7 Months In and Now a Concussion

TL;DR:
Had tinnitus because of loud noise insult 7 months ago, yesterday got concussion, ringing has increased since. Wondering if anyone has had this and will it go away. Will the ringing in general go away, since it’s been with me for 7 months? I could only find existing threads where either the tinnitus was after a concussion or after loud noise, but nothing where someone had both. Feeling like taking my life and don’t know what to do. Some questions at bottom.



Hello again,
I am 7 months into my tinnitus and while the coping was getting better, the actual noise level remained mostly the same. I got T from cutting metal with an angle grinder without ear protection. (what an idiot, I know)

Yesterday I fell off my mountain bike and got a concussion. Was wearing a helmet but still got one. No amnesia or loss of consciousness but still I felt foggy and kind of drunk for the rest of the day. Still do a bit. So I guess I’d say it wasn’t a major concussion? This has been my second concussion, the first one being much more major.

Now after that concussion the ringing has increased significantly. I just don’t know how to live with this, in the past year I’ve really come out of my shell socially but as a result I’ve totally trashed my body. I used to just stay inside and so I guess my body isn’t made for actual activity and just gets broken so easily. I only cut the metal with the grinder since my peers were saying it would be faster (I wanted to use a hacksaw since I have always had a slight ring even as a kid so I was aware of the dangers, but since I’m a confidenceless idiot I just followed what they recommended and now 7 months later I’m still listening to the sound of the metal being cut bouncing around in my head.)

Same with the concussion, I was biking alone when I ran into a guy I had briefly met at school, didn’t know he rode, so we decided to go hit the trails together. He is a superb mountain biker, and I was really struggling to keep up with him. But good I say, this is a good way to push myself (and it is). Then we approach this big natural cliff drop, where he stops before and just warns me about it, “yeah so it’s pretty big and it’s hard to get between those trees at the landing.” The drop itself wasn’t crazy for my skill level but the “between trees landing” definitely was. So I guess you know where this is going, but I’ll explain anyway. I knew it was out of my skill level but I wanted to impress the guy, (yeah I’m a tool, I don’t have friends and don’t know how to make them yeah?) so I send the drop. I totally stiffen up mid-air, frozen from fear. Next second the tires hit the earth, not bad landing but I’m still stiff and ride straight into the tree on my right, head and right shoulder first to impact. No lost consciousness or amnesia but I feel messed up. We continue riding after a 5 min break to give me time to get up lol, again probably not the best decision but luckily I didn’t fall again even though I was still trying to push myself to impress...

Basically now my ears are ringing more and since I’m a hypochondriac I’m afraid I might have permanently affected my brain and my ears. I am a student and it’s exam time now so it was really a bad time for me to go smash my head.

Wondering if anyone has had this and if it ever goes away?

Will the ringing in general, 7 months after noise insult, ever go away?

If there’s any doctors or people who have had multiple concussions, could you guess how bad mine was based on my description? (No amnesia or loss of cons., but a drunk like feeling the rest of the day and a little bit the day after)

How many concussions can one have before some permanent effects? I’m 22yo.

I just feel like taking my life a lot of the time. It’s tough to believe that one foolish decision to use a power tool with no plugs could change my whole life. And the only thing giving me joy these days has been the mountain bike, but after the crash yesterday I’m scared that it might not be safe for my brain to continue. Of course, another accident could always happen even if I’m not launching ridiculous drops with thread-the-needle landings. A lot of the time I’m not even sad or depressed, I’d just prefer to not have to wake up again and live.

 

If you had a concussion it would be advisable to see a doctor ASAP. I have had multiple concussions myself and they all varied but it's still advisable for a medical professional to take a look. My last concussion they had to wake me up every 3 hours the first couple of days....

It's hard to tell with head injuries but they can lead to Tinnitus for sure. If you didn't lose consciousness it does not mean that you didn't have a bad concussion.