Acoustic Trauma: Ear Fullness, Slight Ache, No Tinnitus — Should I Take Prednisone?

[kmiki]

Hi everyone, I'm new and been reading these forums for a few days now. 4 days ago I was working with an impact driver screwdriver and it got quite loud for short bursts of time several times. ( maybe 4 times, each 5 seconds long or so). I realized it was too loud and stopped but right after I stopped, one of my ears developed ear tightness/fullness (the other ear thankfully had a headphone in and it's fine). I later read that an impact driver like that can get up to 104 decibels when in full power mode, which is when mine was at the loudest.

My symptoms:
Ear fullness in left ear
Very slight ear ache in left ear

I don't have tinnitus/ringing/any significant hyperacusis although if I dropped a plate in a sink it would probably be unpleasant right now.

I had an audiogram done yesterday and it came out normal, no hearing loss. Doctor said to just let the ears relax and heal.

My question is, I have some Prednisone here and have been taking 30 mg from the day after the incident happened just in case, before I could get to the doctor. I know it's not a big dose but I am small and react strongly to drugs and I am alone in the house right now so was worried about taking more in case it affected me badly. The doctor said I don't need prednisone as there is no hearing loss anyway. But I wanted to ask if someone here could weigh in: should I may be take Prednisone for a while longer just in case there is some hidden hearing loss trauma or maybe it could help the ear ache etc? I want to be as safe as possible and to give my body as big a chance to heal as possible of course.

Could someone please share their thoughts?

Other than Prednisone, overall is there any way to tell what sort of prognosis I can hope for?

 

[kmiki]

Actually in addition to my original post: today is the first day that I didn't take Prednisone and I feel quite a bit more ear pain than previous 4 days. Not sure what that means. Any thoughts?

 

[AnthonyMcDonald]

Taper off Pred or finish your course if you want and avoid loud / noisy environments and wait. Not much else can be done.

 

[Juan]

Hi everyone, I'm new and been reading these forums for a few days now. 4 days ago I was working with an impact driver screwdriver and it got quite loud for short bursts of time several times. ( maybe 4 times, each 5 seconds long or so). I realized it was too loud and stopped but right after I stopped, one of my ears developed ear tightness/fullness (the other ear thankfully had a headphone in and it's fine). I later read that an impact driver like that can get up to 104 decibels when in full power mode, which is when mine was at the loudest.

My symptoms:
Ear fullness in left ear
Very slight ear ache in left ear

I don't have tinnitus/ringing/any significant hyperacusis although if I dropped a plate in a sink it would probably be unpleasant right now.

I had an audiogram done yesterday and it came out normal, no hearing loss. Doctor said to just let the ears relax and heal.

My question is, I have some Prednisone here and have been taking 30 mg from the day after the incident happened just in case, before I could get to the doctor. I know it's not a big dose but I am small and react strongly to drugs and I am alone in the house right now so was worried about taking more in case it affected me badly. The doctor said I don't need prednisone as there is no hearing loss anyway. But I wanted to ask if someone here could weigh in: should I may be take Prednisone for a while longer just in case there is some hidden hearing loss trauma or maybe it could help the ear ache etc? I want to be as safe as possible and to give my body as big a chance to heal as possible of course.

Could someone please share their thoughts?

Other than Prednisone, overall is there any way to tell what sort of prognosis I can hope for?

The dose of Prednisone depends on weight and a normal course lasts for a month or so...

Doctors sometimes prescribe Prednisone for shorter periods, but the real Prednisone treatment for hearing issues should last a month more or less.