Guy Yelled Near Ear — Can It Permanently Worsen Tinnitus or Cause Hearing Loss?

I'm really frustrated and angry tonight. This morning, the power steering went out on my car, my car is totalled. The repair would have been more than the car is worth.

However, this morning, I was having a good day. My tinnitus was as low as its been since the beginning of this ordeal. I was having ideas of getting better even.

Well, it was a very cold windy day for South Texas, and I had to go to the dealer to get another vehicle as I have to get to work.

Towards the end of a long and stressful day, this sales person helping did not know what he was doing on the computer. He had to keep going back and asking another guy for help. Well, he got sick of that I guess and yelled super loud for the guy to come help about 2 ft from my head and towards my bad ear.

Well now that ear is ringing loud, popping, and I am downright angry and miserable because of it. i cant believe my rotten stinking luck.

Is this permanent? Can a man's yell permanently worsen tinnitus or cause hearing loss?

 

If someone yells right into one's ear, or slaps one's ear, the resulting spike might be permanent. Two feet is somewhat close, but hopefully it was far enough for this to be a temporary spike. Keep in mind that temporary spikes can last over three months (most last less than that), and usually them begin fading after about a month or earlier. For now you can assume that this is temporary.

If your tinnitus has faded, then it ought to continue to fade and hopefully eventually you will get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage. Just make sure to do what you can to minimize those temporary spikes (but also keep in mind that it is impossible to avoid those spikes/exposures, and that most people who got better have had that happen to them and were still able to recover).

 

Things get worse before they get better I guess. I went back today to finish getting the car. Mind you I am a part time community college teacher, so this is a big hit to me financially. Just so happens today was the day men came to clean the parking lot. There was a generator outside and a man running this sweeping machine outside the window where I was. It registered 83-85 on my phone db meter and when the door opened it was louder. I was exposed to that maybe two hours. I put rolled up Kleenex in my ear. Had to endure it leaving outside. On the way home, I took out the Kleenex thinking things were over. At a stop light turning left, suddenly an ambulance appears needing to get thru. His siren wasn't on so I did not hear him coming, but he turned it on about 6 Ft. from my car. My ears are utterly screeching now from this noise exposure spike I guess and I am hearing multiple tones. Things had improved too, so I am pretty devastated.

All I can hope is it will subside, that and I should probably wear earplugs outside the house at all times. I don't like doing that though, you see I have psoriasis and psoriasis flares in my ear and ear canal, so earplugs aggravate that greatly. Bummed to say the least... I will try to remain positive though somehow......... Thank you Bill for replying to my other post and for those who offered hugs... I appreciate it.

 

From two feet? No. Straight up. Shit like this is why no one takes tinnitus seriously. We've become a joke.

 

Nobody takes tinnitus seriously because most people have non-volatile, mild tinnitus—things like this won’t make them temporarily, or permanently worse.

But I agree this is likely a temporary spike. Keep strong foam plugs on you at all times.

 

Yeah but when people cry about tinnitus becoming worse over stupid shit like this, it becomes a mental illness. You understand what I'm saying? That's when habituation comes in, where its all in your head. People like OP have fucked us. There will never be a cure.

 

I apologize for sharing my feelings and experience about this horrid condition. But I will thank you, you have made me realize that being on this board is probably the worst thing I could do for my mental health or recovery of any type from this ordeal. But I wish you well, and hope you feel better someday.

 

You’re fine dude. Research & success story forums are my main form of coping. It actually helps take my mind off the ringing. Wish you well.

 

Go get mental help. Tinnitus is not your problem at this stage.

 

Why couldn't you leave and come back at the end of the day?

 

There are COUNTLESS examples on this site where tinnitus become Permanently worse over things that seem minor.

For the tip of an iceberg, check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/learn-from-others-mistakes.29437/

Our options are to think along the lines "it can't be the case that a giraffe could possibly have such a long neck." Alternatively, we can learn from others' mistakes, and believe our lying eyes. People Reporting what has happened to them helps all of us. You are right, without those reports more people would be exposing themselves to more noises, and a fraction of them would be making their bodies uninhabitable in the process.

@exguitar I am sorry you had to deal with that. If anything, you don't seem to be taking protecting your ears from loud noises as seriously as you should be taking it.

Place that clown on your Ignore list. Let's hope he does what he preaches and ends up making our day (although I doubt we will ever find out about it), if you know what I mean.

 

That does nothing. You need to get 3M 1100 foam earplugs and also buy Peltor X5A muffs. Even with that hearing protection that is as good as it gets, the best course of action is always to leave the area where there is noise. I think that ambulance noise would result on in a temporary spike. However, I am a little worried about that exposure that lasted for two hours. In any case, you ought to eventually feel better, but please take this Seriously. There is no reason to think that you can stick around noise for two hours, and not get seriously hurt.

 

Please go ahead and make my day and keep exposing yourself to noise. Just do it, what's the worst that can happen? After all, you only live once!

 

I will crack egg shells and hopefully spike my tinnitus and report back to you. That was your thread wasn't it?

 

Don't bother with the egg shells. Please have a friend yell as loud as he or she can while being 2 feet away from you. And if nothing happens, please keep doing it (or experiment with the friend being a little closer). You don't have to report back to us. All you will have to do is live with yourself and the outcome of your decisions for the rest of your life, that's all.

 

First, you weren't there. You don't know how loud it was.
Second, you don't know how badly the op's symptoms react to noise. He may have hyperacusis worse than yours.
Third, this is a Support forum. Can we try and support one another?

 

There's too many tinnitus "experts" on here. I think this is a good guess though: most people who have tinnitus don't have the hearing and condition of ears of a normal person or someone without tinnitus.

Mild tinnitus - who knows...