More Ear Fullness and Slight Ear Pain After Being Exposed to a Loud Backfiring Motorbike

Hi I went to the shops - with ear muffs, but a motorbike passed by and it was extremely loud - like not a normal motorbike sound but like backfiring. I could feel it in my jaw as the sound hit me. And now I have more fullness and slight pain in my right ear (one closest to the road). My earmuffs are only rated 23 dB. These are the earmuffs:

https://www.amazon.com/H6FV-PELTOR-OPTIME-Low-Profile-Folding/dp/B075SN417L/

Should I be worried this could cause a permanent setback? Should I take 60mg of prednisone?

Very scared. Anybody with knowledge of motorbikes and how loud they can be would be helpful.

 

How long ago was the trauma? If you have the predisone already I'd take it. The window for steroids is small, like two weeks generally.

I also highly advise you to start taking NAC asap as there is evidence it can help attentuate noise damage. You could also load up on antioxidants like astaxanthin and curcumin to help bring down the inflamation.

I don't have any experience with motorbikes but I have heard some ridiculously LOUD ones. I wouldn't think one passing by outdoors could do a ton of damage but it all depends on factors like the dB level, how close you were to it, and how susceptible your individual ears are to damage.

 

@Tweedleman

Thanks so much for replying so quickly- this literally happened a little over an hour ago - I have some left over prednisone (doctor gave me some to take 3 weeks ago, didn’t help.)

I think my ears are super sensitive to damage... all the stress doesn’t help.

So upset as I haven’t slept in days and hardly slept for a whole month, and I think the prednisone will probably keep me up. But better to take it now that wait until the morning I guess...

Or I have a high quality curcumin... no NAC.
Probably prednisone is a more sure thing?

 

Take the corticosteroids, a motorbike can be very loud and do real damage. Make sure about the dose. It makes a big difference. You need to have the right dose.

 

Can I take Curcumin with Prednisone?

Yes I noticed my earmuffs are only rated to reduce low frequency sounds by 10 decibels. Hi Juan thanks for replying I took 25 mg last night. My tinnitus went up but this morning it is quiet low. But sometimes it is like that in the morning. Could not sleep all night. Should I take 60mg today? For how long?

 

@Tweedleman @Juan - thank you both so much for reading and answering my questions - so unbelievably helpful.

So I took 1 x 25mg tablet last night and I took 2 x 25mg (50m) this morning. I really hope it won’t stop me from sleeping as I have now had another two nights with zero sleep. Which is obviously also bad for healing. So I only have one and a half more prednisone tablets anyway but think it best I don’t take anymore as my anxiety is through the roof. So I was thinking I would just take curcumin Longvida for the next two weeks. Really hoping that as I did have some kind of ear protection (maybe a 10decibel reduction in the low frequency) this will be enough?

My tinnitus is not objectively worse although it is getting louder but is what normally happens to me throughout the day to almost silent in the middle of the night, but I have noticed a lower pitched droning tone in a quite room. And when I woke up the aural fullness was gone but now it is back. This condition is utterly baffling!

@linearb just thought I would tags you as I saw you have some experience with Motorcycles - what do you think about the noise levels regarding damage of a passing revving motorbike?

 

unless you're trackside at a race day I wouldn't be worried about it. The absolute shittiest, illegal "short pipe" modifications will get a bike's exhaust to 125 db at source; this is an obnoxious noise level but even if you're right on the sidewalk it's probably only ~110-115 max at ear level, so you've got some reasonable margin before you have to worry about permanent damage.

Also, truly 125 db pipes are rare as far as I know; the vast majority of motorcycles even with modified exhaust are gonna come in under 115. A friend in a condo building I used to rent a unit in, had an obnoxious (unmodified) ~1100cc sport bike that our neighbors used to complain about, I bet it was under 115 all the way opened up.

edit: you were wearing ear muffs? Yeah you're fine, just try to get a grip on your anxiety, steroids were not necessary but that ship has sailed so ride it out.

I rode a motorcycle for ~40 mins today, in fact. Vrrm.

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH and for replying so quickly! This makes me feel a bit better.

My tinnitus is very new (just over one month) and I have hyperacusis so I found the bike noise even with ear muffs (they are only rated to reduce low frequency noise by 10decibels) very painful. I was told to protect my ears for anything above 80 decibels.

