Tinnitus from Shooting My 9mm Gun 10 Times in Quick Succession

Hello, I'm new here. Just want to say hello and share my story.

My tinnitus started last Wednesday on 9/1/2021. I got mad at my father and got so pissed off that I grabbed my 9mm gun and shot off 10 quick rounds into our gun pit. I then threw the gun on the ground and ran to my room to chill out. I am 29 by the way. I know, it sounds young and dumb. It was very dumb and I regret it. I have a lot of dislike for my father and his ways.

But back to the story. After that I had really high pitched ringing and swollen ear in only my left side.

After about 2 days the tinnitus definitely diminished a bit. It's been almost a week now and I still get some pain in my left ear. And the ringing is very noticeable at night and sometimes during the day. White noise like my A/C turning on at night seems to irritate it a bit.

Does anyone know if it will be permanent or not? I am to see an ENT tomorrow.

I don't know how to cope with this if it's permanent. I'm already really depressed from it and just want it to go away.

 

Hi @Riley Schlegel, no doubt I wish that it was as easy to own a gun in my country to vent out some anger.

The ENT will check if you have hearing loss. With luck your tinnitus might still go away. Try to protect your ears from loud sounds and stay away from weapons. Try to get some hearing protectors to wear in case you're subject to something loud unexpectedly.

The worst part for me, at least, is being able to live with the noise in our ears without anxiety and depression, I'm 9 months into my tinnitus and I still cry most days because of having tinnitus.

But I'm thinking about going to a psychologist to see if I can get better.

 

You're 9 months in and still feel bad. I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully a psychologist can help ya. I'm trying to stay positive. My tinnitus fluctuates in pitch. Quite a lot.

Do you have it in both ears or only 1?

 

Mine is the same, it fluctuates a lot in tone and that's what makes it hard to get used to. My luck is that it is low in volume, if I leave the house with the noise of everyday life, I don't hear it.

The first 3 months it was only in the left ear, then it went to the right ear for no reason but much lower than on the left.

I had a few months where I did better, my tinnitus was static noise, and it was much more bearable, but lately it has changed to high frequency tones.

 

Ask for Prednisone or an intratympanic injection from the ENT. Keep in mind that Prednisone will probably temporarily make the tinnitus seem louder.

 

I'd like to add that Nicotinamide Riboside might still benefit you.

 

I am very sorry to hear this. A couple things. Firstly, you have time on your side. Secondly, you should probably do a course of Prednisone AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, if your tinnitus does not go away which is always a possibility, you will likely regret not taking the Prednisone.

The good news is, while annoying, many people go on to live with tinnitus as a mild nuisance or habituate completely. Some do not simply by the way their brain processes the experience (it doesn't make them weak), and it's incumbent on those who either don't have it or function well with it to work to find ways to alleviate their distress. Hope this helps!

 

UPDATE!

I went to see my ENT today. No hearing loss HORRAY. But I got mixed messages. The audiologist said I don't need to wear earplugs unless around noise louder than 85 decibels. Avoiding earplugs will help the brain train to not hear the tinnitus. Makes sense because without the earplugs in I can either barely hear my tinnitus or it gets really loud sometimes. The ENT said I should wear the earplugs everywhere unless in a room where it's very quiet. What do you think I should do?

The doctor did prescribe me Prednisone 20 mg 2 times a day for 5 days. And Lipoflavonoid Plus. Which is taken 6 times daily, 2 in the morning, 2 mid-day and 2 at night. Does Lipoflavonoid Plus work? Anyone else try it? I'm also taking vitamin D3, vitamin E, Ginkgo biloba and Magnesium.

Still hoping it's not permanent. Thank you guys for the responses and help with/through it. It's definitely hard to deal with.

 

I am glad that you didn't lose any of your hearing, trust me when I say that it's a bitch. It seems like you're on the right course taking the steroids as well as vitamins, the Ginkgo and the Magnesium.

I can't tell you for sure, but I do think you are going to be okay over time. Just make sure to be careful with those loud noises, especially in the beginning. Your ears still need time to heal from the acoustic insult.

I wish you the best!

 

So I've had tinnitus for exactly a week today. My audiologist told me I don't need to wear earplugs unless I'm around noise that is above 85 decibels. My ENT told me I should wear them basically whenever out of the house. I also have no hearing loss.

My question is how long would I have to wear earplugs before kinda giving up on the hope of tinnitus possibly going away? My ears are so soar from wearing them for so long during work. Is there any way to fix that or will I get used to it?

 

I strongly recommend reading the material @Michael Leigh has provided to this community regarding the symptoms you're experiencing.

Depending on where you are and how loud it is, wearing earplugs may be one of the worst things you can do for your ears, and unfortunately it seems like ENTs don't know much about this disease. Similar to the fact that not long ago it was permissible to smoke cigarettes inside hospitals, we are still in the "dark ages" regarding knowledge of tinnitus and related shit.

 

Good to know but I'm still very early into my tinnitus. I feel like it can still heal. As long as I don't damage it further with more loud noises. I'm just torn between wearing them all the time or just at work. Work decibels according to a few apps I use say it runs at like 85 decibels but we wear over the ear head hearing protection. I just don't want to make it worse.

I appreciate the response. I will look into what Michael Leigh says.

 

Are you talking about Tru Niagen? I'm already taking a whole meal's worth of drugs everyday. One more can't hurt lol. Thank you for the recommendation.

