My Ear Just Got Hit with Loud Sound Again! For About 10 Minutes...

I stupidly let a knife clatter down loudly and am scared again.
For about 10 minutes I didn't actually (barely) hear the tinnitus. Now it's slowly creeping back up louder and louder... What have I done??

How could it have diminished like that from a loud sound? This makes me think that I've done even more damage. Has this happened to anyone?

 

Residual inhibition maybe. I doubt dropping a knife would do any damage to your hearing.

 

Interesting. Just read about RI. Maybe it was.
It was in no way a pleasant sound though. It was a loud harsh clank against a ceramic plate. I'm trying not to work myself up. The tinnitus is back now and hopefully it won't be louder than before.

 

Hi,

I totally know what you're going through. During the first few months of my tinnitus I would totally panic every time I heard a loud(ish) sound.

The thing is that your ears are quite sensitive at the moment. And pretty much anything can cause a spike - an increase in volume and/or the sound.

Here's what you should do - I know this is near impossible for you now, but try to calm down. It's going to get better, trust me.

Try to protect your ears from unnecessary exposure to very loud sounds, but more importantly don't stress too much about sudden increases in tinnitus. All those spikes should be temporary, I had dozens in the past 6 months.

 

Thanks Yes they do feel so sensitive right now. I think my ears are fine from the knife clatter last eve.

Have your spikes include muffledness as well?

Thanks for saying it's going to get better.... I'm trying to tell myself that and calm down.

 

Yes. My spikes almost always included ear fullness that was pretty bad - it was constantly drawing my attention to my ears.