Permanent Ear Damage?

C

coonmanx

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
OK, so yesterday I was on my way to work. I drive down a small stretch of interstate because that is the fastest direct route to get to where I am going. It starts out as three lanes and then merges into two. The speed limit is 65 but it is not unusual to get passed there by people going 80 mph or more. Rarely is speed enforced there. Shortly after the road merges into two lanes there is a also an on-ramp where traffic merges in. So when I saw the traffic merging in I got into the left lane doing about 75 mph. Behind me I see two motorcycles coming up fast. I am cruising along and they come up fast behind me. I go to get into the right lane just as the motorcycle tries to jet over and pass on the right. Typical crap by people who just don't care. The guy is cruising with another guy who is behind him. So he then switches to the left lane and blows past me. That is when the problem happens. I have my window down and as they go by, I get blasted by the pressure wave from their loud pipes. It is extremely loud and it feels like someone punched me directly in the ear and I wince in pain. It is too late to roll up the window to protect myself.

So for at least two hours after that my left ear was ringing. It seemed to go away but this morning when I woke up it is back. A high pitched, almost whistling noise that won't go away. And if I chomp down on my teeth on that side it gets louder. I am very worried that because of these guys on motorcycles who really didn't care about anyone else on the road I may have permanent hearing damage. Maybe someone else with this kind of hearing problem could chime in, but I knew right away when it happened that there was the possibility of hearing damage. I had never experienced anything that loud like that before and it went directly into my left ear and caused pain.

Thoughts?
 
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I am just bumping this because the noise is still there some two hours after I got up this morning. As soon as I chomp down on my teeth on the left hand side it gets louder. That doesn't happen on my right side.

I was hoping that someone who suffers from tinnitis might chime in. I am guessing that some might say to go see an ear doctor but I don't have money to do that. I take very good care of my ears so this is very distressing since it was the actions of others that was the cause of my pain. I really am worried that this is something that I am stuck with for the rest of my life. I'm trying to not panic yet when this happened I knew that something was wrong.
 
Do you have to pay for your GP? The GP can at least go though the basics - actually they know quite a lot. Mine did :D My story isn't worth repeating.

Cheers, og
 
Ouch, that sucks. I remember in my mis-spent youth my ears would ring for a couple days after a particularly loud concert. I can't remember specifically whether clamping my teeth made a difference at that time though. Although now I think on it maybe it did.

Of course do to a combination of that and working in a very loud environment for years I now have tinnitus. And I can say with certainty that clamping my teeth together has absolutely no effect.

My thoughts for what it's worth is the ringing is temporary. Hearing loss and damage is cumulative. You may suffer some small percent of long term loss from this one incident. But my guess is it won't be too dramatic. The thing is I don't think there is a whole lot they can do about it anyway. My advice would be if it's still ringing on Monday morning then think about getting it checked out. But I bet it will be gone by then. Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

Cheers.....................Todd
 
TConnelly, I hope that you are right. What really has me worried is that I felt the pressure wave followed by the pain. It was pretty intense. Here is hoping that it is only temporary.
 
Maybe the air hammer you took yesterday exacerbated an existing condition, related to a tooth imfection inflaming the left ear. I would take the presence of pain as you described it as an indicator of infection, and go see a dentist.
 
Yep, I'd go to the hospital and get seen.
That some Scary Stuff right there...Could happen to Anyone
Praying You'll be alright.
 
I'd say this is the problem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barotrauma

I suffered one in 1987 in a flight to Newfoundland.. I healed,but I did see a GP and a ENT guy. You may have some bllod in your ear canal,as a result of the eardrum being "pushed out" too far.

Good luck and let us know the results.

Alan
 
I hope all will be well, a blast or sudden burst of sound pressure at a fair distance and low as a motorcycle header pipe, now that will ring your bell.
 
Permanent hearing loss sometimes comes suddenly. If one is exposed to loud noise on a consistent basis, it can lead to a point where all it takes is one last push to give you permanent damage. That jerk on the noisecycle might have been that last push.
 
Take care folks, I had so extremly tinnitus for six years that I at least considered suicide. Anything that could trigger tinnitus should be avoided.
 
a few years ago, i was in the pit area at a local drag strip and was standing next to a vintage nitro-burning front-engine dragster when they started it up. with open shorty headers it was extremely loud just idling. but then the guy in the car (who was not the driver or the cars owner) accidentally hit the throttle hard. i was about 10 feet away from the engine and the pipes were aimed right at my head. the word loud doesn't even cover what i experienced. it instantly blew out both my ear drums. i felt them pop and quickly covered my ears with my hands, but too late. it instantly gave me a headache, and i felt a pressure difference in my ears. it effected my hearing for a few hours. however, except for the first couple of hours or so, it did not effect my hearing at all, i had no ringing, and i didn't suffer any permanent damage or hearing loss. a doctor confirmed what i already knew. it would heal, and i should just keep water out of my ears while they healed, and not go through significant elevation (pressure) changes during the healing process. my hearing is fine and, in fact, tests better than anyone my age is expected to have.

