Tinnitus from a Gunshot 11 Days Ago, It’s Killing Me

I have tinnitus from a gunshot 11 days ago. It was like a movie, I shot it and everything went silent and ringing and muffled. The muffled sound went away after the first day but the tinnitus is still there. I have a feeling of something in my ear like pressure or something.

I’m scared and realizing it might be permanent. I’ve had 4-5 people told me they have done the same thing and they had ringing in their ear for weeks. They were men who had shot guns without hearing protection.

But I feel like what I’m going through is far worse. I’m a strong man... or I used to be, but this is life sucking and I feel like they didn’t have the ring like I do.

Everyone tells me give it time but I’ve developed 2 tones in my left ear only, which makes me thing it’s here for good.

I’ve had suicidal thoughts recently just to become at peace again. I miss it. I love my mother and my girlfriend and my puppy more than anything and they are the only people keeping me alive because I don’t want to disappoint them and leave them without me because I’m a strong man who took care of both of them.

It’s been getting louder the past 4 days and it’s been giving me headaches.

I don’t know what to do. Can someone out there help me the slightest? I’m only 23 and my life is upside down now. I used to be energetic and uppity but now I’m depressed and lying in bed all the time drowning it out with YouTube videos.

I don’t want to lose my girlfriend because any other good looking 22-year-old woman doesn’t want to be with a weak man who hides in his bed everyday.

I don’t want to habituate it... I just want it gone. Help please. I’ll try anything. I’ve read success stories on here and have ordered NAC. I’m currently taking Zinc, Magnesium, Lipoflavonoid, Ring Stop or whatever it’s called (I’m not getting up to get the bottle and spell it correctly).

Are there any creative treatments or anything? Can anyone help me? Ask me any questions about it to further understand what I’m going through, I’ll be quick to respond hopefully.

 

Sadly you’re probably stuck with this for life. It may go down a bit but don’t hold your breath...

 

A doctor may give you Prednisone since this is an acoustic trauma, but it may be outside of the window. Easier said than done, but try to stay distracted and relaxed as best you can.

If your girlfriend won't stay with you when your sick / injured, then she ain't the one. "Through sickness and health".

If you can mask your tinnitus with youtube videos, than consider yourself lucky. A lot of us can hear it even with masking so be grateful for that. You will habituate eventually just give it time.

Lastly, this may seem obvious, but don't shoot guns anymore and do other excessively loud shit.

 

Look... everyone experiences this differently. Yet the same. I don't necessarily agree with Brian P. Tinnitus is in large part subjective and in this stage yours may very well subside. It's not unheard of. But the more you feed it attention (very hard not to) the more it becomes mentally and physically draining. Which will and probably is causing you to be anxious, depressed and to even have suicidal ideation. Most of us on this forum have been where you are at. I wish I could make you understand that but I completely understand why you feel alone in this. Most of the people around you are not going through this.

I hope it clears up for you. I really do. Be kind and patient with yourself.

 

I have had a similar issue recently, and what I suggest you to do is:

1. Book an appointment with an ENT doctor as soon as possible (like tomorrow). Even if they are in another city.

At the ENT they will first usually do audiometric exam (to test your hearing) which is done by an audiologist.

Then the ENT will do further check.

Ensure that the ENT gives you oral steroid (Prednisone/Methylprednisolone/Dexamethasone). There has been some research that shows early usage of oral steroid can help reducing the damage of the acoustic shock. Note that usually you ONLY have up to 2 weeks for the most benefit of oral steroid, so since your issue happened 11 days ago, I would book any available appointment today, even if you have to drive to the next city.

The typical cost for my area, in Salt Lake City Utah, for audiologist exam is about $120 - $150 (with insurance or cash), and the ENT specialist will cost between $110 to $150 for a 30 mins exam (with insurance or cash). Cost for oral steroid is usually about $20 at CVS.

Oral steroid has a very specific procedure to used. Eg: two tablets at breakfast, one tablet for lunch, one for supper, two for bedtime.

Then the next day, one tablet before breakfast, one tablet for lunch, one for supper, two for bedtime, and so on.

2. Take high dosage of NAC (1500 mg to 1800 mg, basically 2 - 3 tablets) as soon as possible for 2 - 3 weeks. There has been some research that shows using NAC can reduces the damage of acoustic shock.

3. Take vitamin B complex, D3, B12, C, Magnesium and Zinc.

4. Protect your ears from any loud noise, for 2 months, but don't over protect it. For me, I would install the NIOSH SLM app or decibel meter on my phone, and if it shows that the ambient noise is more than 75 dB, I would wear musician earplug. As comparison, in a busy shopping mall, the ambient noise is like 80 to 85 dB. The goal is to reduce the loud noise exposure temporarily, but not to completely eliminate the loud noise

5. One of the most important thing is being able to sleep/rest well. The repair to the damage that happened after acoustic shock usually is only done by body, during sleep, which can be tough thing to do with tinnitus.

When it first happened to me, I was barely able to sleep at night.

The way I solved it was:
- Use Melatonin tablet 3 mg
- Play some soft elevator music that I like on my laptop, at a soft volume, and force my brain to focus on the music, instead of the tinnitus when I try to sleep.
- If I can't hear the music due to the tinnitus, then I would increase it just a tiny bit, until I can sort of hear it, then go back to sleep, and try to focus on that music, instead of the tinnitus
For me, after about 2 weeks, I can reduce the volume that I had to use on my laptop from 5 out of 20, to about 1 out of 20, and now I don't need to use music anymore to sleep.
- I also bought some white noise generator from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RQWQBXY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 - and sometimes that does help too.

Unfortunately acoustic shock takes a while (months if not years) to recover.