 

For sure. I bet your chances of healing are pretty damned good. My point was that you can cause further damage by wearing earplugs all the time because, as some people here strongly believe, that can train your ears to be over-sensitive. You are correct to protect against loud noises, but not ALL noises. Some people here who have bought "real" decibel meters have reportedly compared them to the phone-app meters, and concluded that the phone-app meters are inaccurate, just FYI.

Most importantly, I'd say protect against loud noise, as much as possible don't let yourself get worked up over this because stress makes it all worse, and prepare yourself to let time do its healing. I'm almost 8 months into my experience, and it's gotten better. Just takes a hella long time.

 

Very good to hear. Thank you for the positive reinforcement. Crazy it can take 8 months to heal. Hopefully you are doing well on your journey. I'm going to look into buying a decibel meter this Friday when I get paid. This has definitely made me curious to know what sounds can be dangerous and how easily normal day to day can become dangerous for the ears.

One last question: I read a post on this forum about the Loop earplugs. They have a new version out called Quiet that lowers volumes by 25-27 dB. Is it worth getting for day to day travel like in car or Walmart? I'm mainly just curious to know if anyone has used the new version.

 

Loop earplugs don't go very deep. With them in, you will hear your voice and all of your footsteps amplified. I'd go with something you can insert deeper. Foam earplugs are always a good first go-to. 3M and Hearos are some good brands.

In addition to the foam I would recommend custom molded earplugs. You will need to have molds made by an Audiologist. You then send to molds to the earplug manufacturer. There are many, such as Westone, Sensaphonics, ACS, Ultimate Ear, 1964, JH Audio. These will have different filters you can buy and switch out of them that will change the amount attenuation, so you aren't always using the max attenuation when it isn't necessary. This will keep your ears protected while keeping your tinnitus masked with environmental sound as much as possible.

If custom molds are out of your price range, I recommend Earasers.

 

I've used the basic Loop earplugs when I've been on an airplane and around noisy family members lately, mostly because Loops are comfortable and seem to muffle sounds "enough" for me. I just don't go to really noisy places, and won't while I'm in this recovery phase (which I am arbitrarily calling 2 years since the date of injury... just to set my sights on something).

 

Some earplugs are softer on the ear than others. I recommend Moldex.

Constantly using earplugs can cause hyperacusis, which is why some (most?) medical professionals caution against overuse. But they only affect your tinnitus in the sense that they help to protect against further damage. (They also cause an occlusion affect, so you shouldn't shout or undergo dental work with earplugs inserted.)

My personal experience is that the real danger isn't generally loud surroundings, but very loud surprise noises (fire alarms, kids popping balloons et cetera). So if you don't mind hyperacusis - I for my part don't - carrying earplugs whenever out of the house can pay off.

 

Yep it's most important to find and do what works for you.

 

Very good information. Thank you all. They offer over the ear hearing protection at work. I will use that instead of the earplugs. I used to use both but I won't anymore because I think the over the ears are working perfectly. I will look into custom made earplugs and Loop.

 

What do you do for work? Generally what I've read is to wear earplugs as little as possible as this actually can create problems. We only need to protect for continuous exposures to loud sounds. If you hear a siren going down the street, just stick your fingers in your ears.

 

I now have an idea for fingertip earplugs.

 

I work in a very loud factory over 100 decibels at almost all times. So I wear my over ears and earplugs slightly in, because when I turn my head, the over ears aren't a perfect seal.

 

@Riley Schlegel, I had the same kind of incident happened recently with a 9 mm that I shot 19 times in a open space rock quarry. It was only my third time firing a gun ever. I never would have shot a gun if I had known that hearing loss was a possible side effect.

So far the ringing has been going on for two and a half weeks.

Did yours ever go away? I'm afraid it will never go away and it makes me sick to my stomach every time I think about it.

Sometimes at night, the ringing amplifies because of the fan that I am using or for no reason at all and it wakes me up and it makes sleep impossible.

I don't know if I can live like this if it is permanent.

 

Hey Thomas, have you been to an ENT or anything yet?

 

I have. I went to the ENT 2 days after the incident and had my hearing tested and he examined my ears. The hearing test came back completely normal, with a minor dip in hearing above 8,000 Hz, which might have been due to the ringing in my ear making it hard to hear the beeps. Pressure test on my eardrums was good.

They said there was no permanent hearing damage and that the feeling of pressure in my left ear and ringing would go away in time. They scheduled me for a follow-up hearing test on the 17th of March.

Just call them today to describe my continuing symptoms and they made an appointment for me tomorrow to take a look.

The pitch, nature (sometimes has static sometimes doesn't), and especially volume of the ringing changes from moment to moment. There are times when I am sleeping each night when the ringing gets so loud that it wakes me up and is vibrating my head. It's hard to endure.

Sometimes the pitches are so high in frequency that they give me persistent headaches for hours.

 

Mine is high-pitched too, I understand how maddening that is. I don't know if I've ever felt it brought on headaches, but I think I do have more headaches when it flares up.

The two things that are by far most commonly suggested close to the time of immediate damage are 1) NAC supplements as they can help reduce free radicals and sort of flush out the inner ear and 2) steroids like Prednisone as they reduce inflammation and encourage healing. If it was me and I was facing fresh (1-3 weeks) damage I would try like hell to get a course of prednisone, at least. Taking NAC wouldn't hurt too.

There's a lot of postings from people with more knowledge on them than me but just my 2c.

The beginning is always the roughest by far man. You're gonna feel better