Hello Everyone!

Hello! I'm new here, my name is Jen. I'm a 41 year old stay at home mom with 3 little (loud) kiddos! A month ago, Thurs I was exposed to an extremely loud gunshot in an enclosed space. ever since then I have had tinnitus and mild hyperacusis. I have taken the obvious supplements... It has faded quite a bit in the last week or so. Now the sound is fluctuating and the loudest that it is now is the quietest that it used to be. It started off as a high pitched awful sound and now is more of a low hiss- white noise type, and sometimes crickets. When the high pitch comes back it is a weaker less intrusive pitch. Sometimes (not often) I have woken up to mostly silence. I still have noise in my head, like an electrical overtone to some sounds and voices, when I speak etc.

I have always taken such good care of my ears, I have never been a concert goer etc.. Are these good signs that it's going to fade at some point? Sometimes it goes down to a 2, and the highest I'd say is prob a 4 or 5. I am a patient woman and am willing to wait for it to fade more till I don't notice it..It's just so hard with my little kids. I was blessed with them (I had my first at 35) and now sometimes it hurts to listen to their excitement and I don't want it to affect our relationship. I also have a loud talking husband(who has his own ear damage from the war)

Another thing is that I have a really bad neck and shoulders (stress related) and sinus' too. It's been an ongoing issue even before the tinnitus. My chiropractor thinks that maybe when the gunshot went off I tensed up and created more issues in my head and neck..She said they were worse than she's ever seen them and after my second session my tinnitus was at a 2 for the rest of the day.

I just need a little encouragement, here. If not for me, for my kids. I love them so much. They don't understand whats going on, why mommy is always telling them SHH! thank you!

I've been reading posts here for the last 3 weeks, esp the success stories.

 

@JuneStar,
A warm welcome to Tinnitus Talk.
Tinnitus can change sound and strength but usually settles if not spiked for a reason.

Regarding small children you can get them use to using a quieter voice indoors and ok be louder outdoors and use it as time to do things together.

I do it daily with classes of children at dinnertime understanding we use a quieter voice inside ,no shouting or screaming above a normal talking voice.
Hope this helps.
love glynis

 

Hi...Welcome...
I feel sorry to see your story.
It is tough with tinnitus and three noisy kids and a loud voice husband.
But, good thing is that giving sometime ... your tinnitus will get better.
Stay away from loud environments and protect your ears well.

God bless !

 

Thank you, Glynis! I have been but my almost 2 year old doesnt get it

 

hey, when I first got T I had a newborn baby. I couldn't eat, sleep or think of anything else, driven mad by it to the extreme that I felt I couldn't go on living. I also had what I now know is hypercusis and my sons crying would have me in tears. even someone putting cutlery away. I've only had these problems for 3 1/2 months and in that time my tinnitus has faded significantly, and the hypercusis has gone!! there is alot of wise people with good advice on this forum with better advice than i can give, but the main thing i wanted to say to you is that there is hope, it takes time but it can improve massively. don't let it beat you! we humans are adaptable!!

 

It looks good for you, but you don't want the above to mess with nerves around the ears or your auditory nerve.
Sinus - Stay hydrated. Stream shower. If you need to - use a warm compress to keep the nasal tissues moist.
Neck and shoulders - Again, stay hydrated. Use the same compress on your neck. Use a small pillow under your neck while sleeping and one pillow under your head. Don't sleep on stomach. If you need to reach to the floor to pick up a toy or something - lower your body - no extreme forward head bending. Don't lift very heavy objects.

Your getting quick and very nice results from the noise exposure.

 

Thank you Greg, My chiro gave me the same advice today. I guess there is something called cervical tinnitus, that I think its compounding my problem. my body is a mess. 3 kids in 4 years, Lyme disease in 09 with Bells Palsy.. I am a highly wound person to begin with... my nervous system is hyped up all the time. I'm seeing a naturopath tomorrow who comes highly recommended, not necessarily for the T but just to get my health better in general. Im a huge believer in whole body wellness, and how one thing can affect another. ESP in your head where everything is connected..

 

Wow I cant even imagine.Esp with all the PP hormones. You're a warrior!! I am glad things are going well for you and that youre feeling better!! you have a beautiful family. Enjoy that adorable baby!!!
I think it will fade in time. My brother in law had the same thing happen to him and he said his faded in a little over a month and that he's fine now. And he is around guns and equipment and all that stuff all the time even to this day.

