Tinnitus from a Bike Tire Explosion

I am not medically trained so I can't be sure what prednisone will do for you at low dosage. I also didn't take prednisone myself as I wasn't sure acoustic trauma caused my T. Other members who have used it can probably advise you better about it.

 

From next week I will include NAC and strong Omega-3 pills to my diet.
So then it will be NAC, Omega-3, curucumin, vitamin B complex, vitamin D and magnesium. Even if it's unlikely this will help I'll give it a shot at least. Can't hurt.

 

Hey @Winter -- Since you're open to taking supplements, below is a link to a thread about a relatively inexpensive supplement that you may find of interest. Also on that thread is a reference to C60 you also may find interesting. -- Good luck recovering from that bicycle tire explosion, and I hope you're toddler will be OK!

Sodium Thiosulfate — "May" Help w/ Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus

 

Things I started doing since yesterday (week 3 since the T started from the explosion):

*Not monitoring the sound by holding my ears "Oh no, that was a loud bus horn has it become worse now?!"
*Not checking this site and other searching online about tinnitus hours everyday (it is not helping me, I become obsess with it, and I don't want the T to be my life. I have to live with it for the rest of my life, but I don't have to read about it for the rest of my life). So only 1-2 times a day I will check this site, and next week perhaps only 1-2 a week and so on.
*Taking warm baths is really calming and the sound from running water masks the T in a nice way. This helps me relax and staying out of panic mode is good to accept that T is a part of me for the rest of my life I think.
*I sleep with fan/rain sounds on a speaker to try to mask the T. I found this more relaxing than listening to the T in complete silence. (I really hate silent rooms now...)
*First 2 weeks tinnitus was all I was thinking AND talking about basically. Starting yesterday I will try not to talk about it with my wife, colleagues, parents. etc It does not help me to talk and obsess about it every day. Perhaps I will think about it almost 24/7, but I can choose not to talk about it.
*As soon as the NAC and Omega 3 arrives (ordered online) I will be taking them every day also.

 

Consider nicotinamide riboside...

 

Thank you for the tip. Has it helped you?

 

Hey Winter,

I would like to just say that I too am struggling with my first bout with tinnitus starting November 3rd, 2019. I went hunting in the mountains and shot a very loud rifle without ear protection. I have been in a very bad place and I think it sort of comes with the territory. I have been lurking on here for a month and just posted today. I did elect to take a full cycle of high dose prednisone and unfortunately, it didn't help me or my hearing loss in the least (confirmed with two hearing tests and my perception of the tinnitus). Here are the things I have read about that give me hope.

-Supplements like NAC, B12, Vitamin D, Magnesium and recently iodine.
-Notch therapy (find out what tone your tinnitus is with a free tool online and then you can find notched music or white noise)
-The Tinnitus Mix CD by Mr. Case (seems to have helped others)
-TIME! (this sucks because you don't have control over it but I hear a lot of positives about giving it time)
-I am trying Liam Boehm's methods (scam or not it will make me healthier)
-Hearing aid (has helped me cope a bit with my hearing loss notch at 4k and has some nice subtle tones in the background)
-This youtube video (

4 Hours of High Pitched Tinnitus...

) for when you just need a few minutes of a break. It took my T from a 5/10 to a 1/10 for a short time (only if yours is high pitched)
-Try Dr. Mandrells Spoon method (

SHOCKING TRICK FOR RELIEF OF TINNITUS...SPOON...

) (I also saw some success with this for a short time)
-Try to get habituate (I did not like the idea of this in the beginning but if the ring won't go away the only option is to expect that I can get used to it over time. If we don't start trying now, we delay recovery. If it goes away on it's own, happy days.

I have had all the same guilt. Why did I go hunting, why did I do this to my wife, why can't I look forward to things, why me...


I am a faithful man. My favorite statement is "If god brings you to it, he will bring you through it." I don't know what you believe but I will pray for all of you to find peace and QUIET. God hears us.

God Bless,
Chris

 

23 days with the tinnitus now, still no improvement. Some days it's worse without any obvious reason. However the sound sensitivity/hyperacusis is better. Sharp sounds like plates from cleaning the dishes doesn't hurt my ears as much. However, the tinnitus is a much worse problem for me than the hyperacusis is/was. I don't use earplugs for everyday sounds because I don't want to over protect my ears. Still haven't gotten my NAC and Omega 3 because of delivery problems. But I think they will arrive tomorrow and I'll start using them as soon as I get them.

