Pulled My Ear by Accident and Now Tinnitus Has Skyrocketed! What Damage Did I Cause?

Last Wednesday while sitting at my desk I, probably as a result of stress, put my thumb and index finger somewhere near my right outer ear and quite hardly moved my index finger on the skin there. Within a few seconds there was intense pain in my ear that subsided once I let go.

An hour or so later, I could hear the tinnitus ramping up in that ear and whereas my tinnitus is usually equal in both ears, the right side has been much louder, seemingly moreso as the days go by. I didn't have any muffled feeling at the time or next day, but the hearing feels a bit "off". I also have a pressure feeling in my ear most of the time... i.e. I can feel pressure in my ear if I am straining (seems to be worse by the day).

I wouldn't think this is normally a big deal for people with "normal ears"... but as I previously had exploratory surgery in the ear about 18 years ago, there would be scar tissue around most of the canal wall near the eardrum.

The only thing I can think of is that the tension pulled at the scar tissue and has somehow irritated the nerves in the ear. I thought about going on a low-dose of prednisone, that I have available, but I am afraid it's also going to have the opposite effect and spike what is already a bad ear.

Anybody ever experienced something similar?

 

Well... I went on a short low dose of Prednisone (similar to a Medrol dose pack). The tinnitus definitely ramped up... Not sure if it was from the Prednisone or whatever trauma I inflicted on myself. I also felt it deeply impacting my anxiety... Still high.

I'm chalking up the increased tinnitus to a hearing loss, sightly in my tight ear. If I stand in front of a sound source (i.e. TV) and close my eyes, the sound is more apparent to my left ear. Not sure if it's just a high frequency loss or an overall loss.

Can't believe how something so stupid is probably going to make my life more of a hell than it already is.

 

I have had temporary spikes becoming very significant after some situations with loud accidental noises (after my initial episode getting tinnitus). I have measured a lot of them after, for science, with good earmuffs on and a dB-meter near the source. Some have been 108-110 dbA impact noises/fast sampling. Personally I feel everything above 85 dB to be really intruding, like I feel the noise physically hammering in my ears. In your case I would try to decrease anxiety and let some more time pass.

Maybe take some extra Magnesium, and/or NAC, Nicotinamide Riboside, that's what I do when I get too worried, though I am not a doctor or something like that.

 

I've been taking Magnesium and NAC all along. I have not heard of Nicotinamide Riboside nor tried it but I will look into it.

The weird side effect (probably related to anxiety and TMJ) that I get is a tightness in the side of the head. I ended up trying some relaxation exercises (one of them smiling and holding it) and it seemed to take that tightness away... However, all that smiling and whatnot seemed to kick the tinnitus up shortly thereafter. Wish I could trade my head in for a newer model!