But yes the anxiety is definitely a huge component and probably an underlying cause of my tinnitus and hyperacusis onset.

 

Maybe double protection for next time you're in the shop? Might help you feel safer.

 

Tensing up from noises you think are loud, will affect the jaws and your ears. Since your tinnitus is so new, it's trying to heal, there's a lot of flux going on. The muscles designed to close your ears to help you naturally stop loud noises can become weaken and more sensitive, mine have. This can give a pressure feeling, can impact tinnitus and other symptoms I've noticed.

I would not take prednisone unless you had an actual very intensive noise trauma going forward. Like a gunshot, or jackhammer next to your ear.

Spikes are bound to happen, and it will go up or change pitch potentially. Especially at the early stages of healing.

Take NAC when you feel like things were a bit too loud (2x 600mg in morning, 2x 600mg at night). I'm convinced it does help. I combined it with acetyl l carnitine as well, as the combination seems to mix well together and help facilitate NAC better.

Do you know the cause of your tinnitus?

 

Hi Shasta - thanks so much for reading and replying. Ok will do. I suppose I was on the fence about taking the prednisone but the fear of letting the window pass and having damage was really scaring me too. I was scared the aural fullness was a sign of damage? But you think it’s just tension. I really hope you are right. I wish the Doctors would give me some information so I don’t drive myself crazy with worry. For instance sometime I get a crazy flutter in my ear with high pitched noises (even beautiful ones like birds chirping and a stream on a walk) worried that this means I can’t tolerate these sounds?

Yes the tinnitus fluctuations scare me and don’t make any sense really- for instance after this extremely loud motorcycle I had no increased in loudness. But right now I washed some dishes and ate some celery and the tinnitus is soo so loud - still could be from the bike though I guess....
I think I will do as you say in avoiding prednisone in the future as I am scared of the side effects.

I will order some NAC today as quite a few of you mention it and it sounds like a good emergency thing to have. Have not read up on acetyl l carnitine - thanks for your suggestion.

In terms of the cause of my tinnitus - no just woke up with it a month ago after having a night of very bad reflux and burping. Have chronic anxiety I think that has been elevated by coronavirus and recent bush fires (I was evacuated 4 times but our house was ok) among other things, have had periods of hyperacusis without tinnitus.

Again- thanks so much.

 

Ultimately up to you, but prednisone has its negatives when taking it too from what I've read. Since you said you had earmuffs on you were protected enough(in my opinion) to minimize anything from a loud bike. Your ear is hurt from your tinnitus you got in May, and possibly more sensitive to noise, so the muscles tightening up can definitely cause a feeling of fullness/pressure. I still get it to this day with noises not loud enough to do actual harm.

Your ears are damaged and recovering, so you're going to experience new changes and symptoms. You may have a reactive portion of tinnitus, if you're getting sounds/sensations to outside noises. I also have reactive tinnitus, and when its bad normal wind blowing and traffic noises etc., make the tinnitus compete with said noises to overlap them. So tinnitus can do a lot of weird stuff depending on how your ears are.

The most important thing is resting the ears, giving it ample times of the day with little noise, and then days where you give it light sound enrichment such as ocean sounds, rain, a loop of everyday sounds of NYC, stuff like that. Trade off between rest days of minimal noise in ears, and days of enrichment with sound (at low levels 60-70dB). Take NAC and Acetyl-L-Carnite daily since you're still new into getting tinnitus. Let it build up in your body and start hopefully helping your ears.

 

Yes, good idea! The reason I didn’t have earplugs in as they are starting to hurt my ears a bit, as in they are getting irritated physically by the plugs. I have some custom fitted silicone ones hopefully arriving on Tuesday so I’m hoping they will be better. I also really hate listening to the tinnitus, when I have earplugs in.

Many thanks for your advice.

 

This is a pattern for a long-course prednisone treatment with tapering, as written by a doctor for a person weighing 80 kgs:

50 mg for 2 days
45 mg for 3 days
40 mg for 4 days
35 mg for 6days
30 mg for 8 days
25 mg for 10 days
20 mg for 12 days

Curcumin is just a root, I just grind it and put it on food, so I don't think there is any problem with that...

Prednisone can create anxiety and sleep deprivation, it's one of the side effects, specially on a high dose.

 

I agree with @linearb. I think you are going to be fine.