I believe the initial response when this first happened (oral steroid, vitamin, protect ear from further damage), does steer a lot into what the final outcome will be.

 

Great recommendations from IB9.

Prednisone is the first line of treatment for an acoustic injury like yours. I would definitely give that a go and I have heard positive things about NAC as well.

I would also add, don't listen to people telling you that it won't ever go away. Maintain some hope. For many people, tinnitus diminishes with time and you have youth on your side so I would wager that you have pretty good odds of having it resolve eventually. Unfortunately it often takes a really long time to heal from a serious injury... as in upwards of a year or two.

The best thing you can do in the meantime is try to make peace with that sound in your head. Easier said than done though... believe me, I know!

Hang in there... the first few weeks are the rockiest part of the ride, after that you will start to find your system for how to deal with this.

 

@Reid, you got good advice from @IB9.

Habituation can be pretty much as good as having it gone in many cases - in my opinion. But I know these words doesn't help you now, in your current state of shock - being sad, depressive, hyper alert and so on.

But remember, you are in the early onset of this. A lot of things can change for the better, and I believe they will once you get over this (naturally) enormous response you have to this now. I know it can be, and is, freightening as your brain sees this as something dangerous. These phantom sounds.

There is no magic formula to this, but in this stage you should see an ENT and have a proper check up. And probably a course of Prednisone (tapered).

It's not necessarily like @Brian P says as we are all different, and particularly not given the timeframe here.

If there is one thing you do not need now, it's "negative counselling".

 

If you go for audiometric tests tell them you do not want the Otoacoustic Emissions or Acoustic Reflex tests.

I have these tests to thank for several wonderful tones in my left ear.

 

@Reid, immerse yourself in positivity. Do not listen to negativity.

We are all different and all unique.

So try not to compare your progress.

You WILL get better. But it takes time, courage and patience.

 

Get Prednisone ASAP.

 

Hello everyone.

I’ve forgot to mention that I was on Prednisone 3 days after it happened.

I feel like it is changing from a ring to a loud hiss now.

I have an ENT appointment tomorrow.

Sometimes when I move my neck I hear my ear pop. This also sometimes happens when I open my mouth. Not sure what that means. I can’t really breathe as well out of my left nostril vs. my right one. My left ear is also the one that is hissing. I’ve been getting headaches as well.

 

A ring to a hiss may indicate you are healing, though I have only read anecdotal evidence to support this.

 

Ask your ENT about the length of the treatment with Prednisone... 3 days is a very short time. Sometimes doctors prescribe Prednisone for a month (this time includes tapering).

Those are symptoms related to noise trauma. Inflammation, pressure, headaches, ear popping, ear pain etc It's all due to the noise you were exposed to.

 

Sorry I mean that I started on it 3 days after the incident and continuing it.

 

Does anyone know why now my tinnitus sounds like a low fan/exhaust blowing low kinda machine type sound? Not sure why it’s low frequency now as well.

 

A ring to a hiss is a positive development generally speaking.

Here's a good story:

Both My Hearing Loss and Tinnitus (Almost) Cured — Caused by .223 Sniper Rifle Fired Near My Ear

Good luck brother.

 

Well then you might be in luck.

Give it time.

 

I know you're scared, but give it time. Years ago I had an acoustic trauma that caused my ears to scream with tinnitus, pressure, pain and sensitivity to noise. it was months before I saw any real improvement. The tinnitus faded away 100% after about 18-24 months. Do not listen to people who say it won't improve, because for the vast majority of people the tinnitus is NOT permanent.

 

Thank you guys for the uplifting words. It means a lot to me. I’ll keep everyone updated.

 

A side note:

Just thought you had a weird dosing on Prednisone. Depends on underlying cause, but typical Prednisone dosage is once in the mornings to reduce unnecessary risk of kidney problems.

Popping Prednisone all day sounds more like for asthma or life threatening conditions.

 

@Reid, please take Brian P’s comment with a pinch of salt - it is a bit premature, and rather harsh. I think he has been struggling recently.

The best thing you can do at this point is to stay positive (it’s still very early days). Please don’t panic because:
1 - it won’t change anything and,
2 - things will undoubtedly get better anyway, whether the volume lowers or through habituation.

Try your best not to fixate on the sound, I know that’s easier said than done, I was constantly blocking my ears to try assess whether my tinnitus was fading - this was not helpful.

Also, I don’t know if watching YouTube videos masks the noise, but the TV/computer actually make my tinnitus louder. I’ve found getting outside for a walk helps the most if you live in/have access too a quite enough area. I still hear my tinnitus outside but it’s not as bad. Maybe you can go on these walks with your girlfriend, that way your also spending time with her - having my partner with me on a walk always takes my mind off things, he’s a bit of a chatter box though, never manage to get a word in edgeways.

The idea that you are not good enough for your partner is, quite bluntly, a load of bulls**t. If you care about her and treat her right then she is lucky to have you - everyone needs help sometimes.

 

@Exit, my ENT gave me Methylprednisolone (not Prednisone). Methylprednisolone is about 1.2X stronger than Prednisone, while Dexamethasone is about 6x stronger than Prednisone.

I suppose for typical usage, stronger oral steroid just means that lesser dosage is needed, but I'm not a doctor.

The tapered usage of Methylprednisolone is as described in the dose pack. It is also similarly described in here and here

 

There is so much peace to gain from tinnitus, but right now you are in shock. What you need now is your girlfriend to put her head to yours and say "I hear it" ( and mean it)... so you dont feel alone and suicidal. It gets better!

 

@Reid, the next step is intratympanic steroids. Much more effective than the oral variety. Ask your ENT about this variation of the treatment. I know that it sounds a bit scary, but it is not a painful process at all. Other than this, there is not much that can be done and you will have to wait for the outcome of the healing process.