Although the tinnitus sound hasn't gotten better/lower, I feel happier than week 1 and 2. I accept what has happened to me and try to live my life the best I can with this being a part of me. I can sleep ok with it, so that's good (working + having a four month old baby makes me tired and that helps me sleep I think). I try to eat healthy since I've read a lot of pleople has worse T from sugar and crap food.

I hope tinnitus can fade or get better with time, even after a long period like three and a half weeks...

 

If you read the forum you will see that it fades for many people during the first year or two, and others just get used to the tinnitus over time if it stays. This forum is a place where the most desperate or anxious people with tinnitus hang out. Many people stop posting here because their tinnitus fades or they habituate to it. Or they just have the power to deal with it and get on with life.

It seems that it fades more often for people that were exposed to a single trauma but I might be wrong. It's a bit more unlikely for people with years of cumulative noise damage like me.

The most common mistake people make is to get comfortable again and expose themselves/become exposed to more noise. That can make the tinnitus come back with a vengeance. Consider yourself a person that can't use headphones or go to loud places if keeping your tinnitus from worsening is more important to you than those things. Do the right things and the outlook isn't nearly as bad as you might think at first. Again, many of the regular posters here have other issues apart from tinnitus that makes it harder to cope with.

 

@Winter -- That's incredibly positive news! It took me many months before I started noticing a diminution in my severe hyperacusis. The fact you're experiencing that so early on bodes well for you. Your watching your diet is very important. I would also recommend incorportating into your life anything that helps you stay calm, as anxiety and stress can cause inflammation, which is the last thing your ears need at this time. Time in nature, meditation, yoga, etc. can all contribute (often significantly) to the healing process.

 

Some weeks is quite short for improvement. My recent bout took about 8 mos to seriously fade, and I still have it at low levels. This will take more time for sure.

Importantly, be sure to protect and avoid additional acoustic trauma that will make this worse.

 

This means that it won't go away overnight or within a week. But it is still too early to tell whether it will mostly go away in a year or two.

 

A well written post HeavyMantra and a pleasure to read.
Michael

 

Today I'm feeling pretty down. This guy PortalNaut wrote in another thread here that using prednisone made his T go down about 95% when taking it 12 days after his noise trauma. Now I feel so stupid I didn't demand a real dose of prednisone when I visited my doctor about the same time after my noise trauma. I wish I've read another success story like that before. Now it feels way too late (almost one month after).

First day with NAC powder and strong omega 3 tablets today.
Tinnitus is the worst it's been yet today. Perhaps a lot of noise I hear everyday - people dropping forks at their plates in the lunch room at work very close to me, cars and trucks honking loud horns close to me outside, riding my bike and brakes hard to stop instantly and the brake plates screaming very loud and so on. This is all standard sounds that I can't protect myself against (I can't wear ear plugs all day long, I just won't do that) but perhaps all these sounds accumulate during the days and making my T like 3-5% worse every day. Yesterday I also carried a pretty heavy armchair for like a 30 minute walk (couldn't fit it in a car) and this strained my neck and back and made the T worse also. I hope it will go down when the ache from the lifting goes away but right now I think I have to live with this even worse tinnitus.

 

@Winter
Hello Winter,

The current time is a roller coaster ride for you and your family. Most of us have been there where you are.

And you try each and everything to get relief (vitamins, therapies, massage, acupuncture, TRT, mindfulness, yoga, whatever else). And every time nothing helps, your frustration is even higher.

The best things that helped me were and still are:
- Distraction. Try to do something, do your normal stuff - even if it is hard.
- Mask with sounds, for example cricket sounds or white noise. You need time to not hear T and feel normal.
- Try to live as normal as possible. Normal sleep, normal food, sport etc. Do not change that to the worse since it will make you feel worse.
- If you need medication for your mental healthy, here are the best ones in my opinion: Remeron for sleeping, Lexapro against anxiety and a benzo if you get panic (but of course take only rarely).
- I also take a lot of vitamins, NAC etc. They can really help. My tinnitus fluctuates, hence I cannot tell if they really have an effect. But I take for my normal health.

Yes, it is tough. You do not know if this is all real just because of this one accident. And that brings despair.

