Is Balloon Pop at 15-20m (50-60ft) Dangerous?

[vaseto99]

I was at a restaurant and at the other half of the restaurant there was a kid with a balloon.

I was kinda scared about it but decided to stay since she was in the other end of the restaurant.
At one moment I heard the balloon pop and I feel like I had small pain on my left ear after it... not sure if it's placebo.

I know it's funny to overthink about such stuff but I heard balloons are dangerously loud so I feel somewhat scared about it ...

 

[Sebastians]

No

 

[Sam Bridge]

Same thing happened to me on a bus last week, I was upstairs and it was downstairs. Didn't have any effect on tinnitus other than making me jump out of my seat when I heard the noise :|

 

[Michael B]

Research has shown that a balloon pop can be as loud as a shotgun. You were lucky to be as far from it as you were.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I was at a restaurant and at the other half of the restaurant there was a kid with a balloon.

There have been many stories posted here that are very similar to your story. Here is one of them:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/balloon-popped-next-to-me.6212
Balloons can be very dangerous. If you see anyone with a balloon - drop everything and LEAVE.

Hopefully your spike will be temporary. Everything depends on the distance between you and a balloon popping, the acoustics of the room you were in, etc...

 

[spikedears]

Balloons can be very dangerous. If you see anyone with a balloon - drop everything and LEAVE

LOLZ

 

[Bill Bauer]

LOLZ

Yes, after you leave you can laugh at the people who are putting themselves at risk of making their body uninhabitable.

And, just to clarify, balloons are only dangerous to T sufferers.

 

[TuneOut]

LOLZ

They really can be very damaging to the ears in close enough proximity.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Foncky had an unfortunate experience with a balloon popping in his car:

A popped balloon made it worse (permanently). But it did take a few weeks to get worse. I didn't realize at first and was exposed to loud sounds several times right after the balloon.

 

[spikedears]

after you leave you can laugh at the people who are putting themselves at risk of making their body uninhabitable

They really can be very damaging to the ears in close enough proximity.

I'm not laughing at those exposed to noise in anyway or suffering spikes because of it. I would not make light of that at all; and would likely be concerned myself if exposed in this way. I was laughing more at the language used...the 'if you see anyone with a balloon, drop everything and leave' as though the balloon is a bomb/loaded gun.

.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I'm not laughing at those exposed to noise in anyway or suffering spikes because of it. I would not make light of that at all; and would likely be concerned myself if exposed in this way. I was laughing more at the language used...the 'drop everything and leave' as though the balloon is a bomb threat.

.

I know why you laughed.

After reading about people's horrific experiences with balloons, I intend to treat them like a ticking bomb. I wish there was no reason to think that way, but I am convinced that the threat is real. Both a bomb and a balloon have the potential to worsen one's life - permanently (or to give one weeks or months of torment).

 

[spikedears]

Fair enough. Didn't mean any disrespect by it, @Bill Bauer - it just caught me as amusing

 

[Pleasure_Paulie]

No

 

[Bill Bauer]

Didn't mean any disrespect by it, @Bill Bauer - it just caught me as amusing

Thank you for being nice about it.

 

[GregCA]

I know it's funny to overthink about such stuff but I heard balloons are dangerously loud so I feel somewhat scared about it ...

They're only dangerously loud if they pop near your ear. "Funny" isn't the word I'd use when it comes to overthinking these kind of situations: it can condition people to unreasonably fear day-to-day situations, and then develop real & painful pathologies because of that.

It makes sense to be cautious about loud sounds of course, but be careful to not fall into extremes.

 

[Bill Bauer]

it can condition people to unreasonably fear day-to-day situations

The key word above is "unreasonably." Yes, you shouldn't fear birds chirping. But balloons are in that microsuction league - very common and very dangerous. Unreasonable to not fear being anywhere near them (as this is what balloons do - they Pop).

 

[vaseto99]

There have been many stories posted here that are very similar to your story. Here is one of them:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/balloon-popped-next-to-me.6212
Balloons can be very dangerous. If you see anyone with a balloon - drop everything and LEAVE.

