Punched in Ear. Will My Tinnitus Go Away?

@ZachB - you may benefit from a sleeping aid to help you get some much needed rest. You should speak to your GP about it.

 

That’s the thing I am taking high dose sleeping aids 2 of them and I’m still getting 2 hours of sleep per night. And if I wake up in the middle of the night I won’t go back to sleep.

I really feel there’s no hope for me with fading or this going away

My life is literally ruined and I doubt those previous success stories apply to a severe case like mine

 

You're still early in, there's no reason to say it can't go down in intensity.

Are you doing anything to try to relax? Do you have friends you can hang out with?

 

Even though it’s 6 weeks and only got louder? Like is it unheard of for it to be so bad that 2 sleep meds don’t get me a good nights rest? The high pitch is so loud it feels like an attack on my brain ears.

I take baths, showers. I noticed alcohol spiked my tinnitus like crazy so I guess I’m done casually drinking.

Even my white noise machine and fan don’t block out the high pitched ringing that keeps me up.

I went for dinner with friends a few times that helped a bit. But I have major job interviews coming up and I am so afraid I get the job and can’t do it cause of tinnitus.



First seven days I didn’t sleep at all.

 

I am going through a similar situation.

I was physically assaulted, punched in the side of the face, jaw, head etc.

I think the best thing to do is focus on concussion recovery as recommended by some to me.

- No ear buds
- No loud environments (movie theatres, bars, clubs, parties etc.)
- No loud devices such as blenders etc.
- Limit electronic use. I shut it down at 7pm every night and just read or relax, meditate etc.
- No alcohol/caffeine or recreational drugs.

I have read with assaults that it is a trauma likely linked in part with the brain, so in essence, partly a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) as it is all closely connected in that area (ear/brain/jaw).

Electronics, more specifically screens such as phones, tablets and computers or laptops are bad for TBI recovery because they are flashing pulsating frequencies that you are looking at, they just flash so fast that we do not catch it and see it as a constant image etc.

Eat Healthy, live a very quiet, low stress life during recovery. Do not do any type of physical or emotional exertion. If you work out heavy, stop. Just do some stretching, try yoga and walk 20-30 minutes per day or even better, do a stationary bike where you are sitting down so your head is not bobbling around. No sports, or anything that stresses the body or causes physical exertion such as weights or cross fit etc.

These are just my recommendations I am suggesting based on reading and recommendations from others.

Again, I think the key for our recovery is to treat this as a head/impact injury and not an auditory issue such as being exposed to loud music.

Start doing some reading up on Google in regards to head injuries/tinnitus and also concussion recovery or post concussion syndrome. You will find some interesting and helpful tidbits as you start reading. MMA Forums, Boxing Forums are some good places to start as well as there are a handful of posters who have ended up being in a similar situation to yours and mine due to being kicked or punched in the head/ear. Another are Concussion forums, as there are a lot of people who end up with tinnitus as a result of car accidents when their head hits the air bag (impact).

Best of luck and hope things clear up and get better. Give it time and focus on a healthy lifestyle in order to give your brain and body a chance to heal.

 

Thanks for the tips and sorry you’re experiencing a similar situation.

Are there a lot of cases where concussion related tinnitus goes away or gets better?

“Post Concussion Syndrome: In most people, symptoms occur within the first seven to 10 days and go away within three months. Sometimes, they can persist for a year or more.”

From Mayo Clinic, they list ringing in the ears as a symptom.

I’m scared that my tinnitus will remain high pitched <it’s gotten higher since onset> or won’t go away at all. I don’t want to end up with my career, quality of life and everything robbed forever by tinnitus. I can hear it with the tv on. I can hear it in the car with trucks passing by on the road.

I don’t have hope that it will improve cause it’s already so high pitched and disturbing.

This is the one thing keeping me going, don’t know if it’s true for my high pitched tinnitus from an ear injury.

