First-Time Tinnitus from Toilet Seat Crash

Hi everyone!

So, 5 weeks ago I was in a friend's cubicle-sized bathroom where the old, heavy toilet seat didn't stay up, and came down crashing, making a bang that I instantly believed did damage. 6 days later, the ringing started in the middle of the night. In the month since then, my tinnitus has been up and down, sometimes at a 3 out of 10, sometimes at a .5. Finally saw an ENT last week. He agreed with me about the source of the ringing, and he prescribed the corticosteroid dexamethasone. I took it for 3 days, then found out that it has a serious interaction with another one of my medications, so I stopped taking it. The doctor didn't prescribe an alternative like prednisone, which I thought was odd, but I see him again in a few weeks, after I get an audiogram.

Since I tend to have an obsessive personality, I've been protecting my ears to an excessive degree, wearing high-fidelity earplugs almost constantly. The ENT said this was not a bad idea, since my ears are in a state of healing. I've had a couple of setbacks which have caused temporary spikes, the most recent being yesterday. I decided to stop wearing my earplugs in the house, and a large plastic chip clip fell on the ceramic tile kitchen floor, which made a sound much louder than I would have expected. It didn't cause an immediate spike, but woke up this morning with a definite increase, which now seems to be subsiding.

In any event, I know that I'm fortunate that my tinnitus has never gotten above a 3, and that, on some days, it's practically nonexistent, but I still have anxiety over it, and if this is my "new normal." So, my question is, how long do I keep protecting my ears with earplugs? I've read on here that some people think it's important to expose oneself to everyday sounds, while others think that it's necessary to let the ears heal. Personally, I think I'm being overcautious, but I'd love to hear what others have to say.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I also suffer from eustachian tube dysfunction, which makes the situation a little more complicated.

Thanks!

 

Yes, let your ears heal.

 

Hey! I got tinnitus from hitting my head too. Question, how do you know what level of ringing your ears are in?

 

If I were you I'd take it as a huge victory that you improved in a very short window of time and I'd try to move on as soon as possible. All I've had during my more than 3 years of tinnitus is a downfall of gradually getting worse and worse with time.

 

I just estimate based on what the level seems to me when I'm in complete silence.