 

If I were you I'd wear ear muffs or plugs around kids for a while
if not your ears will never improve - think of it like a bad sunburn were you continue going under the sun

 

Hi @JuneStar,

Lyme here as well, along with a fragile nervous system. I do a variety of energetic techniques to help myself out, some of which I describe in THIS POST in case you're interested. -- All the Best!

 

yep, I do and plug my ear a lot. it's getting better. today was a good day.

 

Interesting way to put it. Do you really believe this is true? Even around basic sounds? (i.e. tv, low volume music?)

Also,@JuneStar , sorry to hears of your situation. My initial T was due to a sudden loud noise as well. (I'm in NY, too btw). Question... you say you've taken supplements for your T. Which ones? Did they help in the fading?

 

@Smartone See thats my quesion too. Whether basic noises make your T and ears worse. I tend to plug my ear with my finger if my kids are getting loud near my head, but if theyre making noise in a room I dont. If i wear earplugs too much my ears get sensitive to soud, where as my H is fading a little. I've been taking VIT C-E-B complex, Ginko, CBD oil, melatonin at bed, and I started NAC- but havent been taking that reg yet.. I went to a naturpath yesterday and she said I lacking minerals.. I'm buying the good kind of sea salt today. She said that it's making my T worse- as is my overstimulated nervous system as well as all my issues in my head/neck/shoulders/sinuses. I don think my T is just noise induced but that was the catalyst that started it...if that makes sense. SO I'm working on my issues and I hope it helps. It seems to be fading on it's own. Thank God. I can actually hold a conversation with my friends now. Where in Ny are you?

 

Lyme is the worst. did you get bell's palsy? I did. for 2 months. I'd say its on the same level as T.

 

I'm on Long Island. Where is your T currently at right now? I see you wrote it can sound like an electrical overtone. That is exactly how I'd describe my latest spike. Just buzzing/static electricity/Television type of noise going on in my brain.

 

Exactly. Agreed.

 

or a scab you keep picking at.

 

@JuneStar - Welcome aboard. You have the strength to care for 3 kids, so tinnitus is nothing more than a nuisance that you will learn to ignore over time.

 

@JuneStar

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk. I wish you weren't here.

My t is caused by loud equipment noise all my life. When t starts it's really upsetting and I urge you to be patient. Things usually get better.

I'm 6 months in and dealing with it much better though I have a long way to go. Give your ears some time to heal and your mind some time to get used to the noise while it hopefully gets quieter.

 

thanks!! I wish I wasnt either. this was a one time noise event- gunshot- my ears were so good. Hopefully that counts for something. However, the rest of my upper body is messed up and I think it's making it worse. I'm going to trivia with friends tomorrow night, with earplugs so I'm trying to go have fun. I'm almost 6 weeks in, still early.

 

Have you noticed any progress with the t? With good ears and one shot I think in time you'll improve. I hope that's the case.

The stress of 3 children (perhaps your not as stressed by your 3 as I am by my 2) and t. God bless you.

 

41? You look like 23 in your avatar, lol.

 

@JuneStar Welcome to the site. I don't have much to offer than what you probably already read on the site. Just don't let some of these posts on here freak you out please.

I will just say that you are early on in this experience. I hope that your T will fade in time!

 

Hey there! Welcome )

 

awww thank you!!!!

 

it's still there and spiking occasionally. maybe fading a little. yeah 3 kids is nuts, what the hell was I thinking?!??!

 

Hopefully it will fade to the point where it is no longer noticeable, make sure to drink lots of water, stay away from loud noises while your ears are healing =]

 

LOL!

 

In my younger days, I’ve done a lot of shooting without ear protection. I’d get ringing sometimes, and it always went away. Being young and invincible I kept doing what I was doing until one day the ringing wouldn’t stop and I learned I have some pretty good hearing loss... for around 15 years now ive had the same continuous loud high pitch tone in my ear at a decibel reserves for jet turbine engines...

I don’t tell you this to scare you, but to illustrate that I believe often, single exposure to a noise like a gunshot will improve with some time and precautions. However, if you’re dumb like I was and continue to expose yourself to trauma like that without regard or so much as a doctor checkup, I think the cumulative damage is what made mine so bad.

 

how long was the longest time it took to go away? im almost 2 months in and I've been having a spike since sun prob stress induced. my H is getting better though, I think.