Terrified After Car Exhaust Backfire

I was sitting in the street, when a guy in an old sports car came driving past.

He put his foot down and the exhaust backfired, about 10 feet directly in front of me, it sounded like an explosion.

my ears rang for a handful of seconds, and since my hearing feels dull and muffled.

I'm *so * scared that I'm give to have permanent ear damage of some kind.

When I got home 3 hours later, I took 400mg of Magnesium citrate, 2000mg of cod liver oil, 1200 ug of vitamin D, pan ginseng and ate a bush of spinach, olive oil, chicken breast and cashew nuts, with orange juice .

I'm shit scared that I'm done for this time.

 

Consider going to the ER and asking for prednisone. Tell them that you had to stop a screaming home fire alarm.

 

Unless you have lost hearing, you are likely okay. Prednisone studies looked at individuals with hearing loss and the protocol was typically two week dosing.

If anything, anxiety from the experience is likely elevating your limbic system and making you fear the worst and think it’s worse.

 

If you go to the ER just tell them it was a car backfire....they can be pretty loud and I think they will understand.

 

I agree with @Tinker Bell .

When we develop Tinnitus it feels like every time we go out something will go “Bang” an alarm, a Siren, etc. most of the time we’re ok and overthinking it.

If you have ear pain,fullness in your ears for some time and have never checked your ears, it’s good to go to a specialist.

Self medicating and taking lots of supplements is not the way to go.

Also, don’t lie to health professionals.

Best,
Zug

 

Re-reading your text I’m in doubt: do you have Tinnitus or it wasn’t just for a while? If it’s the second option you are ok.

 

They would not. They would dismiss your concerns and give you an ativan for anxiety, at best. You have to make up a story. Firecrackers lit off next to ear, mosh pit at metal concert, gun shot at range, etc. You don't have to go to the hospital. It could be an emergency clinic.

But really, it pays to be prepared ahead of time and have corticosteroids and antioxidants on hand to take immediately following a potential trauma. I'm talking about a real trauma here not clanging a plate against the counter.

 

If you're hearing is muffled and dull after the event, then pred is warranted, in my non expert opinion. Not saying damage was done. Try some NAC too.

 

This doesn't mean that we should be reckless and expose ourselves to noise when we can avoid it. Also, minor noises CAN be devastating for people like us:

Not a very good advice, this. According to many sources, steroid injections and steroid pills help if one is treated soon after one's acoustic trauma [I read about this before I learned to save interesting posts; you will have to find those posts yourself - they are certainly here on this forum]. I saw an ENT soon after my acoustic trauma, but the ENT never mentioned these treatment option to me. He was just patiently waiting for me to leave so that he could see one of his other patients. So it makes sense to do what you can in order to get the treatment that you need. If you know that telling a certain story will get you the prednisone that you know you need, tell the story.

That had actually happened to me. They prescribed Ativan...

 

People need to understand, most ENTs do not do their jobs properly. It's a money making business - churn and burn.
If you present with something that is easy for them, they will treat it. Anything that is a little challenging or requires further exploration they don't want to deal with it. This is how it is the world over in any profession. A minority go above and beyond to do a good job, most are mediocre. The medical profession is no different.

 

Also they give false advise like: a 2 second 120 db event isn't enough to cause immediate hearing damage or ringing. Or that it's safe to stay in a party at 90db for four hours (way out of niosh guidelines - 90 db for 2.5 hours). They prefer to treat hearing loss than anything else (not acoustic trauma, not tinnitus).

 

I had my old car backfire once in a street, large displacement engine..very loud same as a 9 mm pistol shot perhaps.
I had my muffs on and it was outside but the whole crowd in the street jumped in surprise

 

Priceless, huh?