Will My Tinnitus Be Temporary? It Started 2 Weeks After a Firecracker Explosion

[Asap987]

Hi members,

I'll tell you the story of my tinnitus onset.

It all started during New Year's Eve during which a fairly strong firecracker exploded (it was one of the ones with the stick) near my right ear, about 1.5-2 meters away. I did not immediately notice strange symptoms like tinnitus. That started only 2 weeks later after it happened, but I was just a little petrified by the loud sound of the outbreak.

During the 2 weeks following the outbreak, I was fine: no ringing in the ear, no pain in the eardrum and I listened to the music at a minimum with headphones as I always did, thinking that everything was all right in my ear.

The fact is that I don't know what exactly it was that triggered the tinnitus. However, I have a habit of blowing my nose very hard, which sometimes resulted in catarrhal otitis in my right ear and the last time I did this I had this annoying whistle in my right ear (now I don't blow it anymore so strong), but before that I had never had tinnitus before, and for this I would like to understand if the firecracker in some way influenced its appearance.

I underwent both an otoscopy exam and an audiometric exam, both with positive results.

After a completely useless cortisone-based therapy, I started going to an osteopath who treats both my jaw and neck in the various sessions.

Both the ENT and the osteopath tell me to be calm and are confident that my tinnitus will disappear over time as there is no damage to the ear, but I would not want them to tell me just to get used to it over time, thus giving me false hopes of recovery.

What do you think about it? Have you ever met someone with a history similar to mine who then recovered?

Thank you all.

 

[Rockman]

If I were you, I'd check out the Success Stories section here. They are very encouraging. Lots of people from acoustic traumas recover completely or it stops bothering them.

I can't tell you that it will completely go away, but it will get better. Just keep protecting them ears from loud sounds. Hope for the best.

 

[Asap987]

Hi Rockman, thanks for the answer. I don't think that the noise was the cause, because the hearing test went well. Noise may also have a contribution, but I think the main cause is blowing my nose too hard and I would like to know if anyone understood what happened at that moment. I think that the Eustachian tube has shrunk a little too much after dilating too much, and that the phlegm has affected it. What do you think?

 

[Rockman]

Regardless if it was from the firecracker or ETD, your ears are compromised to a point, where many sounds wouldn't hurt normal ears but affect yours.

I have all the symptoms of ETD and it has been that way for over a year.

 

[Chris S.]

Hard to tell whether the acoustic event was loud enough to trigger a reaction. Usually, the tinnitus would begin soon after an acoustic trauma (within a day or two). That being said - beware COVID-19, as well as the COVID-19 vaccines. Both can initiate or aggravate existing tinnitus. It happened to me (Pfizer vaccine). Also - be careful with other medications. My tinnitus was moderate until supplements and medications I tried made it much worse. These days it is quite severe (it is often quite difficult for me to keep earplugs in because my tinnitus can be deafening, especially in the mornings). Even so, I have gradually started paying less attention to it. If yours persists, you will eventually learn to (mostly) neglect it and it will fade in the background.

 

[DimLeb]

there is no damage to the ear

They all must say something not to look like clueless idiots lol. And really, they are. The fact that there is tinnitus proves that there is indeed some damage somewhere in there. However, since all current tests don't even scratch the surface about what is happening in the inner ear/nerves/brain etc and there are no treatments whatsoever, doctors say it's nothing to help you deal with it.

Anyway, I don't have much information to contribute to what you can do now, as I'm on the same boat looking for the cause of mine and what to do with it. I advise you to be a bit careful with loud noise exposure, any medications, COVID-19/vaccine, healthy diet etc.

 

[Asap987]

But by loud noises do you mean other noises such as firecrackers or fireworks or even for example loud barks of a dog? In the barking dog case, should I use earmuffs?

 

[DimLeb]

But by loud noises do you mean other noises such as firecrackers or fireworks or even for example loud barks of a dog? In the barking dog case, should I use earmuffs?

Well, this is a complicated subject... It depends on whether you get spikes or not, and how external noises affect your condition. Here comes to play the cause of your tinnitus I think. CERTAINLY avoid firecrackers and anything that goes boom. Dog barks are loud as well and can reach max 100 dB if you are close, which is not really safe.

Now, I can't really tell you if you should protect against every day sounds, but sometimes it's the only measure we can take against worsening, so you should have earplugs or earmuffs always with you. It's controversial around here how much you should protect or not because "it builds sensitivity leading to hyperacusis and worse tinnitus", but personally I've used overprotection for nearly all my life (I'm a musician) in buses, train, sometimes in the car, in crowds etc and it never increased my sensitivity to sound.

I myself couldn't relate any worsening to loud noise (thankfully) and during this year of my tinnitus, I've been exposed to: a really loud thunder, car driving, dogs, loud motorbikes etc. Mine just does its stuff on its own and wasn't caused by any acoustic event like yours. So I can't really tell you more about it. It's something that you must find out by trial and error unfortunately...

 

[Asap987]

I noticed my tinnitus varies based on my posture. I do not feel worse when I come into contact with a loud sound, but I have become more sensitive to sounds perhaps due to a developed fear for the thought of the firecracker, so it could be my paranoia.

I noticed, for example, when my neck goes down it increases and varies throughout the day, going from unilateral to bilateral. The volume is medium-low, I only hear it when I'm in silent.