Punched in Ear. Will My Tinnitus Go Away?

That's unusually quiet for someone who is 6 weeks in! Since there are times when you don't hear it, I would classify it as being moderate.

Now that I think of it, I don't really know the distribution of the time when T switches from a high pitch tone to a hiss. You might try to create a poll to find this out. Perhaps that can happen long after 3 months after the onset. If it happens in your case, you will certainly be able to habituate to a quiet hiss like that. Let's hope that it happens!

 

Neuromod will be available in Ireland in 2019.

 

It’s pretty loud in a quiet room, feels louder than 30 DB in a quiet room but based on the app yeah 30 dB. In a cafe right now it doesn’t even feel like 30 dB from the app.

And if a fridge buzzing is 50 dB and my tinnitus is largely masked by that, my tinnitus is pretty quiet?

Air conditioner is 60 dB and that can largely mask most of my tinnitus but depends on how loud the AC is.

I can hear it during a conversation in a cafe but it’s not as loud as the conversation itself .

Idk if the whist app is a good representation of 30 dB just with my phone turned up full volume with 30 dB on the app.

Like I can hear it during watching tv but it’s not as loud as the tv show Per say itself.

A whisper is 30 dB and I think it’s louder than that! But less loud than my fridge buzzing when it does that which is supposedly 50 dB.

So in silence 40-45 dB? Dunno. It feels very loud in silence.

 

If that device actually works i would buy it. Any idea when this year it’s released and if it’s proven to significantly reduce and get rid of tinnitus?

What’s the difference between neuromod and transcranial magnetic stimulation? Works for some people.

Probably 5-10k for neuromod

I just read MuteButton has been available since 2015 in the Irish Times. Did that not actually work and is this a new neuromod product like how do we know this new one will work?

 

There are testimonies on their website. This proves that it helps Some people. We have no idea what fraction of people who try it end up with an improvement. Hopefully this information will become available when it is released later this year.

Neuromod plays sounds while stimulating a certain major nerve by stimulating one's tongue. The hope is that this would stimulate brain plasticity.

TMS involves stimulation of the brain. I read that it is pretty loud. Some people (a smaller group than the group that has had an improvement) feel worse after it. If you try it, make sure you work with people who have had some experience administering it to T patients. Normally they use it to treat mental patients. I remember seeing a paper that describes the settings that they found to work best for T patients. You might want to find this paper
https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&q=tms+tinnitus&btnG=
and show it to the people you would like to perform TMS on you.

Yes, they had stopped selling it, made improvements and are planning to resume selling it again...

 

isn't speech discrimination used to test for this? they play white noise in one ear and make you repeat words you hear from the other ear?

 

Ok great info hopefully Neuromod works wonders. If the decrease of 10-20 DB they say is true that’s great.

Yeah I read one person said TMS made their Tinnitus louder. Thanks for the link to the paper.

Do you think the whist app is accurate of 30 DB? Feel like practically it’s louder but not 100% sure. I don’t hear it much while listening to music through ear buds on low volume.

Just trying to get as accurate as possible idea of how loud my tinnitus is and what that means for future improvements in it fading over time.

 

why not white noise in the same ear that is discriminating speech?

 

Yup can definitely say this was done

 

it can be done that way too, I am not sure why they do it that way in general

 

I don't own a cell phone, so I don't know much about "apps."

 

Sorry to hear this happened to you as well. It seems we are in a similar predicament but yours does sound more severe than mine (at the moment) unfortunately. Mine is a low buzz or hum, mainly noticable in silent rooms and especially at night. I bought a cool mist/humidifier machine and put it about 5 feet from my head next to my bed. The hum and sound of the spray drowns out the buzzing (look into one of these machines). My ear also feels full and unable to pop at times. I also am sensitive to sound. My tinnitus is only affecting the ear I was hit in or around —jaw, side of head etc. My other ear is okay (knock on wood). I am 7 weeks in, so it looks like we both suffered physical assaults around the same time.

For what it is worth, I have found a few posts here and there on MMA sites and a few guys who said it went away for them around 3 or 4 months, one guy around 6 months or so. I have no detectable hearing loss. I was tested by an audiologist. The audiologist is still referring me on to an ENT because he is concerned about the assault/head trauma and the symptoms of one sided tinnitus along with the occasional headaches I am experiencing. I don’t know what the ENT will be able to do but I feel it is worth going. Also, the audiologist said based on his experience, the Tinnitus he has seen in patients with minor head injuries usually goes away.

The good news is that from what I have read, most sites seem to say things go away after a while but of course everyone is different. Only 12% of all tinnitus cases are reportedly from head trauma so not sure if that is because it goes away in a lot of cases or that it is just rare or possibly a combination.

