Tinnitus & Hearing Loss from Gunfire

[Jrblovsky]

Good morning,

Had a mishap about two months ago while firing a glock 22 outdoors. Shot 15 rounds with foam earplugs in and my right ear has been ringing ever since. Was shooting alone at an outdoors. I guess the plug did not seat correctly. I'm not much of a hunter and honestly rarely shoot. Has anyone here had bad luck with foam earplugs. I cannot hear a thing over 8000 Hz. Right ear has loud hmm with the eeeee tone.

Has anyone ever lost all their higher frequencies from one exposure like this? I had perfect hearing in both ears previous to this. Also what to do you guys do to combat tinnitus during the day? Shit is driving me insane at work.

Josh

 

[billie48]

Has anyone ever lost all their higher frequencies from one exposure like this? I had perfect hearing in both ears previous to this. Also what to do you guys do to combat tinnitus during the day? Shit is driving me insane at work

Welcome to the forum. There are many members who had suffered from acoustic trauma from loud noise exposure, from gun firing, gigs, tire explosion etc. Some would lose hearing especially in the high frequency like myself. The initial period of suffering may involve hyperacusis too. It is going to be tough at first when the ears are highly unstable with many other scary symptoms. Many find it hard to face the ringing dead on and have to depend on masking to function, myself included. Have you tried masking? Many have trouble sleeping at night. I had to use masking nature sounds of heavy rain and cicadas, even shower and faucet sound lol. Sleep aid may be needed too like myself. Anyway things will usually improve from a few months to a few years. Everyone is different. Patience is needed and setbacks can happen. I encourage you to read the success stories to learn some helpful strategies from others. They will also give you hope and lower your stress which is helpful to reduce the ringing. Good luck. God bless.

 

[Jrblovsky]

Thank you for the reply. Surprisingly, I am able to sleep without masking. I am having the hardest issue with concentration at work being I do a lot of analysis so I need to focus. I always felt for anyone who dealt with this previously and feel so powerless that I now have it myself. I can see why people are anxious and depressed. This has been the worst two months of my life. Pretty devastating to know it will never go away.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Pretty devastating to know it will never go away.

Have you experienced any fading?

 

[Jrblovsky]

Not really fading. I see that a few companies sell in ear maskers, which I would like to try. Does one have this programmed to the frequency their tinnitus is at to cover the sound? I hope I can find some relief soon.

 

[jjflyman]

Good morning,

Had a mishap about two months ago while firing a glock 22 outdoors. Shot 15 rounds with foam earplugs in and my right ear has been ringing ever since. Was shooting alone at an outdoors. I guess the plug did not seat correctly. I'm not much of a hunter and honestly rarely shoot. Has anyone here had bad luck with foam earplugs. I cannot hear a thing over 8000 Hz. Right ear has loud hmm with the eeeee tone.

Has anyone ever lost all their higher frequencies from one exposure like this? I had perfect hearing in both ears previous to this. Also what to do you guys do to combat tinnitus during the day? Shit is driving me insane at work.

Josh

This is from my person experience with 2 bouts of acoustic trauma tinnitus and extensive research:

Your ears suffered an acoustic trauma. The vast majority of tinnitus caused by a short, one time trauma will heal/fade in 6-18 months. You should start seeing slow improvement after about 3 months or so.

Protect your ears from loud sounds from now on, and no earbuds.

 

[Jrblovsky]

Thank you for the response jjflyman. No earbuds for me. My tinnitus got extremely loud today for unknown reasons. Not sure why. Did you have low frequency hearing loss from your aaccoustic trauma along with high frequency? The ent doc told me I have moderate low frequency hearing loss with mild high frequency hearing loss. Only in my right ear though. Left ear is normal at all frequencies. I hope the docs figure it out. Never had tinnitus before this. Did yours fade away to nothing or at least to a manageable level?

Best,

Josh

 

[jjflyman]

Thank you for the response jjflyman. No earbuds for me. My tinnitus got extremely loud today for unknown reasons. Not sure why. Did you have low frequency hearing loss from your aaccoustic trauma along with high frequency? The ent doc told me I have moderate low frequency hearing loss with mild high frequency hearing loss. Only in my right ear though. Left ear is normal at all frequencies. I hope the docs figure it out. Never had tinnitus before this. Did yours fade away to nothing or at least to a manageable level?