“For many patients who have experienced tinnitus for less than six months, its natural course is to improve over time, and most people do not go on to have persistent, bothersome tinnitus.”

 

@ZachB My hyperacusis started around 2 weeks after whiplash from a car accident (so it would be in the timeframe that Mayo clinic points out). At that point my whiplash symptoms were for the most part already gone. My tinnitus then started a few weeks later together with a bad cold. Now 9 months later it is still here, better, but not gone. I am still hopefull that with time it could subside....

 

Hopefully it goes away. Did your tinnitus improve a lot? I feel like if mine doesn’t improve idk what I’ll do. This is the worst suffering and if mine doesn’t decrease holy, I might go crazy.

I am at 6-7 weeks since tinnitus onset

 

Mine was always rather mild, but I noticed the first small improvements at the 3 month mark. After that it got slowly a bit better and worse in waves. Unfortunately each time I have a cold I get a big spike.

I treat mine like noise induced, so I keep away from headphones, use earplugs even for moderate loud noise (e.g. vacuum cleaner, gym, restaurants...).

Give it time, check with your doc maybe for something to help you sleep.

 

If you don't experience any fading over the next 4-6 weeks, it will be a bad sign...

 

@ZachB -- Sorry to hear about your injury. I hope things clear up for you soon. Just to mention, most people on this forum feel earbuds are a strict "no no". Especially in the critical early weeks/months of tinnitus onset. -- Best!

 

So at 3 months no fading it’s almost likely it’s game over and you’re stuck with that level / pitch of tinnitus ? Holy shit.

I don’t think I can live with this pitch long term. I’m only in my 20s holy shit this is distressing

I have so much potential in my career and I feel if this doesn’t improve everything is done

 

I'm personally convinced I cannot listen to earbuds anymore. I used to wear them while running, I wore them yesterday on SUPER low volume, e.g. I could hear people in the street and my own breathing over the music.

Finished my run and ..... SPIIIIIIKE.

 

Could also be because of the workout, at least I get a short spike each time after the gym or if I go hiking or running.

 

y'know, I thought so, too.

Only one way to find out.

Running.... with no music

 

@ZachB - give it time. Cross that bridge when you come to it.

Are you sleeping now at least?

 

On and off. Take high dose sleeping pills and got 5-6 hours last night not 2. Always wake up 1-2 or more times per night.

Idk what to do. I’m halfway to 3 months and it’s still really bad all that’s changed is I have sleeping pills.

 

Most people for whom it had faded report fading within the first 3 months. There are also cases like

where the fading began at around 3 months. Also keep in mind that most of those people got T not as a result of being punched in the ear... T notoriously produces different experiences for different people. My guess (based on what I read on this forum) is "less hope" after 3 months, and "a lot less hope" after 6 months...

Try not to think about the big picture and your long term future. Try focusing on surviving and trying to not freak out in the short term.

There are potential cures out there these days. It is also the case that one's emotional reaction upon hearing T does tend to stop being as intense sometime around 18-24 months mark...

 

Thanks for the response. It’s just that it’s such a high pitch tone that I don’t see myself ever habituating if it doesn’t fade. Everyday is a struggle. I’m mentally strong but this is so bad that I can’t handle it.

I haven’t seen any real cures but I am going to try TMS it works for decreasing T for some people.

Does my case sound like severe T?

 

I don't want to play internet doctor - it got me banned in less than 72 hours from reddit - but have you considered speaking to your GP about anti anxiety medication? You seem very highly strung right now and I believe you are speaking to someone professionally. What are they telling you right now?

In terms of your tinnitus severity, you should speak to an audiologist. A good one will typically be able to help match the pitch and volume of your tinnitus.

Mine is considered kind of mild - about 35dB at 4kHz. The pitch makes it more annoying than anything.

 

My audiologist didn’t even try to measure mine just did the hearing test. I am seeing an ENT next month maybe they can do that for me? Mine is like crickets but sometimes higher pitch.

