Door Slammed Next to Me — Can It Cause Permanent Damage?

[valeri]

Went to shop few days ago and the interior door slammed so hard, I was maybe 1-2 meters away.
Now my t is definetly worse than before the incident.
Any chance that this is permanent increase
Sorry guys, I know it was asked before but I'm freaking out!

 

[Gigi]

@valeri I've only had T for a month so I am not sure, but from what I read it is a temporary spike and it will go down again. Sometimes when I am mixing for a while I take my headphones off and it is louder, then in a couple days it is softer again. <3 <3 <3

 

[Zorro!]

The worst thing you can do is let anxiety and worry make you spiral down into a dark place. I know it's hard but try not to fixate on the loud event that happened. After all, it's impossible to know what the future holds regarding your tinnitus. Things could always improve over time so don't believe the lie your brain is scaring you with right now.

If you have gotten relaxation training in the past try to revisit those exercises. If not then look into getting some counseling where they teach you to control your fears and anxiety through breathing techniques, etc. It can really help you get over these moments of panic when loud events happen. And when you calm down it can help lower your tinnitus and/or your perception of it. At least that's what I have found.

Hang in there.

 

[Ed209]

I was at a charity black tie ball a few months back set around a James Bond theme. Near the end of the meal as we were on our deserts a stunt show suddenly started. These ex SAS guys along with Daniel Craig's stunt man from the bond movies came out shooting blanks at each other. The noise behind me was so loud I nearly shot out of my chair, I must have easily took in 6 of the shots before I could get my ear plugs in. It happened suddenly because it was set up to shock people. I knew there was going to be a stunt show but I didn't know they'd just randomly start shooting like they did.

Any way I can report that I was fairly new to my increased T at the time and this event stressed me out big time. I convinced myself all sorts of damage had been done but it turned out fine for me. I had a spike later that evening but not immediately following the shots. I was literally lying in bed really anxious and concerned but it was much about nothing in the end. Looking back now I can see that I really worked myself up a lot more than I really should have.

Anyway I hope you're ok and I'd try not to worry about it too much.

 

[valeri]

I was at a charity black tie ball a few months back set around a James Bond theme. Near the end of the meal as we were on our deserts a stunt show suddenly started. These ex SAS guys along with Daniel Craig's stunt man from the bond movies came out shooting blanks at each other. The noise behind me was so loud I nearly shot out of my chair, I must have easily took in 6 of the shots before I could get my ear plugs in. It happened suddenly because it was set up to shock people. I knew there was going to be a stunt show but I didn't know they'd just randomly start shooting like they did.

Any way I can report that I was fairly new to my increased T at the time and this event stressed me out big time. I convinced myself all sorts of damage had been done but it turned out fine for me. I had a spike later that evening but not immediately following the shots. I was literally lying in bed really anxious and concerned but it was much about nothing in the end. Looking back now I can see that I really worked myself up a lot more than I really should have.

Anyway I hope you're ok and I'd try not to worry about it too much.

I was fine for the rest of that day, the day after but then on day 3 all hell broke loose. Now day 2 and still not getting better

 

[Ed209]

I was fine for the rest of that day, the day after but then on day 3 all hell broke loose. Now day 2 and still not getting better

I seriously doubt your increase is because of a door slamming 3 days ago. It's more likely that you've been thinking about it too much, concerned you have caused damage and have been excessively worrying about it.

I'll just add that spikes can come and go randomly for no known reason. T can be a very strange beast at the best of times, so if you only noticed the spike after 3 days then maybe you are looking for a cause unneccesarily?

 

[linearb]

a door slam is a single impulsive noise in the ~90-95 db range; it's not dangerous.

 

[Zorro!]

I was fine for the rest of that day, the day after but then on day 3 all hell broke loose. Now day 2 and still not getting better

Don't take it the wrong way when we suggest that you are probably worrying too much about this incident. We've all had these moments when we've panicked because the thought of tinnitus getting worse is too horrible to contemplate. The problem is that it's easy to worry too much and before we know it we've slipped into a worry loop that just grows and grows and grows. This isn't a good thing. It's best to get a handle on the worry and anxiety as soon as possible. That way you can get back on track to feeling better.

And yes, you can feel better. It is possible. Don't let tinnitus trick you into believing otherwise.

 

[Telis]

If your ears are not happy about a loud noise I would say it's probably not a good thing, I guess you will find out in a couple of weeks of it sticks or not. Hope you can heal up and it disappears

 

[Gosia]

Slamming doors..a nightmare. I must have experienced that at least twice each week. The internet will tell you it's around 90 db..but not all doors are the same, right? Sometimes the blast is so loud I really wonder how come it's supposedly so much more silent than a gun shot ? I can't believe that a regular door in a flat has the same db level when it slams as the huge, metal door I have a lot of which at the university for example ..or on the street when I pass by and people slam their staircase doors ( old kind, XVII - XIX century city houses that we have in France ) - one slammed 1 meter away from me yesterday. I also had two huge , metal windows slam behind me twice in my t life. I can't believe it was 90 db. A car door slam can be 90 db. All those I described were definitely louder. That having said, no change in T even if I really hate when that happens and I just wish people paid f..attention and just not slam them! The audiologists will tell you sth like this cannot, generally, cause any damage. You can take a few pills of NAC, vit C and magnesium + a rest for the ears of around 3 days, if you worry a damage might have occurred..Also, if you only hear you old T louder and not a new sound, the chances of it settling back are even bigger. Keep us posted.