Best,

Josh

I did not suffer any hearing loss from either acoustic trauma.
My first one was about 14 years ago and was from 45 min exposure to extremely loud power equipment.
My ears were screaming loud 10/10 tinnitus, but it faded to zero in about years.

My current tinnitus was from an outdoor concert and has faded about 90+% and I don't hear it anymore unless I am in a somewhat quiet place and listen for it. Most of the time during the day I don't hear it.

 

[MRItechssuck]

I did not suffer any hearing loss from either acoustic trauma.
My first one was about 14 years ago and was from 45 min exposure to extremely loud power equipment.
My ears were screaming loud 10/10 tinnitus, but it faded to zero in about years.

My current tinnitus was from an outdoor concert and has faded about 90+% and I don't hear it anymore unless I am in a somewhat quiet place and listen for it. Most of the time during the day I don't hear it.

That's great! If I may ask your age? How long did it take the 2nd time to fade?

Your 10/10 means that you could hear it everywhere, in the shower, etc?
Thanks.

 

[jjflyman]

That's great! If I may ask your age? How long did it take the 2nd time to fade?

Your 10/10 means that you could hear it everywhere, in the shower, etc?
Thanks.

I'm 60 now, so the first time I was about 46, and they faded to absolute zero in about 2 years.
The second trauma from a concert was 3 years ago and they have faded at least 90% in 3 years.
Yes, I could hear it over the shower, they were so loud it felt like it would reverberate off the walls when I went down the hallway at home. Also, I could "feel" the pressure change if I went down a flight of stairs.

The first time they were virtually unmaskable, so loud I thought it would never get better, truly a horrible ordeal.

 

[MRItechssuck]

I'm 60 now, so the first time I was about 46, and they faded to absolute zero in about 2 years.
The second trauma from a concert was 3 years ago and they have faded at least 90% in 3 years.
Yes, I could hear it over the shower, they were so loud it felt like it would reverberate off the walls when I went down the hallway at home. Also, I could "feel" the pressure change if I went down a flight of stairs.

The first time they were virtually unmaskable, so loud I thought it would never get better, truly a horrible ordeal.

Thank you... "pressure change if I went down a flight of stairs.". You are the first one that I've seen mention this... after this (2nd lifetime) trauma... I noticed that too driving. I travel a lot and the large barometric changes don't bother me, but the slight ones on a hill driving I can notice. I'm not sure why....

In my 30's I got mild tinnitus from a loud gig... it went away after about 4 years.

You give me some hope that at 50, my pea-brain will again muster enough plasticity to overcome my recent trauma (loud MRI.)

 

[Jrblovsky]

Glad to hear your went away. I just turned 33 a few weeks ago so I am needless to say devastated that I have this condition. I honestly dont know how people function. I have been a complete mess for over two months.

 

[BoomStickAlberta]

Firearms took some of my hearing, hard lesson learned. Hope, have hope that life will get better with time. Looks like you have a wife and child, that is very meaningful. Pour your energy into being the best family member you can be. Focus on the good. My goal is to encourage you and give you hope!

 

[Jrblovsky]

Thank you for the kind words. I am four months in now. Still a basket case but I'm trying. How long does the fullness/clogged ears last? I went to the urgent care last Friday being my tinnitus went to level extreme. They gave me presidone and another antibiotic. The pressure is going down and my eustachian tube felt like it opened today. Ringing is still there which sucks.

 

[Jrblovsky]

So I have been wondering for a while why I developed this loud roaring tinnitus roughly seven months after my trauma. I purchased some flanged 3M plastic earplugs (NRR 25) today and stuck one deep in my right ear and the roaring completely stops. The vacuum the plug makes is doing something. When I remove the plug the roaring immediately comes back.

I can feel the vacuum pulling on my eardrum as the plug tries to break the seal and the roaring will go up or down as I push on it.

Has anyone ever experienced this before? The roaring I experience is extreme 24/7.

Last week I was up for four days straight. I think if I could figure this out I could at least function again.