Day 3 of Ear Ringing After Smacking Hand

Hello everyone,

First off, I want to say how glad I am I stumbled across this forum. Everyone seems very empathetic and genuine.

To introduce myself, I am a male in his early 30's with no known medical issues and no known history of hearing loss. Two days ago I was cleaning the house and "smacked" my right hand against an object in our home by accident (coffee maker). It cased pain in my hand, but nothing severe. Almost immediately following that incident I became aware of ringing in my ears that has not gone away since Saturday. I initially thought this was just a nervous system reaction to the pain caused by hitting my hand, but I feel like that would have subsided by now.

The ringing is sometimes distracting, but once I find myself focused on anything else I don't notice it as much (TV, music, talking, walking, etc.). Pretty much doing any other activity lessens the noise and its distraction. I do find myself fixating on it from time to time which is what concerns me the most. I have a tendency to worry and believe I have mild general anxiety. Luckily it hasn't caused any trouble sleeping. It basically sounds like "quiet" but just a tad louder and is at its worst the more quiet the room is.

Has anyone heard of or experienced tinnitus onset as a result of pain (when I smacked my hand)? I'm hoping it goes away or should I see a doctor.

Thank you all in advance.

 

Hello,

When you smacked your hand to the coffee maker was it a loud noise? Or a high pitched noise that was close to your ear?

 

I wouldn't say so. It was a plastic coffee machine. I smacked the right side of my right hand against it, just below the pinky. I don't remember it being too loud. But I can say with 100% certainty that I did not notice the ringing until that very moment.

 

Hello,

I have an appointment with my ear specialist on the 29th of march, I will definitely ask your question to him.

 

Thank you very much!

 

It could be down to the anxiety and stress like shock from the pain.
It has every chance of going and look into anxiety counselling or some yoga etc to help you relax and medication if anxiety becomes more of a issue..
Lots of love glynis

 

Thank you for your response. I started doing 10-minute daily meditation sessions a about a week before this happened and tried my first introductory yoga session the morning before this started. I began this in an attempt to lower my anxiety. I will keep those up!

 

Interesting case, never heard of such an onset of T.

Given how mild it is, there's a good chance it will fade away.

 

Thank you. I'm wondering if the air pressure has anything to do with it too with the recent winter weather.

 

Just an update. Still have ringing but I feel it has lessened slightly. I visited my PCP and it was diagnosed as Tinnitus with no known cause. Recommendation to keep an eye on it and will refer to ENT if necessary. Suppose its time to cut back on all the things that are suspected of making it worse (alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, stress, loud noises, etc.)

 

Another hypothetical reason on why this can happen is that you had hearing damage and tinnitus already but didn't notice it because it was being filtered by the TRN in the brain. People with hearing damage do get tinnitus out of no where sometimes.

Were you exposed to any loud sounds throughout your life? Examples are concerts, guns, construction work, music at high volume, etc...

 

This could definitely be a possibility. I have been to a number of concerts in my lifetime, have been a frequent earbud user, and have been exposed to gunfire (w/ ear protection). I don't notice any hearing loss, but I haven't been to an ENT to have that checked. I'm sure the smacking of my hand wasn't the trigger but its funny how I noticed it immediately after. My doctor pretty much just said wait and see. Again, I do feel like it has been better or at least less distracting the past couple of days.

 

Then you should get your hearing tested. Most people with hearing loss don't notice that their hearing is off. Your doctor is clueless because a hearing test or ENT wasn't recommended. What is your doctor waiting for?

Guns can be very damaging when hearing protection is inadequate or isn't being worn properly. If your ears rang after concerts or you listened to earbuds loudly then I would guess that you have tinnitus caused by acoustic trauma. Based on all the anecdotes I've seen tinnitus occurring with hearing loss and out of nowhere (without a temporary threshold shift/loud noise) is usually permanent.