- Jul 11, 2020
- 81
- Tinnitus Since
- June 2020
- Cause of Tinnitus
- 6-8 khz HL, T and H from gunshots
I'm pretty new here, but you all seem to be good folk to talk to about what happened to me a month ago. I'm a 21 y/o male.
I'm here really because of a dumb decision I made that I'll have to reconcile with probably the rest of my life: Last month I was with a bunch of people on my friend's 100 acre property when he pulls out his 9mm pistol and everyone starts shooting without hearing protection. Me, thinking it's totally fine cause everyone else is doing it, shot 7 rounds without protection. God I wish I could turn back time, because now a month later I have tinnitus, hyperacusis and 50 dB hearing loss in 6-8 kHz in my right ear. Steroids didn't help at all when this happened either. My left ear is completely fine, but I'm devastated.
I feel dumb for putting myself in that situation. The interesting part is how I was the only one in our group that suffered long-term damage to my ear too. The ENT told me I might get some of my hearing back but even if I didn't I wouldn't notice it too much. I don't know though since I have moderate loss in such a narrow area and everything now sounds muffled and distorted. It's crazy to me how such lasting damage could happen so quickly.
Maybe I should look at it like I'm an experiment, and hope for something like FX-322 or something else to help me. In the mean time I guess I just have to deal with it.
Any advice to cope with this? I'm trying not to think too much about it because there's nothing I can do anymore but I'm having trouble.
I'm here really because of a dumb decision I made that I'll have to reconcile with probably the rest of my life: Last month I was with a bunch of people on my friend's 100 acre property when he pulls out his 9mm pistol and everyone starts shooting without hearing protection. Me, thinking it's totally fine cause everyone else is doing it, shot 7 rounds without protection. God I wish I could turn back time, because now a month later I have tinnitus, hyperacusis and 50 dB hearing loss in 6-8 kHz in my right ear. Steroids didn't help at all when this happened either. My left ear is completely fine, but I'm devastated.
I feel dumb for putting myself in that situation. The interesting part is how I was the only one in our group that suffered long-term damage to my ear too. The ENT told me I might get some of my hearing back but even if I didn't I wouldn't notice it too much. I don't know though since I have moderate loss in such a narrow area and everything now sounds muffled and distorted. It's crazy to me how such lasting damage could happen so quickly.
Maybe I should look at it like I'm an experiment, and hope for something like FX-322 or something else to help me. In the mean time I guess I just have to deal with it.
Any advice to cope with this? I'm trying not to think too much about it because there's nothing I can do anymore but I'm having trouble.