Earplug Insertion Made a Booming Sound and New Tinnitus... Now What?

[Coyotesheaven]

I was putting my earplugs in today, and due to my hands being covered in lotion, they accidentally slipped into one of my ears and made a loud booming noise. Around 80 db I would guess or less, just like being right next to a loudspeaker, but not that loud of a noise obviously. However, the proximity of that noise to my eardrum worries me.

Nevertheless my stupid ear didn't like it all the same. New T frequency and some muffled/distorted hearing just from 1 second of that bass effect.

Am I doomed from this or will this just be temporary?

 

[Tom Cnyc]

Buy custom plugs. It's worth it

 

[Foncky]

I regularly get those sounds when I remove plugs after a shower, for instance. It's loud, best to avoid, but somehow I never felt it could cause permanent damage.

 

[Owen]

The proximity of it to your eardrum means that you have virtually zero attenuation or spreading losses from source to receiver. You might think it isn't that loud, but imagine sitting a meter away from a speaker, listening to something at a reasonable level and then putting your ear immediately against it. The difference is night and day.

I have done the same thing myself in the past and it settled down after around 24 hours. I have known people have similar experiences and it took closer to a week, but it should improve.