Loud music and hearing loss

Dear Ask The Doctor: I always take care of my ears. I am always careful to keep my music at a safe volume and avoid things like concerts. So my friend bought this show-car type nissan with a fully loaded sound system. He was like, "hey, listen to this." Im like whatever lets check it out. I sit in and he turns his volume up to 100%. Its this rap song with snares and high pitched clap sounds. SO loud it was mind-blowing. Painfully loud. I made him turn it off after about 10 seconds, but as soon as I got out my ears were KILLING me. It's been about 4 days now, and my left ear still sounds muffled. I did some online research and it kills the cilia or whatever in your ear so I probably have permanent loss in certain pitches or whatever. Thats unfortunate, but I just want this "uneven" feeling of my ears to go away. Most internet sources say the permanent damage is usually only if you do this for extended periods of time, and like I said, I never put myself in these situations. Will it go away? Again its been about 4 days and it just sounds sorta muffled and uneven. Its driving me absolutely crazy and is really killing my life enjoyment.

Dear Brandon: It is very unlikely that you have damaged your ears from one incident. The discomfort you are currently experiencing should resolve in a few more days. Persistent exposure to loud noise can cause permanent damage as you have rightly noted. Since you have not had such exposure you have no need to worry.