I have anti anxiety med at a low dose for 1x a day.

The doctors really have no idea they just say yeah it can go away or fade you’re still young! So and so professionals live great lives with tinnitus, it’s not the end of the world for them just annoying. That must be hard for you try sound machine for sleep is what the audiologist said that’s it.

I don’t know how I’ll get over this if it remains at this high pitch.

 

Typically, my understanding is, your hearing loss and tinnitus tend to match in terms of pitch and volume.

But if you have no hearing loss, then I'm not quite sure.

A lot of audiologists and ENTs may not be sympathetic enough for people like us. I know people out there who would get told "It'll get better in a few months, or you'll get used to it" who would just get on with things with no worries, but you strike me as being a bit more neurotic like myself.

Is there anything you can do to take your mind off it just now? Can you go out in nature?

 

I can go to the gym that’s pretty much it. Tried watching tv but could hear the T roaring. It’s just so invasive and high pitched it’s hard to move on so quick.

My apartment is quiet and it’s so loud the T. I can’t go to bars and clubs anymore, movies are tough, can’t listen to music much, can’t drink any alcohol cause spikes, dunno it’s pretty hard on life this T. I may eventually say screw it and still go out to bars but leave before it gets too loud at 1am.

I mean it kept me up at night so much for a reason? I used to sleep in complete silence now I use a sound machine with crickets sound.

I mean my T hasn’t improved but I have no hearing loss but no fading yet so I don’t know if T severity is even related to hearing loss.

 

I know how you feel, man.

I used to love going out and going to concerts.

Regardless of how things progress, I will not risk that anymore. This forum has a few horror stories where people have had their tinnitus fade and they've gotten careless, suffered a new acoustic trauma and got tinnitus a second time.

So from now on, both of those things are out.

Same thing with sleep. Used to wear earplugs and sleep in total silence. Now it's a white noise machine using a fan noise.

It's interesting that you have no (measurable) hearing loss.

 

The level you have described is reasonably mild, so I should imagine there is a fair we good chance of it going away over the coming months.

 

I started to hear it outside more a few days ago, dunno if it’s temporary spike from earbuds (low volume) or alcohol a few days ago. Like I’m in a cafe now (non caffeine tea) and I can hear it and FEEL it like I can FEEL each higher pitch ring. I don’t know wtf that is or if that will go away.

Starting to hear it more in public now
Dunno if something spiked it or it just got worse

Dunno if caffeine spikes it for me might try no coffee..

Had a spike from alcohol recently and then the next day I could hear the T more during watching tv

If it’s reasonably mild hopefully you are right! Going away would be AMAZING and i would cherish life and be super hearing protective (never really listened to loud music anyway and left clubs as soon as it got loud)

I have no idea what other people live with if mine is mild. It’s just the high pitch that bothers me so much and causes distress. My T is constant not intermittent.

 

Have yous seen

 

Yeah I read about the second one. That’s like on the market by 2025 then?

First one is hearing regeneration might be useful for tinnitus too not sure.

I’m trying TMS soon to reduce the tinnitus.

Would you agree that based on what I’ve posted my T is mild?

 

How loud is it? Can you match the volume to the volume of an external sound?

 

I can hear it while watching tv in a quiet apartment. Less loud than the fridge buzzing if I’m near it or gets drowned out the high pitch by the fridge buzzing.

It’s this annoying high pitch in the background when I’m in a cafe. Don’t always hear it in public. It’s like crickets sometimes or higher pitch.

Very audible in a quiet room.

30DB or less i assume based on the whist app with my phone turned to full volume. 5-8000 Hz. Sometimes like 4000 hZ not sure exactly. Same with my headphones in or the phone. Probably just caused myself a slight spike but wanted to give you an idea.

I want it to fade to a hiss or go away. Something I can habituate to at least and ignore/not hear most places.