One Slap on the Ear Was All It Took to Get Tinnitus

Hello everyone,

I joined the forum because like many of you, I have tinnitus. It all started about a week ago, my girlfriend and I were having an argument, and she slapped me across my ear. She did not intend to damage my ear drum, but she did.

After she hit me, the first thing that happened was a sudden a sharp pain combined with a very high pitched ring. The ring stopped, the pain went away immediately. But my ear felt odd, like it had something stuck inside, and it lost hearing (not sure the percentage of loss).

There was no blood, no bodily fluid coming from my ear. By looking at it, you would assume nothing was wrong. There was no tinnitus, yet.

The next morning I woke up, the tinnitus was there. It sounds like a television set that is on a channel that does not receive a signal. I've read many interpretations of this sound: water running; hissing; waterfall, etc. During the day it's not as noticeable, I can hear it faintly in the background. When the ambient noise around me is loud enough to cover it up, I stop and think it's gone but soon as it is quiet it reminds me it never left.

At night, it's loud, crackling a little, random noises, and that white noise.

I did go to an ENT about this; so far just an evaluation. I have a perforated ear drum. No shock, I figured that based on Googling my symptoms. My main concern was, how bad is it? Also, what can be done about this incessant noise? Based on my research on this forum, whether or not it goes away is a flip of a coin. Some have it for years, others it goes away. And the reason for the overwhelming number of people that seem stuck with it forever is because those that get their silence back undoubtedly stop posting here. Not all, but I bet most.

Okay, so how bad is my perforated eardrum? Find out after these messages...

Just kidding, but seriously, those of you who have a perforated eardrum, please post how bad it is; the percentage of damage. Saying you perforated your eardrum and not supplying basic information like that makes it hard for others to gauge their own situation. Like, you say you perforate your eardrum and it never healed. Why? Well, if the damage is 80% that might explain it.

Nonetheless, mine is 40% damaged. Yes, very high.

So my ENT explained it "may heal on it's own, let's give it time"; he was fairly neutral on whether or not it would. He said that some heal, others don't. He did a balance test and I passed. He did a sound test with something that goes in your mouth asking if I hear it louder in one side, I said no. I really didn't.

I do have conductive hearing loss, he said. He looked in my ear and said, "there doesn't appear to be any damage to your middle ear"--

What about my tinnitus? Well, that's the thing. I have another appointment in his office to see the Audiologist. (I think that's what they're called) This particular individual will assess my tinnitus concerns.

My ENT explained bit like this, paraphrased: When I was hit my eardrum perforated. But, the question is, did the slam not only rupture my eardrum, but damage the middle ear too? The tinnitus could be from the reduction of hearing do to the perorated ear, if that heals... it may stop. MAY, not will. HOWEVER, if the tinnitus is do to nerve damage or some other thing deep inside; well, it's likely permanent unless some miracle cure comes.

Okay everyone, here is my long winded introduction. I look forward to contributing here and learning how to cope with this. I am the kind of person that no matter how much pain I feel inside, I try my best to lift others up.

Best,

Naruto

 

Sorry to hear that, there was another guy in here with tinnitus from a slap recently.

Hoping that it fades as the drum heals.

 

I think it will get better as time goes on and everything in your ear heals. Please be careful not to be slapped again like that.

You seem to have mild / moderate tinnitus so if you need something at night to help you mask it use a white noise machine. Don't make it too loud or too close to your ears, but put it at a volume that is right below your tinnitus. The point isn't to overpower the tinnitus, but to blend it into the noise of the white noise machine.

 

Sorry that you’re going through this and hope things improve for you. This is super random but I believe Halle Barry also suffers with tinnitus and hearing loss due to being struck by her partner.

 

Yeah, Wesly Snipes. Dude is a giant douche.

I hope you feel better soon, @Naruto. Protect your ears, stay away from Otoxic meds, check out succes stories.

 

I appreciate your positive attitude. And believe me, I am being careful. >_>

(Googling "White Noise Machine") Hm, as for masking it: I haven't needed to do that, yet. It doesn't disturb my sleep at all.

My main annoyance right now is that it's simply there, and the option for silence is gone (for how long, idk). That really, really sucks. I keep thinking about that song, "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel, and how I took it for granted.

On the flip side, I'm thankful to have found a forum where I can connect with others that are dealing with this as well.

I'll be sure to check out the success stories! It's always good to get more positive vibes in a pessimistic world. I try my best to avoid negativity, although I know that's not always possible.

Thanks again for the welcomes, everyone.

 

Do not tolerate physical abuse.
It is simply not right.
I hope your ear drum heals soon and that the tinnitus fades away.
Once

 

Yes, duly noted. I concur.

I hope it heals too, I wish I had some idea on what the chances are (for example: how bad is your perforation, and is it healing/healed?). Anyone reading this with a similar situation, please let me know. I'l keep browsing the forums, but so far I have only found vague answers.

 

No one has the right to strike another person. It will not result in a won argument.

I feel for you dude.

