tinnitus worsening.

 

If you have the opportunity maybe you could (with ear protection), or even better have the school do it, measure the actual dB-level of the bell.

If is is above 110-115 dB the school should not be using it at all imo.

When that is said, 115 dB in "bell"/alarm frequency is something that feels very loud, even if it should not cause instant hearing loss. Point being there is a good chance you did not get hearing loss even though it felt very loud.