Beware of Your Ear Being Slapped...

[Bill Bauer]

I was watching a YouTube video, and when told that you can take out an attacker by slapping his ear with your cupped hand, without thinking, I carefully slapped my own ear... I guess I was so relaxed and so focused on what I was watching, that I completely forgot about the policy of protecting my ears that I have been implementing over the past 18 months. It was with the force of the quietest, most minor clapping.

Now that ear feels kinda full, and tinnitus is louder. Sometimes it feels like if my body were to be made out of cardboard or toilet paper, I would be less vulnerable...

In any case, whatever you do, make sure you never get slapped on the ear...

 

[Wolfears]

Yes one good slap in the ear with cupped hand is more effective than a good punch...
Looks innocent and almost silly, but it is very dangerous.
When done properly, it pretty much leaves the attacker disoriented, as it will also cause him to lose balance (inner ear equalibrium gets thrown out of whack)
Was the instructor in the video a gentleman named Paul Vunak by any chance?

 

[Bill Bauer]

Was the instructor in the video a gentleman named Paul Vunak by any chance?

No. The video was in Russian.

one good slap in the ear with cupped hand is more effective than a good punch...

I can testify to that... My hand was moving as fast as people move their hand when they "slow clap", and it was bad. I can't imagine how bad it can be if someone were to use full force. Only do this if your life is in actual danger...

I can't believe I did what I did. I mean I didn't feel an urge to try any of his other tips - why would I try the one involving the ears?!

 

[GregCA]

In any case, whatever you do, make sure you never get slapped on the ear...

Also, be careful about kisses around the ear. This is particularly important when you have kids, as you are the one who has to protect them.

I've been visiting family recently and I've been on a lengthy protective mission to prevent kisses on/near my 4 year old's ears. To assuage people's reaction to my defense, I generally preempt the kisses and tell the kisser "please kiss her on the forehead as her ears are sensitive".

 

[Jack Straw]

Hang in there Bill! I am sure you will feel better soon enough.

Jack

 

[Contrast]

Cause of tinnitus

 

[Wolfears]

No. The video was in Russian.


I can testify to that... My hand was moving as fast as people move their hand when they "slow clap", and it was bad. I can't imagine how bad it can be if someone were to use full force. Only do this if your life is in actual danger...

I can't believe I did what I did. I mean I didn't feel an urge to try any of his other tips - why would I try the one involving the ears?!

I will tell you right now, that I would rather get kicked in the sack, than slapped in the ear, if I had to pick between the two.
And this is even before I knew what tinnitus was.

 

[Luman]

Sorry to hear about your mishap, Bill, I hope you recover very quickly.

 

[MBH]

I hope the ear slap was not as hard as you thought. Let's hope not, and hope for a better tomorrow.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I hope the ear slap was not as hard as you thought.

It was as light as it could possibly be.

The minor ear fullness was mostly gone by the end of the day today. Now my T is more high pitched...

It is unbelievable how vulnerable some of us are. One wrong move and... Living is now tightrope walking...

 

[Elfin]

Hi @Bill Bauer wishing you a speedy recovery!

How are things today?

 

[Gman]

It was as light as it could possibly be.

The minor ear fullness was mostly gone by the end of the day today. Now my T is more high pitched...

It is unbelievable how vulnerable some of us are. One wrong move and... Living is now tightrope walking...

Yeah true. Answering the phone is like Russian roulette. When I answer mine I instinctively start turning the vol down before I put it to my ear, just in case it has changed.

 

[Wolfears]

Yeah true. Answering the phone is like Russian roulette. When I answer mine I instinctively start turning the vol down before I put it to my ear, just in case it has changed.

I just use the speaker phone feature...that way there are no nasty surprises.
On the topic of phones, the worst thing that can provably happen to a tinnitus sufferer is to dial a number and have a fax machine pick it up...

 

[Deamon22]

@Bill Bauer How are you doing? Did the ear settle down?

 

[Croaker]

A similar thing happened to me tonight Bill. I was trying to gently splash some water on the side of my face, tapped my ear a bit, water flew in and made a loud pop. Boy do I feel like an idiot. Like you said, our bodies are so fragile. Life is a minefield.

 

[Bill Bauer]

A similar thing happened to me tonight Bill. I was trying to gently splash some water on the side of my face, tapped my ear a bit, water flew in and made a loud pop. Boy do I feel like an idiot. Like you said, our bodies are so fragile. Life is a minefield.

These things Do settle and go away, so don't panic. Nevertheless, it can't be promoting one's healing, so do what you can to avoid shocks like that.

 

[Steve G]

Believe me the slap to my left ear has taken a good chunk of my life from me.