 

I’m in a similar situation to you; no perforated eardrum but my ear feels the same way. Best of luck to you.

 

Hi and welcome.

Sorry this has happened to you.
It's normal to feel overwhelmed at first because of the uninvited intruder that is tinnitus. You're probably giving it a lot of attention. You said you can go for periods when you don't notice it. Herein lies the key to your recovery. Try not to dwell on it too much and do the things you feel make you forget about your tinnitus. Chances are you'll soon be able to hear your tinnitus and not let it affect you too much.

There's still a chance of some natural recovery. Personally, if you're still within the timeframe and you could get your hands on some prednisolone I would go for that, knowing you've exhausted every possibility of maximizing your recovery. The protocols for prescribing oral steroids like prednisolone seem to vary depending on where you live, but there is some body of evidence that your ENT can read up on. It's worth a try in my opinion, especially if there's hearing loss at play.

You also said the ENT said your loss was conductive, but doesn't see anything wrong in your middle ear. That's contradictory...

All the best.

 

Hello!

I appreciate the sentiments. Pretty much what I do is totally zone out of it; don’t focus on the Tinnitus and it fades into the background. I learned quite a bit reading around this forum.

Not sure what that is but I’ll look in to it; thank you!

I’m in California; I’ll be seeing my ENT today so I’ll ask about it.

I might have misquoted that. I believe he said my hearing loss appears to be conductive not sensorineural, but an audiologist will verify for sure. Maybe he said inner ear appears okay.

 

Conductive hearing loss should be pretty easy to determine. A tympanogram and tuning fork test would give some clues.
As for the inner ear... there's audiograms, but they only give a crude image of how well you can hear. I'm surprised at how fast you can see an ENT.
Let us know how you fare.

 

So after testing I’m told it’s not Sensorineural; it’s conductive.

As for Tinnitus, still have it. No clue what will be the end results once my ear drum heals; but I’m prepared for anything.

 

LEAVE her.

Jesus if I read one more post like this I will be violently ill.

 

I'd take that as good news. Once the eardrum heals your hearing acuity should get better and tinnitus should fade. As in: chances are good that this will happen.

 

hey, i’m also in a similar situation as you as i got slapped in the ear lightly exactly one month ago. i was really drunk and didn’t notice anything until the morning after. Ear felt clogged so i went to the doctor the next day and they gave me prednisone which didn’t really seem to help. i then started to develop a very mild tinnitus that sounds a little like a white noise. I went to an ent and told him what happened. we were listening to music when it happened so all he told me was that it was a coincidence that i got slapped the same night i was listening to loud music and that i’ll have tinnitus likes for the rest of my life. i really just refuse to believe that especially now after it does seem like it’s getting much better even after just a month.

now i’ve noticed my ears are popping a little bit more and my tinnitus fluctuates from already pretty quiet to not even noticeable at times. i’ve also noticed my ear is a lot less clogged now than initially and seems to be getting better. i’ve stopped lifting because when i lift i feel a lot of pressure in that ear and my tinnitus increases along with when i flex my jaw hard. however it does go away right after i finish my set. i just wanted to check in with you and see if you had smilies symptoms and if you have gotten any better? i have a zoom meeting with another ENT tomorrow so i’m going to be sure to address him all my concerns and what i think. also forgot to mention i did a hearing test and i DO NOT have a perforated eardrum

 

Hi AnonymousWasp, it's been almost two months for me and there's been no improvement. I have a follow-up appointment with my ENT in a couple of weeks. He'll see whether my perforation has healed any, and if not, I may need surgery. On the plus side, my tinnitus hasn't gotten worse.

 

The bad news is that a slap can lead to a very serious injury of an ear. The good news is that your tinnitus isn't a high pitch tone (harder to ignore, and a signal of serious damage).

Many people with a perforated ear drum end up losing their tinnitus months after their ear drum heals.

People with an eardrum ruptured as a result of a terrorist bomb ended up getting over tinnitus - check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-many-recover-3-studies.21441/

 

I am not as optimistic as @Bill Bauer. I still remember the remarks from the first serious ENT I visited: “make it your friend” and the first audiologist “the first year is the T formation year”. I thought they were cruel at the time, now I see them like a realistic summary of facts. By the way, T is not my friend yet.

 

Whenever someone reports that their tinnitus is gone, I ask them whether they can still hear it in a quiet room (to determine whether their tinnitus is actually 100% gone). Check out the search results below. When you click on each of the text links there, you will see my question. Scroll down to see their answer, and scroll up to see their original success story
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/4086100/?q=quiet+room+earplugs&o=relevance&c[user][0]=22665

Having said this, it goes without saying that for some (many?) people tinnitus stays relentlessly at the same level and their only hope is one of those upcoming new treatments that we will hopefully see 5-10 years from now...

 

I’m in the same boat as mine hasn't gotten worse or better after 4 months...have you thought about seeing a TMJ doctor about possible damage/misalignment to your jaw which could be causing your tinnitus?