Hello! Tinnitus Since November 2015

[ShereeTemporary]

Hi guys,

I'm here just to hopefully join in the community and try to come to terms with this now all-day-all-night sound in my right ear.

It happened through a dumb prank that someone played on me, and now it's looking like it's permanent, despite the specialist saying it was going to be temporary, I have it since November 2015.

Still coping, or trying. I'm not really at the point where I can accept it, I'm doing a blended physio/acupuncture treatment but I have not seen results (keeping positive all the same).

Well, I'm not sure what else to write here so, catch you guys later I guess.

 

[Bobby B]

what happened ? did someone shout right into your ear ?
do you have hearing loss to ?

 

[ShereeTemporary]

Someone came from behind and burst one of those inflatable package things (you get them with a delivery of fragile goods) right in my ear when I was at work.
It's pretty painful still. The pain thumps in the ear and I have a lot of pain and intolerance when exposed to louder sounds such as motorcycles on the street.

 

[Sebastians]

Ouch, that is harsh!
Hope the pain goes away fast, i'd advise to keep your ears away from louder noises as much as possible for the time being and try as much as you can to relax and get your mind of T.
Also invest in good earplugs in case you are caught in a loud environment and nowhere to run.
Succes!

 

[danny grant]

That is bullshit. I would go crazy at someone who did that to me. Bless you. Fingers crossed you will find relief or that it will disappear altogether.

 

[Alue]

I'm sorry to hear that. My ears were permanently injured too because of someone being an idiot.

Best of luck.

 

[Bobby B]

Get a lawyer and sue your company - the money will help with treatment and also ease the mental stress of an incident happened at work - where management clearly failed to supervise their employees and did nothing to prevent harmful behavior which resulted in your permanent disability and long term suffering.

 

[Bobby B]

If you still have painful ears after 3 months - this shows that the damage was quite extensive.
Having a sudden acoustic trauma in one ear only can give T even with minor hearing loss because the brain does not have time to adapt itself - versus years of slow degradation in both ears - and also because it hears sound coming from the good ear and this sets an imbalance, snowball effect which amplifies the T when your hear sounds at the frequencies affected in the bad ear.

You seem like a nice person who does not want issues at work or make your colleagues hate you but we need more awareness - the reason why someone would do such prank is that no one told him how dangerous it can be. This has to be addressed.

In fact most of the noise-related T suffering here, including myself, could have EASILY been prevented..but NO ONE TOLD US ! not our parents, teachers..etc..

We need more lawsuits and more public awareness on T

 

[Jovita1969]

Hi! Sorry about what happened to you. I have T since Nov 2015. It gradually got worse. I hope you get some relief. I am doing accupuncture & yoga to help rest & relax better.

 

[ShereeTemporary]

Thanks all for the support. Unfortunately here in the netherlands going to court is not so clear cut. The person responsible had nothing happen to them but because hierarchically in the company they are above me I got thrown to the wolves pretty much.
For now I'm trying my best to cope. Not doing so great to be honest, after being told this would be temporary it'a really not looking that way. The psychological effects are what hit me most. Right now its going on half past twelve and I can't sleep. The white noise music is just too unbearable tonight..masking the noise doesn't always work.. the specialist was wrong... I was never one to dwell on anything. But now that's not so true. I'm getting the medical support but there is no solution and that's what chokes me up the most here. Thanks to whoever made this forum..I'm glad to know I'm not so alone in this.

 

[Karl28]

I would still try to sue for damages

 

[Alue]

In fact most of the noise-related T suffering here, including myself, could have EASILY been prevented..but NO ONE TOLD US ! not our parents, teachers..etc..

We need more lawsuits and more public awareness on T

I don't know how it is in the Netherlands, but in the US lawsuits are often not possible for work relate incidents because of workers compensation law (which will only pay for doctor's visits and approved 'treatment' if you are lucky). It's pretty sickening actually.

 

[Bobby B]

This is not a work related incident at all . Noise was not part of the potential dangers of the work involved and by a long shot - thus she was not able to wear adequate protection or even pay attention to the danger

This is a sudden brute aggression at the workplace resulting in permanent, debilitating disability and mental suffering

Should not taken lightly

 

[Bobby B]

I'd rather have someone do a prank on me by taking a huge sledgehammer and braking my leg so I spend the next 1 year in bed suffering wiht my leg in plaster - but at least I will be cured eventually .

Wiht t - no treatment , no cure it's there for a lifetime and even if the T fades a bit and hearing recovers over time you still need to spend a lifetime over protecting your ears since any mildly loud noise can make matter even worse in no time

 

[attheedgeofscience]

The person responsible had nothing happen to them but because hierarchically in the company they are above me I got thrown to the wolves pretty much.

I am not sure I understand your argument here. It is not so relevant what has happened to other people; it is relevant what happened to you. When it comes to legal issues, folks often (I think) tend to be coming out with the losing hand (because of inexperience with the legal system and lawyers). This is a shame. Have you considered seeking legal help? It is easier than you think. Countries often have lawyers that offer legal help online (for an initial free-of-charge assessment). I have myself used that twice.

A note on the above that potentially is quite relevant - and - which no lawyer and probably no physician is unlikely to be able to help you with. There is potentially the issue of "proof" (i.e. do you have tinnitus). This is hard to prove (as tinnitus is subjective) and hence your case may have trouble being addressed, and if it does, it would have to rely on witnesses as well as a physician's testimony as to the likelihood that such an incident could cause trauma sufficient enough to cause tinnitus etc. etc. And in this situation, it is entirely possible that you could come out with the losing hand. I therefore want to mention that there are two neurological clinics that are actually able to diagnose subjective tinnitus objectively. They are:

• www.brai2n.com
  
• http://sonimodul.ch

I can only recommend at least looking into it. Imagine where you might be in a year's time. Suppose things do not improve (you are already 3 months into this nightmare). It would be a shame not to have done everything you could while the possibility was there...

For now I'm trying my best to cope. Not doing so great to be honest, after being told this would be temporary it'a really not looking that way. The psychological effects are what hit me most. Right now its going on half past twelve and I can't sleep.

Even more reason to look into the above.

I was never one to dwell on anything. But now that's not so true. I'm getting the medical support but there is no solution and that's what chokes me up the most here.

There are indications that the medication "Trobalt" has suppressive effects on tinnitus in in vivo and in vitro models. If you end up going to one of the clinics mentioned above, you could discuss taking the medication for a period of time with the clinic staff.

I'm glad to know I'm not so alone in this.

Agree. Unfortunately being "not alone" is of little value when your entire life has been derailed because of tinnitus. Trust me - I know.

 

[grecianmax87]

I had similar sudden tinnitus in one ear after standing next to a crazy loud speaker in a tiny pub. I noticed real improvements in months 4-5 so hang in there is does get better! Mine has gone from 9/10 volume down to a 1-3 which is a lot easier to cope with.

The majority of tinnitus cases do calm down over time so don't get too dragged down in forum negativity. When you're told to "live with it" or whatever by a doctor you assume that the noise will be same forever... The brains eventually tires of it, whilst for me it still exists it's like a quiet electrical sound vs the fire alarm I had in July 2015.

 

[Genevieve]

Hi Max, I'm very happy to hear that your tinnitus has gone from 9 to 1-3! It gives me so much hope for the future! Did you have a lot of hearing loss 5 months ago? Mine ENT told me that when the tinnitus is due to hearing trauma the loss is at about the 4000hz frequency. Mine 5th hearing test reveals a loss of 5db at 6000hz, genevieve