 

Thanks you so much for your tips. Will try the alternating days of sound enrichment like you suggest.

 

woah that’s a lot of prednisone.

 

Hi Jiffyman- thanks so much! I hope so too. Your success gives me hope. Must stay positive. How loud was your T when it was bad?

 

You'll be fine. Esp with the earmuffs already on. I've ridden dirt bikes and motorcycles for years, including the loud-obnoxious ones (guilty!)... Which is one of the reasons I attribute to my hearing loss/tinnitus.

Over time, you come to know the difference between irritating your tinnitus and doing damage. Most of the time, it gets irritated, and takes some patience and self-care to wait out the 'spike.' I'm actually dealing with one right now, and it seems to be getting better.

Back to the motorcycle thing, the posts above I concur with.. a short exposure to motorcycle backfiring with earmuffs on at a short distance probably just irritated it, but not enough to do damage. You'll be fine.

As for the bikers, believe me, they are the ones that need the ear protection, and probably don't have it!

 

That's what a long treatment of prednisone is supposed to be... at least over a month on it... for me it did not work, but for other people it may be different.

 

Thank you so much Diesel. I’m really glad you think so. The earmuffs really didn’t provide much protection - they are rated to have only 10db reduction at low frequency unfortunately. But your opinion does make me feel calmer.

 

@Roserosie, how are you feeling these days? I'm in a similar boat after a motorbike went by me 5 months ago. My left side has improved dramatically and doesn't cause me many issues now, but my right side, which was closest to the road is still not healed. Still have ear fullness, jaw pain and sensitivity to most sounds.

 

Hi @Aaron91. So sorry you are still in pain and having a rough time. Hyperacusis is AWFUL!

How am I going - to be honest I feel like I have been inhabiting some alternate plane of half existence for the past few months. I was having a lot of problems with derealisation (where the world seems fake) because of my constant vertigo and visual snow that has been getting worse as well as my tinnitus and sound sensitivity. But I stopped taking the medication prescribed (Mirtazapine) and I feel SO much better. I feel hopeful. Seriously what doesn't kill you does make you stronger I feel empowered by what I have been able to live through. It's invisible to everyone else but it has been hell and I have been very close to insanity.

I say sound sensitivity because I feel like my hyperacusis is not so acute anymore and I am really close to recovery in that aspect (must celebrate any improvement however small!)

Things that have helped me:

- I had a Skype session with a audiologist hyperacusis specialist Myriam Westcott. She was very helpful! The biggest thing for me was learning and being reassuring that the pain and the tensor tympani spasms are not a sign of damage being done and I need to expose me ears to more sound- gently. She recommended playing a soft soothing sound as much as possible and while introducing bothersome sounds. Kind of like a sound sheild. I use an app called Relax Melodies where you can mix your own soundscape. (It is useful for masking tinnitus as well.) And so I wear my earplugs WAY less now (though always in a pocket just in case for actual loud noises). You need to recondition the primitive part of your brain that is responding to sounds with a fear reflex. I'm still not there yet but I have gone from telling my fiance to whisper all the time and sitting in silence (not even able to tolerate my heater, I would turn off the fridge because it was too loud etc.) to now being able to enjoy soft music and I even went to a restaurant yesterday. I can wash the dishes now without earplugs and drive the car without earplugs (except for long trips or when it is raining heavily). I'm a long way away from going to a loud restaurant or the movies (even with ear protection I don't think I would be able to cope) but my life is way more normal. I still can't work but I feel like I will be able to in the near future if I find the right environment so that is keeping me going.

- When the ear pain is bad I use a hot water bottle and find that soothing.

- I had some physio on my TMJ with some dry needling not sure if that helped to be honest but worth a shot? I am trying to improve my posture and I really limit my screen time.

- Meditation, yoga, going for walks, talking to friends/family as much as possible try to focus on other things. I feel like treating this with a chronic pain mindset is most helpful. The more mental space you give it the more your brain strengthens the connections to the sensations (pain and tinnitus, visual snow, whatever!) and the more intense it gets. Trying to ignore it doesn't work. You have to refind your passion/focus on things that really consume you and not dwell on the negative. Really difficult but I have been working really hard at it and it has been getting easier.

Aaron you are not alone, we are all suffering and trying to cope with you. Hopefully this is helpful, best wishes.