Panicking After Airgun Shot

Hey Guys,

I've been reading along for a few years. I've had tinnitus since almost 20 years. For the most part of that time it was barely noticeable but 2 years ago I had a massive spike after going to a club without adequate hearing protection - does that count as a "classic"?

After some weeks of struggle I habituated pretty well although I had to quit motorcycle riding and concerts and clubs completely.

I have been pretty cautious ever since but today I stupidly dry fired an airgun in my living room. At first I just thought "oh, that was a bit louder than I thought" and just went on but after a few minutes I began to physically feel panic-ish (sweaty hands and heart beating really quick).

My mind started going wild then and I ended up setting up some kind of "experiment" to determine how loud that bang from the airgun was (triple hearing protection and db-meter app on m iPhone). I ended up with something close to 100 dB at about arms length distance and 117 dB directly next to the gun. I kinda feel like that just from the numbers nothing should have happened but then again my mind / anxiety doesn't always respond to rational thoughts.....

What do you guys think?

 

My T actually does sound a bit louder now - should i take prednisolone? I have some 20mg's here...
I'm just unsure what to do - wait until the spike -hopefully- wears off or take prednisolone...

 

Go to the ER and get Prednisone!!! The sooner you get it, the more effective it is going to be at preventing damage to your inner ear.

 

No way that any damage could occur from that. Not possible. Go to the ER and tell them you were exposed to a split second sound that was significantly quieter than a babies scream. Because that is the honest truth.

Also @Bill Bauer quit telling people to run to the ER and get prednisone. It's reckless. There should be a ban on this.

 

Just in case the doctor at the ER shares kelpiemsp's strange views, you might want to tell the doctor that you had to stop a screaming fire alarm. This is what I said, and they gave prednisone to me.

 

How does an airgun differ from a regular gun?

 

It is not wise to shoot air gun indoors.
It should never happen.
Don't endanger your own ears !

 

It is probably quieter. However, he shot it inside, and he wasn't wearing any hearing protection.

I just noticed that he wrote "dry fired". I am not sure that that means.

 

It's on an order of 5x quieter.

 

I'm gonna guess "dry-fired" means no ammunition in the gun...either way you may have to just chalk this up to a live and learn experience. If you got used to that massive spike from the past @Bill_ you will probably get over this alright.

 

It‘s much quieter than a normal gun as it just used a coil spring to propell the bullets which don’t have any explosives in them. „Dry firing“ means shooting without a bullet!
They still can be as loud as 130dB according to literature, although my measurements stayed below that. But then again that was just done by using an dB-Meter app and therefore of questionable accuracy

 

In that case, unless you are experiencing ear fullness and/or a serious T spike, please ignore my advice regarding getting Prednisone.

 

Wtf man? He's not talking about a real gun.
Bill_, you'll experience 100 db quite often in your life. Can't harm if it's for one instant.

Edit: excuse me BillBauer, just saw your last message

 

I actually went to my doc and he said basically that it probably won’t have done any damage but since I felt a slight ear fullness he gave me a 60/40/40/20/20/10mg schedule for prednisone. Guess i‘m just gonna wait now

 

You didn't say what caused your orignal T 20 years ago

 

Noise induced - went to a metal concert when I was 15 and didn’t use ear protection

 

You have a great doctor.

 

What research are you showing a db of up to 130? The loudest I could find was a point blank of around 85. Similar to dropping an empty soda can on to concrete from shoulder height...

 

It's in german but on the second page it says „135 dB Luftgewehr in Ohrnähe“ which translates to „135dB air rifle close to ear“

http://www.juwu.de/2db-laermtabelle.pdf

 

My brother used to shoot airguns, I was sometimes close to them and I don't think you need to worry about the exposure. Your anxiety over it is probably making you focus more on your tinnitus?

 

And that is a reliable source? Code-knacker???? I found about 30 that listed air rifles well below 90...

 

It's not the only source - here's one in english where quite a few rifles were tested (some .22 and 9mm guns, too). They were measured at 10 ft distance and some are well beyond 120dB in an open enviroment so i'm not too sure about the validity of those numbers that stay way below 100dB....

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2009/03/airgun-sound-level-measurement/

 

These are impulse and not A or C-weighted peaks. BIG difference. We know that an impulse noise won't cause any damage if it is below 140dB. That is a huge distinction this forum breezes over. Almost all of the high level dB noises we catch on our phones or are worried about are impulse noises. Which is VERY different from the weighted continuous exposure from which our guidelines are created from. You simply cannot compare an impulse 120 dB noise to say a continuous 120dB noise that continues for minutes. They are not even comparable. And you should not stress.

 

Decibels are logarithmic, so regular guns at 140db (some higher) are 10,000 times louder than 100db.

I hope there is no damage, but if you ears were weakened already there theoretically could have one more straw added to the camel's back too much. As to 100db....I go to a church where the music is regularly 100db (peaks at 102-10x), and I stay out of the rooms for music now.

117db at the tip is not so good of course, and being in an enclosed room adds to the pressure waves present.

I see you got some prednisone, that is excellent!

I'm sure with any luck you will come out of this okay.

 

I‘m having a slight but noticeable increase in my T at the Moment which got even a bit worse this morning. But i‘m rather positive this has more to do with the increased awareness and anxiety. I‘m sure it will wear off over a few days or weeks maybe.

 

can you get your hands into some nicotinamide riboside?

 

I don’t know actually. I‘m on prednisone atm though...

 

My tinnitus increased while taking prednisone; it could be contributing to the current increase you’re experiencing.

 

This isn’t my week.... met a friend just half an hour ago who gave me a high five that sounded super loud to my ears and now I’m googling „dB levels hand clap“ and starting to worry all over again
I think I’m going nuts here....

 

I think you're right, you're going nuts. I can't blame you, I had a period like this too. But some noises are really not worth worrying.