Ear Hit with Fire Alarm 6 Days Ago. Tinnitus Now Very Loud Hiss...

[Zinnia]

I was standing only 5 feet away when it went off in my bad ear. My guess is it was approx 120 dB - horribly loud. Since then it has worsened - gotten much much louder with a hiss that resembles a wire brush scraping against metal. I can't ignore it and can't even seem to mask it.

I want to say, hey, tell me it will get better, it happened to me and went back down.... but i know it's just a waiting game now. So worried though because I think it caused more damage. I've never had a spike sound like this.

Regardless, I felt the need to reach out to this community. Any positive experiences overcoming something like this or whatever would be so awesome.

 

[Bill Bauer]

How long were you exposed to that noise?

It is a loud hiss now. What was it before you got exposed to that fire alarm noise?

There is still a reasonable chance that it will fade within the next 3 months or so...

 

[OnceUponaTime]

I was in a store shopping and the alarm went off....I covered my ears and ran outside.... I was ok, thank God, but I can relate... Rest your ears for a while now as much as you can. Hopefully it will come down to your base soon. I will pray for you.

 

[Red]

How long were you exposed?

 

[Zinnia]

@Bill Bauer @OnceUponaTime @Red

It all happened so fast...I pressed down on the tragus and ran into a quiet room. I think I pressed down immediately but I don't know, there could have been awkward flailing hesitation. I know it got me good though because my ear was facing the alarm when it went off. Literally standing in front of the damn thing.

Before this happened I was doing so much better with the T. Volume was so much lower and the tones before, I think, were like pure tone and static. I hadn't been monitoring it for a while.

Thanks for your positive thoughts.... I'll try to be positive too. Feel like I'm in shock.

 

[Robert18]

The bible says: 'don't let your heart be trouble , don't be afraid' .

Everything is going to be fine, I will pray for you .

God bless,
Robert

 

[dingaling]

Feel like I'm in shock.

This is most likely acoustic shock and should get better in weeks

 

[dpdx]

I got exposed to two fire alarms and did caloric test. This all happened in a week or so and BAM Severe Tinnitus. I think you will be fine honestly. When I had Mild T back in Dec I stood next to an ambulance siren and covered my ears. No Spike nothing.

 

[Red]

@Bill Bauer @OnceUponaTime @Red

It all happened so fast...I pressed down on the tragus and ran into a quiet room. I think I pressed down immediately but I don't know, there could have been awkward flailing hesitation. I know it got me good though because my ear was facing the alarm when it went off. Literally standing in front of the damn thing.

Before this happened I was doing so much better with the T. Volume was so much lower and the tones before, I think, were like pure tone and static. I hadn't been monitoring it for a while.

Thanks for your positive thoughts.... I'll try to be positive too. Feel like I'm in shock.

We are never going to be able to escape fire alarms. You're not the only one who has had this happen. My honest opinion is that they are very unhealthy and outright damaging to ears. However, from what I can tell no one on this website has found a solution so it is just a fact of life that we have to deal with. Fire alarm volume varies from place to place. The loudest fire alarm I have ever heard in my life was before I got tinnitus and was absolutely earsplitting. That happened at a Food Lion. But in general with loud noises you're safer in larger, more open spaces. The smaller the room, the louder that noise is going to be.

 

[robHing]

bible says: 'don't let your heart be trouble , don't be afraid' .

Amen !

 

[dingaling]

One also has to remember why fire alarms are loud in the first place. They are warning and alerting sounds.They mean "get out immediately". If the sound of a fire alarm was quieter, people might not take any notice

 

[SugarMagnolia]

One also has to remember why fire alarms are loud in the first place. They are warning and alerting sounds.They mean "get out immediately". If the sound of a fire alarm was quieter, people might not take any notice

Blinking lights would also be impossible to miss and would have the added bonus of alerting the deaf.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Blinking lights would also be impossible to miss and would have the added bonus of alerting the deaf.

But be of no help to the blind or those with very poor vision. Many commercial fire alarms do have a blinking light, but they are easily missed because they are not as noticeable during daylight or in a brightly lit room.

 

[SugarMagnolia]

But be of no help to the blind or those with very poor vision. Many commercial fire alarms do have a blinking light, but they are easily missed because they are not as noticeable during daylight or in a brightly lit room.

I did think of blind people when I said that. I didn't want this to become "blind people vs. deaf people." I figured blind people would be relying on their seeing-eye dogs to get them safely through the crowd of fleeing people. The dogs would probably be better off without the loud alarm hurting their sensitive ears and possibly disorienting them.

Perhaps a red light would be easier to see. Red also communicates danger. We want everyone to escape a fire, but it would be nice if everyone could escape without ear injury.

 

[jjflyman]

I was standing only 5 feet away when it went off in my bad ear. My guess is it was approx 120 dB - horribly loud. Since then it has worsened - gotten much much louder with a hiss that resembles a wire brush scraping against metal. I can't ignore it and can't even seem to mask it.

I want to say, hey, tell me it will get better, it happened to me and went back down.... but i know it's just a waiting game now. So worried though because I think it caused more damage. I've never had a spike sound like this.

Regardless, I felt the need to reach out to this community. Any positive experiences overcoming something like this or whatever would be so awesome.

Hi
Was your T improving over the last 12 months (before this fire alarm)?
If you were seeing improvement, there is no reason to think a short exposure to this alarm will cause anything permanent.