Acoustic Trauma from Blown Bike Tire

[BigPileOfRats]

Hi all. I've had baseline tinnitus since childhood and I actually signed up for the Lenire waitlist about a month ago. I try to be as careful with my hearing as possible - music playing low, earplugs and/or earmuffs in loud places. I always keep a couple pairs in my car just in case.

I accidentally overinflated my bike tire a few hours ago and noticed the tire started to split from the rim during my ride. I got off and while I was walking the bike home, the tire popped.

It was loud, but not crazy loud. It sounded like a balloon popping. However, since then, I noticed a fullness and some dampening of sound in the ear closest to the tire, and I swear my tinnitus has gotten louder in that ear.

I saw that many people here recommended Prednisone within 48 hours of barotrauma to help reduce the chance that this hearing loss/louder tinnitus becomes permanent. I spent 4 hours waiting at urgent care only for the doctor to tell me that because I don't have a perforated eardrum, my hearing is fine (???) and he refused to discuss any treatment. I doubt I can get an ENT appointment within the 48-hour time frame and I feel like the ER will be the same bust. What else can I do? Do I try ER? Wait it out? Try something OTC?

My baseline tinnitus causes me anxiety on-and-off and I genuinely try my best to not make it worse. It's been an upsetting day .

 

[Jupiterman]

I don't know how many posts like this I've read and no doubt will continue to read in the future.

Doctors don't tend to know about emergency treatment of sudden hearing loss. And even if they do, most are reluctant to give out steroids, perhaps because they are uncomfortable prescribing them as they are powerful with undesirable side effects? You may get better luck with an ENT?

And you may get better luck going armed with some documents.

Here are two that may help.

Publication: Oral steroid regimens for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss

National Institutes of Health Article: Steroid Treatments Equally Effective Against Sudden Deafness

The next issue you'll have is how big an ego the doctor or ENT has. No one, especially doctors, like being told how to do their job.

The final issue you have is the evidence that steroids work is pretty weak and sketchy. There are people who have came out with worse tinnitus after a treatment of steroids. Some have benefited but then the question always gets asked - maybe it was nothing to do with the steroids and they would have improved anyway?

You may want to read some posts on this thread (I've linked to p37 for more recent posts):

Steroids: Prednisone / Dexamethasone / Others (Oral and Injections)

Let us all know how you get on.