I honestly think the best thing we can do is look at post concussion recovery protocols. I didn’t know this but you can get a concussion from just having whiplash. I was never unconscious but again, you do not need to lose consciousness to suffer a concussion.

Just based on observations, I have found that stress is a huge trigger for me. It makes things so much worse. Just having quiet days but also keeping busy. No car stereo, limited TV (no movies with explosions etc.), basically, I am living a low key life at the moment, eating healthy and keeping my adrenaline down at all costs. Meditation for 20 minutes before bed works wonders and helps with calming my mind and sleeping. There are lots of guided meditations on YouTube, just play them on your phone WITHOUT EAR BUDS. Just put your phone on speaker and the phone on your bed.

So try to remain calm and also talk to your Doctor about a sleeping aide and an anti-anxiety medication to help you manage (I am on both and find them helpful). Mirtazipine 15mg at bedtime for sleep is excellent and I also take Klonopin 0.5mg 3x per day. Klonopin is a benzodiazepine similar to Xanax but not as strong. Both of these I have learned are used by a lot of Tinnitus sufferers.

Not sure what your work situation is like but if you can get some time off, or work from home, that could help too. I find being around the office is stressful for me right now with all the noise. My employer has been very understanding so I am lucky and able to do some work from home right now where it is quiet. But if you are able to get time off, you also want to keep busy and not just sit and think about the Tinnitus.

Hang in there. There is a fairly good chance that in 3-4 months or even a year, we will be in a much better place. I am not sure if you follow hockey but I am in Canada and Sidney Crosby has had 4 concussions and the first or second one (can’t remember which) sidelined him for over a year but he came back, symptom free and went on to win two more Stanley Cups. It is just one random and somewhat meaningless example but point being, there is hope. Everyone said he was done (career wise). There is no treatment of magical pill a Doctor can give us to heal our head trauma, we just need to eat healthy, stay low key and give the brain/ear and body a chance to heal. So just think about these kinds of things and try to be patient and keep the physical/mental stress down. I know it is hard.



From your quote, here is the same. Remember, they said in most people it goes away within 3 months and sometimes it can persist for a year or more. So those are pretty comforting words. No guarantees but a reason for optimism imo.

“Overview
Post-concussion syndrome is a complex disorder in which various symptoms — such as headaches and dizziness — last for weeks and sometimes months after the injury that caused the concussion.

Concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that usually happens after a blow to the head. It can also occur with violent shaking and movement of the head or body. You don't have to lose consciousness to get a concussion or post-concussion syndrome. In fact, the risk of post-concussion syndrome doesn't appear to be associated with the severity of the initial injury.

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.

The goal of treatment after concussion is to effectively manage your symptoms.


Symptoms
Post-concussion symptoms include:

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Loss of concentration and memory
• Ringing in the ears (Tinnitus)
• Blurry vision
• Noise and light sensitivity
• Rarely, decreases in taste and smell

Post-concussion headaches can vary and may feel like tension-type headaches or migraines. Most often, they are tension-type headaches. These may be associated with a neck injury that happened at the same time as the head injury.”

 

Did the fist connect with the opening of your ear? In other words, was it similar to a slap of the ear (that results in the victim hearing a loud noise), or were you just hit in the general area near your ear?!

 

What kind of caveman are you??!?!

I'm seriously considering not owning a cellphone, too. I don't know if I can do it, I use my phone for getting in touch with family who live overseas, but I would love to not own one.

 

I got hit right in the middle of the ear. Immediate ringing began.

 

I thought that this had to do with a minor traumatic brain injury. If the fist had connected with the opening of your ear, then you had a sort of an acoustic trauma. So the experiences of the people who got it as a result of an acoustic trauma might be more relevant to you...

 

Over the past 20 years (is that how long cell phones were available? - who cares), I felt bad about not owning a cell phone only once. I lost sight of my relative at a store. I thought to myself - if only the two of us were to have cell phones, we could easily locate each other. Then about 30 seconds later, I saw my relative, and I never felt like I needed a cell phone ever again.

I have no idea why cell phones became popular. They offer such a limited improvement over pay phones that used to be everywhere. the cheapest cell phone costs $100 per year. That's insane (considering I will likely never use it during that year)! Even if I needed to use it, I know that chances are it would not be charged up, as remembering to charge it up (given that I would never be using it) will be too much.

Can't you use a landline phone?

 

Head and ear are similar. Same area and I can still have had a concussion and not know it.

Either way if my ringing is now 30-40 DB is that a good sign it will for sure fade to something quieter?

 

What is probably important is the monthly trend and the global lows. (The initial level is probably less important than those two indicators.) If you notice fading compared to one or two months ago - that would be a wonderful sign. Any time your quietest ever tinnitus is quieter than the previous quietest ever level, that is a good sign too.