Hopefully your spike will be temporary. Everything depends on the distance between you and a balloon popping, the acoustics of the room you were in, etc...

the balloon wasnt next to me it was at 15-20 metres away

 

[Ed209]

the balloon wasnt next to me it was at 15-20 metres away

Coincidentally, a balloon popped at a christening we were at in November from about that distance. Some people jumped, but I didn't really think anything of it. I would have if I was right next to it as they can be loud. I think the key is to be sensible; either move away from the balloon or tell the people to move the balloon away from you. In a big room it's not likely to be damaging but it's not an impossibility either. The real risk is in enclosed spaces.

 

[Bill Bauer]

the balloon wasnt next to me it was at 15-20 metres away

Hopefully you will end up being ok.

 

[vaseto99]

Hopefully you will end up being ok.

thank you I hope so too

 

[Ed209]

thank you I hope so too

You'll be fine.

 

[Ed209]

On another note of interest I've actually been in a situation where a balloon has popped in a hall and I've been exposed to gun fire (using blanks) from around the same sort of distance under the same circumstances. The gun was far and away the loudest by a mile. It was so loud people were dropping their cutlery and food all over the floor. I nearly had a heart attack; I'll never forget it. In case you're wondering how this happened I've mentioned it on here before but it was at a James Bond charity ball and it was part of a stunt show that happened during dinner and scared the life out of everyone. There really should have been a health warning on the ticket as a friend of mine who was sitting right next to the guy as he fired said his ears immediately started ringing. He didn't think anything of it and it stopped after a few hours. Still really bad though. I reckon some older people could have easily had a heart attack and everyone nearby was at risk of permanent tinnitus.

 

[BobDigi]

No. It's placebo

 

[Ed209]

No. It's placebo

I agree, but in this case it's called the nocebo effect.

 

[GregCA]

the balloon wasnt next to me it was at 15-20 metres away

Yes that's why you shouldn't worry about it.
Some people have a habit of instilling fear and rationalize it by thinking they are doing you a favor. Unfortunately that can be very counter-productive and backfire (there was a recent example in here).

If you do worry about it still, then ask a doctor. In the meantime, relax and live life.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Unfortunately that can be very counter-productive and backfire (there was a recent example in here).

Here is another recent example:

I can't take it anymore. I don't want to die but at this stage the urge to stop suffering is stronger. Ps. To all members in this forum advising against so called "overprotection". I never exposed myself to sounds even remotely considered as being potentially harmful to healthy people but because of your advice I was exposed to sounds uncomfortable for me which eventually proved to be damaging.

At initial stages i was very weary about sound levels around me and used protection every time I felt uncomfortable.

Only by reading TRT literature or some posts here I started to expose my self to sounds loud but never louder than 75-80 dB.

Whenever I was feeling like something is not right I was stupid enough to believe you these changes were part of "the natural process of healing".

Is this your healing? Every time you feel like giving this sort of advice have my case in mind.

 

[Julien87]

There have been many stories posted here that are very similar to your story. Here is one of them:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/balloon-popped-next-to-me.6212
Balloons can be very dangerous. If you see anyone with a balloon - drop everything and LEAVE.

Hopefully your spike will be temporary. Everything depends on the distance between you and a balloon popping, the acoustics of the room you were in, etc...

1m =/= 20m
What's wrong with you?

 

[Bill Bauer]

1m =/= 20m

I agree.

If you take a look at my posts, I never said that in my opinion he should be worried about getting a permanent spike. What I have been trying to convey is that In General, staying away from balloons is a good rule for T sufferers to live by.

 

[Jason37]

I have been exposed to gun fire and a balloon would have to be right next to your ear to even come close.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I have been exposed to gun fire and a balloon would have to be right next to your ear to even come close.

Are you sure?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4175980/Popping-balloon-louder-SHOTGUN.html

Children should only pop party balloons while wearing ear defenders, hearing experts have warned.

Despite being part of the fun and games at parties, the bang can be louder than a shotgun blast, scientists claim.

Blowing them up until they exploded caused the loudest bang but popping them with a pin and squeezing were nearly as loud, a study found.
...
Canadian researchers recorded a range of methods used to pop balloons using a high-pressure microphone while wearing protective ear defenders.

They found over-inflated balloons would often pop at 168 decibels - three decibels louder than a 12-gauge shotgun.

...
Acoustic engineer Dylan Scott, who was involved in the study, said: 'It's amazing how loud the balloons are.