Loudest Noise You Have Experienced Which Did NOT Result in Your Tinnitus Spiking?

[Eric N]

What was the loudest noise you were exposed to that did not cause a spike.

Also does your tinnitus spike easily?

 

[uae96]

What was the loudest noise you were exposed to that did not cause a spike.

Also does your tinnitus spike easily?

A firecracker, was about 50 meters away.

 

[chaLLas]

Mine spikes very easily. For me, a spike is always a new tone/sensation. Volume normally doesn't increase ... well, until now - I'm 6 months in, no increase in volume, but 4 new tones since onset + reactive T in certain (high) frequencies, only appears when I listen to music.

The loudest noise that did not cause a spike (at least not immediately after exposure...) was driving on the highway for one hour (variied between 70 and 80 dB, forgot to bring my plugs ...) and yesterday, the dentis used an air pressure machine to remove saliva from the gum/teeth to check it ... I don't know how much dB that was, but it felt pretty loud.

And some other stuff that is supposedly pretty loud, but luckily I did not notice a spike ... like dishes clenching, dropping something, opening plastic packages, doors slamming ...

 

[JohnAdams]

my toddler screaming.

 

[jay777]

My girlfriend farting.

 

[Marko Nakovski]

Truck or bus horn (when I had only tinnitus without hyperacusis)

 

[Julien87]

Multiple firearm shots at 1 or 2 meters from me. All the other "noise accidents" I had (honks, doors slamming, children screaming, fire alarms, vehicle sirens..) were chickensh*t compared to this.

I talked about this situation in another thread:

I was just next to muskets firing, to be exact. It was during this festival, in Belgium. At one point there were 4 or 5 men dressed in traditional firemen clothes (from the 19th century I guess) parading in the streets. Each of them had a musket and I never imagined they would use them.
Unfortunately, they fired with their muskets, and since misfortune was really with me that day, they fired just when they were at my level, maybe one or two meters from me. I did not see it coming because something else drew my attention at this instant, so I did not protect my ears. The next second, an incredibly loud noise surprised me, it was by far the loudest noise I had ever experienced (still the loudest to this day). It was so loud that I experienced deafness and a very loud tinnitus for one second.

I was so angry. I protected my ears from non dangerous noises earlier in the day and that extremely loud noise happened when I was not protected. I was worried all the rest of the day about this and went to see an ENT in emergency in the evening. She checked my hearing and it was fine. This event did not affect my tinnitus but it scared me as hell.

 

[Eric N]

Multiple firearm shots at 1 or 2 meters from me. All the other "noise accidents" I had (honks, doors slamming, children screaming, fire alarms, vehicle sirens..) were chickensh*t compared to this.

I talked about this situation in another thread:

wow talking about dodging a bullet how long did the deafness last?

 

[cheyennes]

A subway horn blasted RIGHT as it passed me on the platform. It was underground, entering the tunnel, so the sound amplified. I covered my ears as soon as I heard it, but I thought for sure I was screwed. To give you an idea of how loud it is, I can usually hear it when I'm above ground, more than two blocks away. Thankfully, I'm somehow unscathed.

 

[CrystalB]

The fire alarm at work which was just a test but I did not hear no warning at first, they just sounded it off, had to run outside it was so loud. It didn't cause a spike, was worried it would.

 

[Julien87]

wow talking about dodging a bullet how long did the deafness last?

Oh no it was just very brief. You know like when your character is next to a grenade blast in a video game

 

[linearb]

Without ear protection:
* motorcycle rev in enclosed garage
* brief snowblower use
* splitting wood for short periods of time
* fire alarms (many)

With ear protection:
* extended use of small gasoline engines (mowers, snowblowers, etc)
* using a chainsaw
* firearms (mostly limited to .22 and similar, since that's all my lifestyle requires, and bigger guns are much louder)
* splitting wood for an extended period of time
* concerts
* cinema

I'd say things spike "easily" for me but it has a lot more to do with the overall state of my nervous system. When I am "amped up", routine day to day sound becomes painful and I would not feel comfortable doing half the shit on this list. Figuring out how to avoid being amped up, has therefore become more important than worrying too much about specific noises. If I can't fell trees and split wood, then we freeze to death, therefore I figure out how to do those things

 

[Tinniger]

As for me, I doubt a connection of my tinnitus intensity with previous noise situations...

 

[dpdx]

- Fire Alarms
- Mall
- Restaurant
- Walking next to a busy road

 

[Holly1987]

Honestly the loudest recently was the toilet seat dropping when I was cleaning the bathroom , crap it was loud. Was so sure I would have a spike but it was fine.

 

[Fire2Flowers]

This is a really good question, first of all!

As for my story: When I was still working at a dollar store, my manager wanted to install a metal detector at the front door. This meant construction workers would show up at the front of the store, where I was stationed, and drill to their hearts content. This drill produced a loud, piercing noise that drowned out even the loudest of yelling. You wouldn't be able to hear someone within a foot's distance, even if they screamed at you. It was that loud. I knew that if I didn't get out of there quickly, all of my progress would go down the drain and my tinnitus would get much worse. I couldn't have that, so I took the rest of the day off. I don't normally do things like that, but this felt like a "make or break" moment. Thankfully, this was a one time experience.

I don't spike easily. But even if I never had spikes, I consider myself incredibly lucky.

 

[Flyingsheep]

Standing 5 feet away with my camera from a fired hunting rifle in no man's land Eastern Burma, in order to get a close-up shot for a documentary. I forgot my earplugs and just did it anyway, and it was the loudest thing I ever heard and my ears didn't even ring.

That was like 2 years before I got tinnitus, and my tinnitus came from a one-time incident of simply drinking too much at high altitude. Life doesn't make sense sometimes.

 

[Mister Muso]

I walked past a bus when its horn went off, around 5 meters away from me on Saturday.

I felt that familiar stabbing pain, but luckily no lasting ill effects. It's crazy because I arrived at the bus stop with double-protection - earplugs and ear muffs. Then when I met the person I was due to see, and took the earplugs out to talk to them, that's when it happened. The blast only lasted a second, so probably a lucky escape.

 

[aot]

Just wanted to say that this thread makes me feel a lot better. I was exposed to some people yelling at work yesterday, alongside quite a few wooden pallets being dropped on the floor. Hoping a spike won't come.