Train Horn Exposure: Can It Damage Hearing or Make Tinnitus Worse?

[simon225]

Hi everyone,

Today I took the train to school, and when I got out I had to walk under a small bridge that the train passes over. Just as I walked out from underneath it, the train blasted its horn. I had a dB meter app running on my phone, which showed a maximum of 86 dB at the moment it happened. I know that is not very loud for a short sound, but I am worried the measurement might not have been accurate because the train was behind me to my left, while my phone was in my right hand.

Can someone give me advice on how to handle this, and whether it could be damaging? Any advice would really help.

 

[Scruffiey]

Did you get a spike? Any alteration in hearing thresholds? If not, no harm done.

If you didn't, not a lot you can do about it... I doubt a doctor is going to prescribe prednisone because you heard a train horn.
Wait it out, and it'll pass.

Just keep calm, and you'll probably forget about it in a couple of weeks. Accidents happen, and it sounds more like you're just anxious about it rather than it having caused an issue.

 

[dingaling]

If it was just a short blast, then I wouldn't worry.

If you already have tinnitus and the train horn exacerbated it (made worse), then, provided that you don't get anxious over it, nothing will happen.

 

[Yosemite]

I take it you don't wear earplugs outdoors?

Did your tinnitus spike after the train horn exposure? If it didn't, then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[simon225]

I take it you don't wear earplugs outdoors?

Did your tinnitus spike after the train horn exposure? If it didn't, then I wouldn't worry about it.

I try my best not to. I started wearing hearing protection many times a year ago, and it gave me mild hyperacusis. So now I am trying to go back outdoors without earplugs, but I do keep my dB meter on when I find myself in busy or stressful situations, like today.

The horn did make my tinnitus worse, but I have experienced a lot of stress during the past weeks, which also made it worse, so I do not know which of the 2 is the cause.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.