Tinnitus Since 2017 from Shooting a Gun without Protective Gear

Hi everyone,

First, it feels really nice to have found a community. It's been really hard lately. I had tinnitus in my left ear since 2017. I was an absolute idiot at 22. I shot a gun and wasn't offered protective gear. Nor did I think to ask. I live with this mistake and I own it. I don't talk about my tinnitus really ever. It's hard to explain to people who don't have it. It's also hard to admit such a life-altering mistake.

I managed it well in the past few years. For volume, it varies from med-high. I could ignore it most of the time by keeping busy. I bought a white noise machine for sleeping. I would sometimes have tinnitus in my right ear. It was faint and very rare. It's now very consistent. It's not as loud as my left ear. But the reason I managed so well was that my right ear was silent (99% of the time). So, it's been really hard. I have been getting pretty bad anxiety. I found escapes in the shower. Now, my husband knows that if I'm in the shower it's probably anxiety and tinnitus.

I have faith my hearing will be restored and tinnitus resolved.

Jennifer

 

Hey @Jennifer McCann i also got t from something that was my own fault. Its tough... i have had it for 4 years and its had its ups and downs... anything else u do to cope?

 

Welcome to the forum Jennifer. Looks like you have a high pitched tinnitus. That was what I had to do initially with my ultra high pitched tinnitus. I literally set up a temporary cot right by the shower and I would let the shower go for the entire night while I tried to sleep. Back then I didn't have a smart phone like now and you can easily download an app for tennis masking or therapy. So perhaps you can get the shower sound by a phone app and use a bluetooth speaker. You may have to sleep in another room or have the husband put on earplugs for the time being. The app should give you more choices of nature sounds than a white noise machine.

Obviously something triggers your spike recently. Have you been really stressed lately or taken a new drug which may be ototoxic? Any new exposure to loud noises recently?

 

@nmackintosh

Did your tinnitus decrease at all from the initial volume?

 

@Jennifer McCann
This is quite common, the tinnitus becomes more centralized after a few years, it moves to the head even though you haven't caused damage to the good ear. Not much you can do besides making sure to preserve hearing, keep busy and wait for inner ear cell regeneration

 

Umm its goes up and down... pretty sure its the same volume from day one but certain things can spike it... there are lots of factors on how loud it sounds to me

 

I had a very similar experience. A loud accident with a tool finally did enough damage to hearing in my right ear to result in a tinnitus symptom 24/7. For a long time I only had a high pitched sound in the right, and it eventually "settled down" and sounds more like high-pitched TV static for the most part.

Every once in a while I hear the static sound in stereo from both ears. I have hypothesized that either I did have damage to both ears, but didn't notice until the right side quieted down (after almost a year), or that there is something with the auditory part of the brain that makes it seem in stereo. For a little while I had some anxiety about it, thinking maybe I did something to cause new damage, but that's probably not the case.

I have also noticed that it is very hard for people to comprehend living with tinnitus, unless they have it. Even my wife sometimes doesn't quite "get it" without an analogy. However, I have found out recently that a few friends and family members live with tinnitus as well, and its actually some what relieving to have someone to talk to about it from time to time... they certainly "get it."

One thing I have learned from this forum and from speaking in-person about this condition to people who have had it for years (if not decades), is that it can happen to anyone at any time for an unfathomable number of reasons. So, be sure to give yourself a little grace about the whole situation.

Also, there is a ton of promise in treating tinnitus and restoring hearing. I suggest you take a look at the Research section if you'd like to give yourself a little positive hope to keep going. Frequency Therapeutics FX-322 has been a personal favorite of mine as the first hearing regeneration drug to show clinical improvements in an early trial.