Popping Champagne Cork

[Gosia]

Ok, call me paranoid, but I've been having quite a good day today and then my boyfriend opened a bottle of cider which is corked and has bubbles like champagne when we were at the table.

I jumped and it seemed damn loud to me. Now I think I hear the tinnitus louder in the left ear. I've tried to find the info in 3 languages, but there's no info, nada, niente.

How loud is a sound like that? I instantly imagine all my hair cells shocked, shaken. Any explosive sound like that just scares me like hell. The least lack of attention and voila.

 

[Nucleo]

It's not very loud at all.

 

[Gosia]

To me it sounded like a small bomb.

 

[linearb]

This does not produce a dangerous amount of sound.

Some imaging studies have shown an increase in auditory cortex activity when people are actively listening to something. Which is to say, that if your tinnitus seems louder, it probably has more to do with you actively paying attention to it, than with the cork.

 

[Aaron123]

I understand your reaction. It's hard not to be hypervigilant and imagine the worst. It seems very, very, very unlikely that it damaged your hearing at all. I think the best thing now would be to do what you can to try to relax (easier said than done I know) and distract yourself.

 

[Bart]

I had the exact same thing happen to me last year, only difference was i was opening the bottle and the cork popped right in my face and gave me a good scare , my t seemed louder for a couple of days but it went back down again, it was just a psychological spike.

Looking back i realise it was not that loud, often the reaction is ten times worse than the actual sound.

 

[Eric N]

My God, this just happened to me. It really does seem loud. Maybe 100 dB? I didn't realize some bottles have self-popping corks. As soon as I removed the metal wiring, the cork just exploded in my face in an enclosed room. Thankfully the cork didn't hit my eye or my ears.

I hope no spikes happen. I won't know now for another day or two.

 

[Eric N]

Sure enough this triggered a spike! There is always a delayed reaction before my spikes start. I'm hoping this is temporary

 

[linearb]

My God, this just happened to me. It really does seem loud. Maybe 100 dB?

This study concluded 80 dB:

The Maths of Popping Open a Bottle of Bubbly (PDF)

The only article I can find linking champagne corks to hearing loss is... an article about what happens if you get hit in the ear with the flying cork, which seems like a pretty bizarre take to me:

How champagne could lead to hearing loss this New Year

Since "spikes" can easily happen just from changes in our hormonal state or how we're thinking about tinnitus, it's pretty easy for an anxiety-producing loud noise to cause a spike, especially if you're still in the anxiety loops with your tinnitus.

I don't think you have anything to worry about though. I shoot corks off bottles all the time. I also do a number of things that are 100 - 120 dB and they seem much louder.

 

[Exit]

Sure enough this triggered a spike!

Unlucky ducks... I've never heard of a self popping bottle.

You just happened to get a malfunction because you have tinnitus

Hope it improves...