Can Severe Tinnitus Occur Two Months After Gun Exposure?

Can severe tinnitus occur months after gun exposure? I didn't shoot a gun for about 2 months prior to my tinnitus. I went to sleep fine one night and woke up with severe tinnitus in both of my ears.

 

I wouldn't think so. Think about your diet, stress level, sleep pattern, and any other noise exposure. I think your answer will be in there, and regardless of that, it's hopefully a spike that will resolve to base line in a few days.

 

The noise from shooting guns can certainly cause noise induced tinnitus. Spikes can occur in a delayed fashion, and commonly do, but this is more like 2 to 10 days. Two months is quite long for a delayed spike. There may have been some additional noise exposure that set it off after it was primed from the gun exposure.

 

I have shot many guns in my past and the last time i shot a gun was 2 months prior to my tinnitus but never had ringing in my ears after shooting a gun. One night i went to sleep fine and woke up with extreme ringing in both of my ears . Went to urgent care and they said i have a severe post nasal trip due to a sinus infection. Is the tinnitus from loud gun exposure in the past or post nasal drip from an sinus infection?

 

Also have this jaw and neck issue. Really dont know which is the cause if not all together.. Anyone know how to read this x ray of mine? This is from my dentist. . Notice the inflammation around my jaw

 

That seems unlikely to me.

If you believe the theory that tinnitus, which is caused by noise trauma is a consequence of hair cell damage, it can take a few days for a hair cell to die, - but no longer.

 

So you think its from my sinus infection and or inflamation from my neck and jaw?

 

Unfortunately, no one knows and no one will ever know.

Then you suggest three more possible reasons: Sinus infection, inflammation of the neck, inflammation of the jaw.
With the last three I would expect a one-sided tinnitus...

 

Did the "inflammation" begin after the noise exposure?

 

No i have ringing in both ears not just one. One doctor thinks its from my sinus infection and another one thinks its from the inflamtion in my jaw. And my chropractor thinks its from my neck so idk which to believe. I have a history pf shooting guns but the last time i shot a gun was 2 months prior to my severe ringing in both ears. I currently have a sinus infection that ive had for around 4 months.

 

What medications have you been taking?

 

My vote is ANYTHING is possible with tinnitus. It could be you had ringing after the event but your mind just blocked it out. Now it is hearing it.

 

noise is the answer, no mystery here.

 

How would it be from noise if my tinntius started 2 months after i shot a firearm ? I went to sleep fine one night and woke up with severe ringing in my ears

 

I was scared to take anything because of potentiallymaking it worse but i found the courage to start medication becuase my doctor told me if its from sinuses and inflamtion it will never get better and maybe even Permanent i took the risk yesteray and started amoxicillin 875 milli twice a day, cetirizine 10mg once a day, and medrol dose pak for inflamation

 

I think you have proven that the answer to the question in the title of this thread is yes.

 

I mean what medications have you been taking since you said you had it for four months. Anything for your neck and jaw issue? Prior to the tinnitus

 

I didnt take anything i just started medicstion yesterday i was just gonna let nature take its course an try to heal but i decided to take medication yestersya

 

You simply don't know that. Noise insult was 2 months prior and yes, that isn't helping. But for tinnitus to start out of the blue 2 months later is far fetched. Other elements are at play.

 

Many things can cause tinnitus but the most common is exposure to loud noise. It can occur out of the blue but in most cases there is a reason for it. If you use headphones regularly or attend places where loud music is present: clubs or concerts then this is the likely cause. It is quite possible shooting a gun is responsible especially if you shoot regularly.

If I were you I would reduce my exposure to loud sounds of the type I have described. If you use headphones, try not wearing them for 2 to 3 months. If the tinnitus reduces and you want to use them keep the volume as low as possible.

Michael

 

@Dalton Hornikel

What is your audiogram saying? Do you have any hearing loss? It is reasonable that you are looking to other potential causes (that seem still active in your case), but do not forget to check for the big elephant in the room.

 

You have a history of gun exposure, it wasn't just that one time. correct?

 

Me? No. I don't shoot guns.

 

sorry, I was directing the question at OP.

 

what? No; there's a bunch of correlations here between noise, neck and viral stuff -- any of which could be the genesis.

@Dalton Hornikel what were your shooting habits like? If you were shooting 500 rounds of centerfire every weekend with no hearing protection, that's a lot different than if you were occasionally shooting a .22 with doubled protection. (The former I would expect to absolutely destroy your hearing; the latter should be safe for nearly anyone).

It's certainly not unheard of for tinnitus onset to follow a noise event by some lag, but I've never really heard of that happening in a case where the initial event wasn't at least somewhat traumatic, and/or the person had a long history of noise exposure so you have a straw-breaking-camel situation.

Pretty much any grizzled old dude who has shot a ton of guns in their life is going to have some hearing impairment, but I know plenty of elderly long time hunters and shooting enthusiasts who don't have tinnitus or hearing worse than the norm for their age. "Gun exposure" can be anything from ~70db at the eardrum to ~140+, depending on ear pro and the gun used, so OPs actual habits in this regard matter more than using guns in general. My wife's little (.22) blaster is only like ~100db at my ear level, so that drops to (very brief bursts of) the low 80s or high 70s with doubling up depending on what math you believe.

@Dalton Hornikel you also say you've had a sinus infection; have you had your hearing thresholds checked? Viral infections can damage the ear; if there's inflammation there, it's one of the rare cases where steroids might actually be useful, but only if administered really fast following ear damage.


edit: also, on this subject, and "grizzled old dudes" -- someone in their 70s now, might have been using weapons on the farm in 1958, well before people normally used hearing protection for guns. I've noticed that it's very rare to see young people using guns without them, so I wonder if that stereotype might improve. An exception is hunters, who want to be able to hear game, and only need to fire 1-2 shots usually and so often just let their ears "take the hit". They make expensive electronic muffs for this but they can be clunky... all of which is to say, I hunt with a bow.

 

Severe tinnitus can appear on any day for any reason. Tinnitus is often tied to a noise event, but reasonably many musicians just wake up with it one day after years of exposure without being tied to a specific incident.

I know 2 musicians this happened to in their mid 30s. I also know a sales exec who has barely been to 10 concerts in his life this happened to.

I have tinnitus that gets so low I can barely hear it for months, and then randomly it'll decide to take my nuts, put them on a dresser, and bang them with a spike bat like BLAUUUUU for a week or so. Other times it sews my....

Nevermind you see where I am going with this.

Don't try and predict it, but take precautions.