Tinnitus from Shooting Guns?

Hi everyone. This is a bit of a long post so bear with me.

On July 16th I went to a shooting range with a friend. I had foam earplugs in, but the one in my right ear was not seated properly. Unfortunately, I didn't notice this until we were done shooting. When we left the range I noticed that my right ear felt full and it sounded like I was underwater (no tinnitus yet). Eventually this subsided after a few hours and I thought all was well. For the next week or so I would experience episodes of fleeting tinnitus in my right ear, usually between 5-10 seconds in the morning after I showered. These episodes eventually stopped and again I thought everything was fine.

About 3 weeks from our trip to the range I started to notice my right ear hurt and felt full of pressure. It would constantly click and pop whenever I opened my mouth. My balance also felt off. Somewhere around this time I noticed a faint ringing in my ear so I went to Urgent Care and told the doctor my symptoms. She looked in my ear and said my ear drum looked fine but the ear canal was red so I was prescribed Ciprodex drops for what she thought was Swimmer's ear (I had been swimming a fair bit and when I told her about the gun range she dismissed it). I took the drops two times but they hurt so I immediately stopped.

I decided to go to an ENT where I was prescribed Prednisone. I didn't realize at the time but now I know that this is outside the time frame Prednisone is effective.

Anyways, a week or so passes and the pressure/clicking in my ear starts to go away. Me, being the idiot I am, decides to dive underwater in a pool (roughly 8 feet). Since diving into the pool the ear clicking returns and I start to hear ringing from external sources like running water and fans. From my understanding this is called dysacusis.

As of writing this post the dysacusis has faded but I am still experiencing tinnitus. I can only really hear it in quiet rooms or if I plug my ear. I notice it gets louder whenever I yawn. It also gets louder and higher in frequency whenever I open my jaw or clench my teeth. I know my case is not as severe as some of the people on this site, but it has been very difficult to sleep and the fact that I may have to deal with this condition for the rest of my life is daunting considering I am only 23. I have been avoiding exposure to loud noise, limiting sodium consumption and all that jazz.

I would appreciate any advice.

 

Pretty sure that explosions, bombs and heavy artillery and guns are about the absolute worst you can do for your hearing. Under your Post, Tinnitus Talk shows FIVE threads that are ' similar ' . And they all say tinnitus from shooting.

I can give you some helpful advice. Take NAC. The supplement called NAC. Find it here, or Google it up.

The Navy gives it to their personnel after an extreme noise exposure incident.

NAC has helped me. Given me quiet days. My aunt already had it in the house. If you have to order it, that's gonna take a few days to get, which would Suck.

 

Protect your ears outside when people / roads around... Don’t blast yourself with audio / TV accidents! Don’t go to MRI or dentist the first few months. Don’t get a lot of water inside your ear.

This is all you can really do...

 

Yes, gunshots will definitely produce tinnitus.

It is severe in the right ear and comes and goes in the left; and is entirely from gunshots and explosions. I grew up rural and hunting in the 70s when hearing protection just wasn't used, then spent a long time as an Infantry Rifleman. You usually don't have time to put in plugs when the shooting starts and they don't help with something like an M2 going off 3 ft from your head or any kind of explosion. Tinnitus is very common with the grunts and artillery.

Please, if anyone is going to shoot, wear something other than foam plugs or wear the foam under a pair of rated ear muffs. Preferably, also use a suppressor if you can. I still shoot a lot at home and in competitions and take extra care with noise reduction.

 

Even with all the protection it isn’t safe. Sucks lol.

 

I've always lived in areas where shooting guns and hunting are very popular. It sounds like nearly everyone does not use hearing protection unless they're at a range where they are required and handed out. I'm still pretty annoyed that the times I went to summer camp and we had outdoor target shooting activities, hearing protection was never offered. As a kid, I wouldn't have known that hearing protection was needed either way. This was back in the 90s. I wonder if those times had prematurely damaged by hearing. I noticed that the same place's new promotional brochures advertise people wearing earmuffs.