now, i'll preface this by saying free medical advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. free medical advice from an audio forum is worth even less. i'm not a doctor, but i was raised by one, and i spent much of my career (as a scientific and medical illustrator) illustrating medical and dental textbooks, so i do have some knowledge of those fields. and i've had blown out ear drums. so here's my 2 ¢.

wait a few days to see if it gets better, but if it doesn't get substantially better within 48 hours, get yourself looked at. a torn ear drum or inner ear trauma may result in equilibrium or balance issues due to a change in pressure from one ear to the other. in case you did tear your ear drum, i would suggest wearing ear plugs when you shower (or swim) to keep water out of your ears. if you are experiencing pain, and it gets worse when you clench your teeth, it might be something other than ear damage from the loud pipes. there is a chance the loud noise may have triggered a response to a problem that already existed. or there could be swelling that puts pressure on the ear canal when you flex your jaw muscles by clenching your teeth. dental problems can also give symptoms like you describe. if you really clenched your teeth when the noise hit you it could have triggered a problem with your teeth or jaw you were not aware of, or you could have cracked a tooth. an infection is a possibility, and should not be ignored if that is the case. you don't want to mess around with something that close to your brain. if you don't have insurance or $ for a doctor, check for a local community clinic. they will typically charge based on your ability to pay.



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i'd like to know how Harmon Kardon 'had' tinnitis...in the sense that it is gone now? i'd love to know how that worked...please share.

i have tinnitis, the cumulative sort that comes from too many club shows and loud concerts when young...

but a few years ago, i experienced a sound trauma to complicated to explain, and consulted with an ENT .... nothing to be done about it, but from that point on, i am sensitive to tones in the upper mid range (matching the traumatic sound event) and they distort badly when they occur in music i'm listening to...i thought it would go away but it never has
 
Probably just temporary and will go away, but I'd go see the doc for a quick look just for the peace of mind. if you are on this forum, likely your hearing is VERY important to you. Hope it gets better.
 
Tinnitus is something that many of us suffer from to one degree or another. The longer it continues, the more damage that was probably done to your hearing.

FWIW: There is something that you can do at this moment which can help a bit. Take anti-oxidands. Vitamin C, E, beta carroteen, N-A-C, and some others all can be beneficial if taken very soon after the damage occurs, and can help to limit how permanent the damage becomes. But don't wait around, the sooner that you take these supplements the more likely they are to help. The first 48 hours are the most critical. But they can still help somewhat up to two weeks after the initial incident. After that, what's done is done.
 
probably blew your eardrum, with luck it will heal.

I remember as a kid at a Powwow, the drums blew out my left eardrum, and blood trickled out. ten years later, blew it again deep diving, (without pressurizing)

I have permanent tinnitus in both ears, it's amazing I can hear anything.
I also have severe apositional vertigo, due to the semi-circular canals in my right ear going wonky ten or so years ago, took a long time to re-learn how to walk. Now I dance on steel I-beams 50-100 feet in the air. You can adapt to anything.
Everytime I go to an ear dr (oncologist?) usually the first words after he insterts the otoscope are 'oh, wow' .... followed by numerous questions.

(shrugs) what ya gonna do?

jaz
 
Hopefully, you'll be ok, from such a short exposure, but not exactly an ear doctor myself. Recall reading, where actor William Shatner was to close to an accidental Star Trek set explosion, and was in ear pain for years. You can probably search, how this came out for him. I manage some large construction sites, and hearing protection is a highly enforced thing. Most of crew, is more than happy to cooperate though. While not helping you here, as another mentioned, went to a recent NHRA top fuel drag racing event, and never experienced sound and pressure levels like this in my life. Everyone had ear plugs, but even then, was still almost unbearible.
 
Sorry to hear about your problem with the two motorcycles.
I had the same thing happen. Two idiots on harleys.

coon - that because of these guys on motorcycles who really didn't care about anyone else on the road

Try riding a motorcycle. Then you can complain about people that don't care about anyone else on the
road. Do you have any idea how many times a week oncoming cars cross over into my lane or people
next to me decide to change lanes without looking?
 
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It goes both ways with motorcycles. People who ride them want respect but then don't give it. I spoke with a friend of mine yesterday who rides and he responded by saying that those guys probably have no hearing left. He rides a nice bike with I believe a four cylinder motor in it. Nothing deafening.

Still ringing today. When I woke up this morning it seemed better but then came back and is just as bad as it was. I kind of don't like thinking about it or it might drive me nuts. Just trying to deal with it.

I'm not going to panic at this point in time because my hearing still seems fine. Just that high pitched noise to deal with. I know, "it's all in my head".
 
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I ride bikes, but leave the stock exhaust alone. Really don't know who all this exhaust noise is for, as many of these guys are wearing earplugs, well as helmets. Go figure.
 
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