All that air that is forced in with the slap as well as the noise and the negative effect of the hand being removed from the ear all in quick succession is explosive.

The slap to my ear has almost destroyed my life.

Never ever slap anyone on the ear I would rather get punched.

The cupped hand as in martial arts sounds simple enough it is just meant to put someone off balance.

Little do they know of the other consequences of the slap.

Tinnitus, hyperacusis, vertigo = life destroyed.

 

[Sloth]

I mean im the living proof of the danger of getting slapped on the ear.
Blew my eardrum and lost some high frequencies due to it.

But id assume that in my case the slap was a bit harder

 

[Bill Bauer]

I mean im the living proof of the danger of getting slapped on the ear.
Blew my eardrum and lost some high frequencies due to it.

But id assume that in my case the slap was a bit harder

Hard slaps are incredibly dangerous.

Blew my eardrum and lost some high frequencies due to it.

Your injury might be similar to the injuries received by the people whose eardrum is damaged as a result of a terrorist bomb. If that's the case, you are in luck, as most of them recover months after their eardrum heals.
Check out the first study in the first post on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-many-recover-3-studies.21441/

 

[Sloth]

If that's the case, you are in luck, as most of them recover months after their eardrum heals.

I hope so. Im currently doing an infusion therapy because HBOT isn't available and my tinnitus is changing a lot.
My doc told me thats a good sign and that hes optimistic

 

[DaveN]

Similarly, I got an annoying as hell itch in my ear this morning, and without thinking rammed my finger in there and scratched it clumsily. My ear has been SCREAMING since. It sucks so bad to have to be on alert all the time for stupid little things like that. I forget that sometimes and it bums me out. I would think after 22 months of it non-stop you would adjust and stuff would get second nature but everyday stuff is like so ingrained that adjusting those habits take so long.

 

[Gabriel5050]

I hope you're doing well, Bill. It sucks you must be this cautious. I'm not miles away, but never had this kind of problem.

 

[Kriszti]

I hope so. Im currently doing an infusion therapy because HBOT isn't available and my tinnitus is changing a lot.
My doc told me thats a good sign and that hes optimistic

What kind of infusion therapy? Piracetam? Or other cognitive and vascularity enhancer?

 

[Bill Bauer]

my tinnitus is changing a lot.

When it is changing, it is a huge improvement over it being relentlessly at the same level. What matters is the monthly trend and the global lows. If the latter keep getting quieter and the former is downward (it is quieter now compared to 2 months ago), then it ought to continue to fade and you ought to be able to get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage.

 

[Sloth]

What kind of infusion therapy? Piracetam? Or other cognitive and vascularity enhancer?

To be honest, i dont really know. Its some stuff thats supposed to increase the blodflow to the inner ear as well as cortison IV for the first 3 days.
I also additionally get some anesthetic admistered via syringe into my throat to numb a nerve thats responsible for controlling bloodflow.
Im not sure if that stuff really works but im ready to do anything and there are lots of people who believe that it helps them

 

[Kriszti]

I also additionally get some anesthetic admistered via syringe into my throat to numb a nerve thats responsible for controlling bloodflow.

I've never heard of this. Which country do you live in? Keep us updated on how you're doing.

 

[Sloth]

When it is changing, it is a huge improvement over it being relentlessly at the same level. What matters is the monthly trend and the global lows. If the latter keep getting quieter and the former is downward (it is quieter now compared to 2 months ago), then it ought to continue to fade and you ought to be able to get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage.

It initially got a lot better (i lost my high pitched eeee and was left with non-intrusive whitenoise) but ~1 week agot it came back over 3 days. Right now its hard to tell what the trend is, but that might also be because its been only one week and obviously the cortison also caused some extrem spikes.

 

[Sloth]

I've never heard of this. Which country do you live in? Keep us updated on how you're doing.

I live in germany. My doc is an ENT who specialised in treating ear disorders.
I looked up their site and apparently its targeting the "stellate ganglion"

 

[Bill Bauer]

~1 week ago it came back over 3 days

Whatever happens on the scale of days is irrelevant. There is always going to be that "random noise". If you realize that you consistently feel better than a month ago, then you are going to be ok. If you realize that you consistently feel worse than a month or two ago, then that's a cause for concern.

 

[Sloth]

Whatever happens on the scale of days is irrelevant. There is always going to be that "random noise". If you realize that you consistently feel better than a month ago, then you are going to be ok. If you realize that you consistently feel worse than a month or two ago, then that's a cause for concern.

I dont mean it spiked for 3 days and then went down again.
It kinda got progressivly louder over 3 days and hasnt gone down for 2 weeks now