 

A simple slap to the ear delivers an impulse to the inner ear that can be damaging. [One time I was watching a clip about self-defense on YouTube and without thinking I reproduced what I was seeing on the screen - I gently slapped my ear. I got a bad spike that lasted for at least a day (possibly longer). Whatever you do, do not slap any ears (including your own ears).]

 

I mean do the post concussion syndrome stuff apply to me for them they say ringing in ears can last 3 months to a year. But technically tinnitus is chronic after 6 months.

Everyday is a struggle idk how I’ll habituate to this without being out in public 24/7 or in cafes, bars. Home is hell now cause of quietness.

I need hope this high pitched ring will decrease cause otherwise I can’t even focus on watching tv without being aware of it and have it disturbing me in the background

 

That's a myth.

Do you remember hearing a loud noise when you were hit?

It is hard to know what applies to you... Both causes offer hope that you will feel better a year after the onset...

Can't you play some nature sounds when you are at home? You might consider something like
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sound+oasis+sound+machine

 

That is a really good point. I actually can't, I no longer have a landline, and I don't think any of them do either.

I really would just prefer a landline phone though. I think a landline phone would replace my cell quite easily, especially now that I don't use my phone to listen to anything anymore.

 

I think there should still be a phone jack where you live. You just need to get a cheap phone from Walmart and then set up a plan with your phone company. (Those phones used to sell for $5, but now you might expect to spend $30-$50 for a reasonable landline phone that won't die as soon as the warranty is over.) And surely you can use a landline phone to call cell phones, so the fact that they don't have a landline is irrelevant.

 

Lol, you're right, I don't know why I thought that way.

I will get one, I am so tired of people thinking you should be available 24/7. The invention of the iPhone, while brilliant, has meant all our technology has become available "on the go", which means people just mess around with it when they should be doing something else. I'm not much better, but I would like to be.

 

I think my tinnitus is actually 45-50 dB. I can hear it high pitched with the dishwasher going holy %#% that’s loud... dishwasher I measured at 65 dB.

I really hope this fades and decreases in volume it’s destroying my quality of life.

 

It got super loud in a noisy cafe 70 DB cafe today and my ears are still roaring. Does this happen to people? Is this a spike ? How sensitive can my ears be now that this happens

My tinnitus was originally just when I put my head on my pillow but has gotten super loud over the past 5 weeks since onset this doesn’t make sense

 

Consider protecting your ears against all sounds that cause spikes. When one gets a spike, it likely does not promote healing...

Your experiences are common. See the first post on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/learn-from-others-mistakes.29437/

 

I’m avoiding loud venues and left shortly after. It seems I had a spike short after onset and maybe it hasn’t subsided yet?

When this first started it was mainly when I put my head on the pillow and turned into this constant ringing that needed to be masked in quiet areas. Then loud stuff spiked it. I was still using earbuds at the time and sometimes for 30 min to sleep.

I know I still have a chance of it fading but do people really habituate to loud T over time? Do nearly all people get fading like the ENT specialists say

“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”

Who are the cases where it does become chronic and bad and how do they function or cope with it in their daily lives?

So even though it seems bad <still some public environments I dont notice it>, will that likely happen to me? Improve and not become persistent bothersome.

I either got to habituate or it’s gotta improve. My hope of it going away is gone

Thank you for the informative replies Bill, Drone Draper and others. Helps a lot. Some studies even say that tinnitus without hearing loss is LESS likely to improve.

“Remission rate was about 11% in the current study, it occurred more often in individuals who developed tinnitus concomitant with a noticeable HL, and remission usually occurred during the first weeks after onset, resembling the time course of recovery of hearing after incidences of acute HL (7, 11)”

And “Taken together, data suggest that remission can be expected with substantial recovery of hearing threshold, for instance after incidences of sudden HL or acoustic trauma while remission is not to be expected if tinnitus onset was not associated with a recent incidence of HL”

But then there’s also this “Holgers et al. (8) report that between the first consultation which took place during the first 6 months after tinnitus onset and the endpoint of the study one year later, tinnitus symptoms decreased in 75% of the study participants, whereas the rest had symptoms that did not decrease over time.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5701924/#!po=0.495050

 

The quieter the T, the easier it is to habituate to it (especially if it is a hiss). Many people report their emotional reaction being not as strong beginning about 18-24 months after the onset...

You are now at a stage that many people here take over a year to get to. This means that you haven't hurt your ears as much as many of us here. You have a reason to be optimistic about your chances to get better (especially if your T has been improving - no reason for it to stop doing that).

I don't think I have seen that study before. Thank you for posting it. Your chance is likely above 75% (seeing how your condition is not as bad as the condition of an average sufferer the same number of days after the onset, and that your T has been improving).