Also, I remember reading many stories here of people where tinnitus went better after a noise accident.

So have faith this will get better.

Don't blame for yourself about the prednisone. I took it and it had zero effect. In Germany, you also do no longer get that since it is inefficient.

Accept that you have a more difficult time now. But be strong for your family and your kid.
Things will get better, but it will take time.

Also, Lenire and other devices will hopefully bring relief for us.

Best regards,
Martin

 

Prednisone works for some people, but not for others. In some cases, it makes tinnitus worse. So don't feel you've necessarily missed out on a sure thing. From what I've been able to discern, you might get better results from Low Level Laser Therapy. There's quite a bit of information on this forum on it, with some people getting some really good results. I think the recommended time frame on starting that is something like 6 months--the sooner the better. I just read a post on one of the LLLT threads, which you may want to check out.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...at-it-was-in-6-weeks.16854/page-5#post-488974

Regarding ear plugs, you may want to consider some musician's ear plugs, which can be very unobtrusive and can allow you to hold conversations without any problems as well. It's something that would probably be a good thing to do at this time, as the first weeks/months post tinnitus (or ear injury) are probably the most important. You'll never get these weeks/months back, so trying to calmly discern the best things for you to do during this time is paramount.

All the Best!

 

Martin, it is so nice to read your post knowing that you are doing much better now compared to your initial days. @Winter, take Martin's advice seriously. He has been through 'hell' and have walked the talk. You have to read his initial posts to appreciate the nightmarish struggles he went through. In all my years on tinnitus support forums, Martin's initial struggle was among the worst I have read. His advise near the ending of his post is as golden an advice as can be:

"Accept that you have a more difficult time now. But be strong for your family and your kid.
Things will get better, but it will take time."

That also summarizes my own initial struggle years back. Everyone of those elements is so true in my own struggle, suffering and accepting the initial 'hell', willing to take it all for my loved ones, and having faith that things will improve over time (and it does), and yes, it will take TIME. No one is a super human. Tinnitus suffering will take its course despite trying many things. Winter, your tinnitus is very new. So try not to push for success so much that you will get frustrated if they don't work. Be realistic with what your body can do in the natural process of healing from the trauma of tinnitus. But do have hope that the day of deliverance will come at some point, if slowly. Some are lucky to be well in months. It took me 3 years before I wrote my success story. Even some tinnitus gurus such as Kevin Hogan, Paul Tobey (my first tinnitus mentor), Doctor Nagler, etc. they took years to be well. So be patient. Take good care. God bless.

 

I just ruined my life! Yesterday I removed wax with a syringe bulb and got the wax out but today the tinnitus is much worse! And not only that, I walked past a train alarm clock at a train station just as it started to ring. Insanely loud! So two major spikes within 24 hours. And I was just learning to accept my tinnitus. It has gone from a 3/10 to an 8/10 loudness level in my right ear. And the right ear was the one with more quiet tinnitus. I'm starting to panic! I have ruined everything now, the tinnitus before was nothing compared to this.

 

@Winter I’m so sorry this happened to you. I hope you’ll be fine.

You might suffer from hyperacusis which makes everything sound ridiculously loud.

 

I have setbacks all the time from loud noise. This things happens even if you are careful. And people are really careless, I learned

 

I had some hyperacusis but it got much better after a couple of weeks after the bike tire explosion. The alarm at the train station was super loud, and in a tunnel/stairs that made it really, really loud. I was really unlucky to walk past it just as it started to ring because a train was incoming...

I feel so stupid for removing the plug of wax with a syringe at home also that made the tinnitus much, much worse. I was afraid of going to the doctor and remove it by microsuction or something else so I wanted to do it myself and was glad when I got the big wax out. But today I have to pay the price for my stupidity. Now I have to live with tinnitus that is at least 5 times worse than before! I have been pretty happy the last couple of weeks thinking "I can do this, I can live with tinnitus", realizing that it could be much worse so I should be "happy" that it is pretty mild. And this is what I get, severe tinnitus instead. From a stupid decision to take out the earwax that I thought was going to be alright, and walking past an alarm at the worst possible time as well. I just wish I could go back to my tinnitus I had yesterday. I would give anything just to go back to that.

 

@Winter, really sorry to hear about this chain of events. I just ran across A POST that tells me a person should never put limits on how much their tinnitus might improve. I found it encouraging, perhaps you'll find hope in it as well.