 

[Sailboardman]

@valeri, time to grab a couple of Darwin stubbies, to help get you through the spike!

Feel better!

 

[Ed209]

I posted this on another thread but it's just as suited here. Have a read through this @valeri.

http://www.tinnitus.org/DST_NL2_PJMJ.pdf

 

[Ed209]

Slamming doors..a nightmare. I must have experienced that at least twice each week. The internet will tell you it's around 90 db..but not all doors are the same, right? Sometimes the blast is so loud I really wonder how come it's supposedly so much more silent than a gun shot ? I can't believe that a regular door in a flat has the same db level when it slams as the huge, metal door I have a lot of which at the university for example ..or on the street when I pass by and people slam their staircase doors ( old kind, XVII - XIX century city houses that we have in France ) - one slammed 1 meter away from me yesterday. I also had two huge , metal windows slam behind me twice in my t life. I can't believe it was 90 db. A car door slam can be 90 db. All those I described were definitely louder. That having said, no change in T even if I really hate when that happens and I just wish people paid f..attention and just not slam them! The audiologists will tell you sth like this cannot, generally, cause any damage. You can take a few pills of NAC, vit C and magnesium + a rest for the ears of around 3 days, if you worry a damage might have occurred..Also, if you only hear you old T louder and not a new sound, the chances of it settling back are even bigger. Keep us posted.

A slamming door is no where near the intensity of a gun shot. A gunshot is around 140db; a shotgun is apparently around 170db.

In scientific terms a handgun has around 15 times more energy to it. Thats around 7 times the sound pressure of a door slamming. A shotgun would carry around 25 times more energy being around 12 times louder.

I also had two huge , metal windows slam behind me twice in my t life. I can't believe it was 90 db. A car door slam can be 90 db. All those I described were definitely louder.

You have to remember that the decibel scale is logarithmic, so if the energy level in an impact doubles, it will only add 3db to the result. It takes a lot of energy for a single event to be dangerous. Far more than doors slamming. You would have to be extremely unlucky to attain ear damage from something like that happening.

 

[Gosia]

How are you , @valeri ? Did it settle down?

 

[valeri]

How are you , @valeri ? Did it settle down?

Bit better but still not as before the incident. Ears also more sensitive;(
Thank you all for your support!

 

[Alue]

A slamming door is no where near the intensity of a gun shot. A gunshot is around 140db; a shotgun is apparently around 170db.

In scientific terms a handgun has around 15 times more energy to it. Thats around 7 times the sound pressure of a door slamming. A shotgun would carry around 25 times more energy being around 12 times louder.



You have to remember that the decibel scale is logarithmic, so if the energy level in an impact doubles, it will only add 3db to the result. It takes a lot of energy for a single event to be dangerous. Far more than doors slamming. You would have to be extremely unlucky to attain ear damage from something like that happening.

Well put.
I will say, though, that OSHA guidelines for anything under 140db being "safe" for a short time is a bit of a joke. They are way too lenient.

Time seems to be a largely ignored factor, a gunshot etc is considered instantaneous, but what about something that lasts several seconds that's in the 130+ db range?

 

[Ed209]

Well put.
I will say, though, that OSHA guidelines for anything under 140db being "safe" for a short time is a bit of a joke. They are way too lenient.

Time seems to be a largely ignored factor, a gunshot etc is considered instantaneous, but what about something that lasts several seconds that's in the 130+ db range?

Time is a huge factor. I suppose a similar analogy would be like spending time in the sun. Lie in it for a long time with no sunscreen and you're increasing your risk of skin cancer. Sort of the same with sound without earplugs, even with them, the longer you spend in a loud environment the more the risk goes up. It would be a standard line on a graph of risk vs time.

The problem with guns is that no one really fires one shot. It's far more likely that multiple shots are fired, often back to back. The other thing is that they are so loud one shot can easily cause damage. There aren't many things that compare to explosive sounds, they are often the loudest things we will ever encounter. They are in a league of their own.

It takes an immense amount of energy to get above 140db. Bare in mind there is nothing louder than 194db.

 

[Ed209]

If it's true they say anything below 140db for a short duration is safe, then I'd completely disagree.

I really think some people underestimate the dba scale. 80db is loud, 90-100db is gig and club territory, 110db is ridiculously loud - right next to the speakers at a real gig in a hall, 120db will literally hurt your ears - and I'm not just talking about people with T - 130db would likely empty a room, 140db is insanely loud. Anything above 150db is likely to pop your ear drums.

The reason I'm dragging this on a bit is because there are a lot of websites that seem to misrepresent the dba scale. I've seen things like rock gigs are 140db-150db, and cinemas hitting 130db etc. There's just no way your average rock gig reaches 140db, it's laughable.

I think it gives people the wrong impression of how loud something is.

 

[Gosia]

Still, the vast majority of websites give realistic info about db level. Whatever they say anyway, we all have an individual sensitivity to sounds and after all that's all that matters. At the same concert some will get T, others won't have the slightest issues. Even if it indeed seems ridiculous to say that a cinema can hit 130 db, it doesn't change the fact that there are people who got t after a visit to a cinema or a permanent spike if they already had T beforehand. That makes all the discussion about numbers pointless. OSHA guidelines are nothing to be followed blindly, even if we're able to measure db level. If sth seems too loud for sb it should be avoided, even if OSHA guidelines may say it's ok. Take into consideration that if they lowered the safe level value, suddenly 80% of jobs would turn out to be dangerous for the hearing, which they are, but there are audiologists out there who alarm that OSHA guidelines are far too optimistic and the damage occurs way earlier.