Will This Tinnitus ever go away?!
Question: Will This Tinnitus ever go away?
About a month ago noticed a slight ringing in my right ear when my ears are covered and sometimes when they're not.
Went to the ENT to have it checked. 3 tests: Hearing, Ear Hair Health (the tiny hairs that would be damaged from loud noise), and Pressure/Fluid Check.
Tests show no hearing loss (hearing is good), Hairs are fine (no damage), And no pressure/fluids.
Buddy said he used to shoot and knows people who hunt without ear plugs, and they don't have ringing.
I do have a slight case of TMJ, my jaw pops sometimes when chewing and when I open it wide, but I've always had this with no tinnitus.
So I guess the gunshot did it???? The ENT said it is possible.
Since my ear is fine, will the Tinnitus eventually dim, or subside, and go away? If not what can I do to make that happen?
Also, Do you think it could have been from the gunshot?
I just get really worried about it because it was never there before, and when I hear it, it kinda makes me depressed and wish I never shot that gun and have taken better care of my ears before.
Any way to make the ringing go away?
Answers:
Tinnitus is believed to be caused when by damaging a portion of the auditory nerve. Our hearing is a very redundant system that roughly means you hear a sound and it triggers a neuron to relay the message. We will say for arguments sake that That message goes to 5 neurons, then each of those trigger 5 more neurons each. By the time the signal gets to your brain from your ear it has replicated itself from a hundred firing neurons to several thousand firing neurons. A tiny bit of damage on the nerve may not be noticed the higher up in the auditory system it goes because the signal has been replicated so many times (like you wouldn't miss 1 signal if you had 50 copies right?) so, the damage may not have caused a disruption in your hearing, but it could have damaged it enough to cause the nerve to be irritated and cause tinnitus. You have a lot of hair cells in your cochlea so although there are enough to produce a strong otoaccoustic emission, it doesn't mean that there's not a small group of hairs that got sheared off or damaged by the blast that is just enough to cause tinnitus. A gun blast can absolutely cause this, and often does. My husband was duck hunting when someone shot over his head and he heard a pop and he has had tinnitus ever since. You will more than eventually habituate to the tinnitus just like you would when the AC comes on at first you notice it, but then after a while you don't. You should also try to use management techniques like sleeping with a noise on and having a distracting noise on in quiet places as it will likely not go away. Please keep a close eye on it, unilateral tinnitus is often the first sign of acoustic neuroma a slow growing tumor on the auditory nerve. Please keep an eye on it and if it gets progressively worse you need to go back to the dr asap! Your case is more than likely blast trauma, but I want you to know the warning signs! What were you doing firing a gun without ear protection in the first place? Shame shame! Lol!
I am an audiology doctorate student
I can only give you my experience....when I was in high school me and some friends were driving around celebrating the 4th of July.....an M-80 exploded inside the car we were driving and I lost my hearing for about 2 hours. Ever since I've had a ringing in both ears. I"ve had my hearing tested many times by an ENT specialist and my ears are fine, and my hearing is fine, but I still have a ringing in both ears that is more noticeable when my surroundings get quiet. It's been almost 30 years since that event....so I am just going to have to live with the ringing.