Best!

 

Thank you. I will try to stay strong and hope for the best. I just don't see how it can become lower if I ruined my ears more (the ear haircells or whatever they are called can't be restored from my understanding). I just called a doctor and tried to get emergency prednisolone but they wouldn't do it... Even though I'm sceptical about prednisolone, I just wanted to do anything that could help me right now. I can't believe I was so stupid listening to the doctor that said I should remove it with olive oil drops and the syringe. I knew he didn't know anything about tinnitus and I still did it because I thought "I'll be careful and stop if it feels bad". I just wanted to get the earwax plug out because I thought "maybe I will hear better when it's out and maybe then the T will fade some"... I should have been more careful, I have only myself to blame for making it worse. And the train station alarm noise trauma on top of that the same day... It feels almost comical how unlucky that was. Like it is my destiny to have tinnitus that has to become worse.

It's crazy that I "miss" my old tinnitus from yesterday. I just want it to go back to that level. I could handle that level.

 

When I stupidly removed the wax with water a couple of days ago I pushed some water in my left ear as well but stopped shortly after because nothing came out and it didn't feel good. Since then I feel full in that ear and hear worse. I believe I got some water in behind the ear drum. I can almost hear and feel it is water when moving my jaw if that makes sense. Is there anyway to get the water out? Will it resolve by itself?

 

Here's an article with some ideas:

How to Get Water Out of Your Ears: 13 Easy Ways

 

Thank you for the link, I have tried all the steps but nothing works for me. My ear feel blocked because of the water I sprayed in behind my eardrum... I am scared I will have to puncture my ear drum to get the water out and that the puncture will make my tinnitus worse. I don't understand why I can't catch a break with this shit. I ruin my right ear with water syringe bulb and fill my left ear with water that makes me half deaf on my left ear. My tinnitus is just getting worse and worse and also now this full ear fealing because of water behind my eardrum making my life more miserable. A couple of months ago I was a happy man looking forward to the future and had just became a father, my future was bright. I felt I had a purpose in my life when my son was born. Then everything changed. Because of this fucking bike tire exploding my life was ruined. My wife asked me when she pumped the tire while I was holding the hose -"is that enough?" and I said "no, one more pump and I think it will be perfect". And then my life was over. Because I said those words. If I would have just said "yeah, that's enough", I would still be me. I would still be happy. Now I have to listed to this awful sound in my ears every day. For the rest of my life. And I'm only 29 years old. Before I had tinnitus I always felt life was short. Now it feels so long...

 

So it has been five days now since I removed the wax and the damage with louder tinnitus in the right ear seems to be permanent. Also the left ear with reduction in hearing since then (almost certain it is water behind eardrum because it crackles in a way that makes me think that) hasn’t gotten better either. Perhaps I will have to live with water in my middle ear for the rest of my life as well. Because I will refuse to puncture the eardrum to get it out, don’t want to risk louder tinnitus by doing that.

 

Realized last night after about three gin and tonics that tonic water gives me huge spikes. Read that it is the quanine in it causing tinnitus. Makes sense because other alcohol has no effect. Have I worsened my tinnitus level permanently for drinking gin tonic every week since getting tinnitus?

Going to stop with the tonic from now on, sadly, cuz it is my absolute favourite drink.

Merry Christmas everyone reading!

 

Anything that degrades your hearing normal sounds will allow you to hear your tinnitus more. You may have an ear infection or a cold... and if your ears have fluid the ear drum can’t transfer sound as well... and therefore your tinnitus seems louder... this part is temporary.

Fluid behind the eardrum is very common. Go to the doc, get some antibiotics since this fluid will probably grow bacteria and make an infection.

An ENT will put tubes through the ear drum for people with chronic fluid behind their ear... but otherwise you can get certain drugs to “dry” you out and make your body reabsorb the fluid for a temporary condition. A normal person never needs to puncture their ear drum to remove fluid.

My eardrum has crackled in the past and it is temporary... and not a big deal... don’t obsess over this.

Also, Afrin nasal spray is pretty safe and will help with congestion.

 

They only thing likely to permanently increase your tinnitus is too loud sounds or ototoxic substances. Coffee, sugar, milk, almost everything can give you temporary spikes. Don't worry so much

And well, ear irrigation possibly