2009: Motorcycle Accident Gave Me Tinnitus & Hyperacusis — 2021: Exposure to Loud Bass

Hello all,

I am Barry. I am 48 years old. I just registered to Tinnitus Talk and want to share my story. In the past weeks I have been reading lots of stories and info here.

I acquired tinnitus and hyperacusis in 2009. Probably due to a motorcycle accident in which I broke my neck and back. It took a number of months to recover. My tinnitus was very mild in the beginning. It had almost no effect on my daily life. I could still ride my motorcycle, go out and take the plane. Then I started to notice it was getting louder. I began using earplugs when going out and riding my motorcycle. But sometimes the sound concerned me so much that I sold my motorcycle and ended my passion. I also quit going out to prevent tinnitus from getting worse. My hearing was perfect, I could enjoy music a lot on a low volume from my desktop speakers. By that time, sounds like the dishes, glass, sirens, traffic hurt my ears a lot. My left ear was always better than my right ear, which in my opinion, sounded a little bit flat. I have always been careful around loud sounds and protected my ears from getting worse. I already knew the terrible stories about tinnitus in 2009.

I enjoyed my life and my music (on a low volume). Although I always told people I was living a life with the foot on the brake. I hope you understand what I mean. Enjoy the things that are possible and don't push things, just be thankful for the balance.

By the end of 2020 I got an invitation for an opening of a new business of a friend of mine. It was outside and people would talk with each other and there was a bit of music. I never did that before, but I decided to go, which was a big mistake. When I arrived, I could hear the bass very well. It was quite loud. They talked through a microphone and played some music. Of course I wore my earplugs and thought I was fine. Suddenly there was a loud moment with a strong bass. It sounded very distorted in my head. It hurt and I had to leave the place. After a few minutes when the music stopped I returned. I was there for about two hours, with mostly people talking and some music in between.

That was January 2nd, 2021.

The same evening I noticed a lot of tinnitus in my left ear while watching television. I never had that before. The next day my left ear sounded muffled/dull, and I couldn't hear very well. I also had strong sharp ear pain for short periods. Also in my right ear, but only a few times. I began developing more tinnitus and other sounds in my head. It made me very anxious, so I went to my GP.

He looked into my ears and saw a slight irritation in the ear canal. I said my left ear sounded muffled, with almost no hearing and a lot of tinnitus. He prescribed ear drops... A week later I got a nasal spray. I blame myself for being so non-assertive that time. He should have prescribed Prednisone or at least check with a tuning fork if I had conductive or perceptive hearing loss. A week later I went back and said things got worse, I even visited other GPs for a second opinion. They offered no treatment, like HBOT or Prednisone. No, it should go away they said. After that I got really stressed. I knew ENTs in the Netherlands weren't that great. In 2009 I had very bad experiences. When I got there for my tinnitus, they only said: learn to live with it. I got an MRI to check if I had a tumor. In 2009 no earplugs were given in an MRI. The ENT said that MRIs won't damage your hearing for such a short period. With my knowledge now, I highly doubt that.

Ok, no treatment in the Netherlands. The GP gave his apologies for overseeing sudden deafness. 3 weeks after the acoustic trauma was too late to start the treatment in his opinion. I knew they gave infusion with Prednisone in Germany after an acoustic trauma. So I contacted a clinic and after a few days I had an appointment. I had several infusions with Prednisone. There they gave me an audiogram and my hearing turned out to be normal, although I experience it as very bad. I can hardly hear birds singing, my footsteps and so on. I miss details. Music sounds distorted. It showed a "dip" at 6 kHz in my left ear, 20 dB. My right ear showed a dip at 4 kHz, but also not too big, 20 dB. He said I had normal hearing for my age. My hearing was great before the incident of January 2nd, so I knew something was wrong/damaged. I still don't know what is damaged right now. I also visited another ENT who said because of my normal audiogram, nothing has happened to my hair cells. The problem is in the brain, she said. What do you think?

I slept very bad for weeks, but after the treatment sleeping got better. I use no masking, because I want to adapt my brain to the noise inside. It is very difficult, but I think it helped me recover somewhat better. I also did an online frequency test. It seems that I have hearing loss between 12-20 kHz. Can that "loss" affect listening to music (high tones) or details in sounds?

I read a lot of stories here and began taking supplements: Vinpocetine, B12, Betahistine (Betaserc), Chlorella, Spirulina, Zinc, Selenium, Alpha-Lipoid Acid, NAC, Magnesium, Q10, Ginkgo biloba, Omega 3 and Turmeric. I still take them today. In the meantime I tried Dexamethasone (ENT), acupuncture (only 1 time) and then switched to neurofeedback. I did that 9 times. I eventually quit because people warning against using headphones. I only listened on a very low volume so I think that didn't cause any more extra damage.

Now I am 4 months in. In these months I have had ear pain quite often, but that seems to be gone now. Sleeping is much better. My "dark" periods, thinking about euthanasia and killing myself are getting less. Overall tinnitus seems to be slightly reduced. I still blame myself for going to the business opening that one time on January 2nd, 2021. I should have known better. I always gave others with tinnitus advice with their battle and now I made that terrible mistake myself. I knew it could get worse after loud sounds, I lived careful for 13 years. It feels like I threw my life away.

I had hyperacusis for years and was very sensitive for sounds. After the incident on January 2nd, I no longer had hyperacusis or hearing sensitivity. But I got a lot of tinnitus in return. A bad deal. Anybody know what happened? My left ear used to be the best ear, but now my right ear is the best one.

I still have difficulty with people talking, I never had that before. What I miss most is listening to quiet music on the PC. When I try it, it just doesn't give me the emotions I used to get. I enjoyed the clear tones and the lyrics. Enjoyed every part of emotion from it. My left ear still sounds dull and I miss details (high tones), but I am getting more relaxed towards the tinnitus. Music used to comfort me and I miss that a lot. My main goal is to enjoy music again. I also use visualization to be in that state. Who knows? And when I watch television on a low volume, my tinnitus reacts to it and gets louder.

What I also notice while wearing earplugs, I hardly hear any sounds, except for tinnitus. I used to hear very well, even with earplugs in. What could have caused this? And will this get better?

I still have a "full" feeling in my left ear quite often and sometimes it feels like a burning sensation. I am positive about this, because there is still "something" going on in my ear. I read recovery of the ear can take up to 1.5-3 years. What do you think about my situation? Can my left ear hearing recover or get better?

Your input will be greatly appreciated!

With kind regards,
Barry

 

Welcome to the forum. Recovery time can differ among people but members here often quote 6 months to a few years. I took 3 years in my first episode of severe tinnitus and hyperacusis. Now I developed SSHL and 6 months in. Slow recovery but there are some progress such as balancing issue. The deaf ear may not come back at all. That is life unfortunately. Hope your tinnitus spike from acoustic trauma will improve over time. It usually will fade back to baseline.

Keep positive and hopeful. All the best. God bless your recovery.

 

Thanks for your kind reply, Billie. My first episode took me a few years too. I will try to keep a positive attitude. Did your ear become totally deaf or is it possible to hear some muffled sounds?

I also wish you the best and a nice weekend.

 

My left ear has total loss of word recognition but can hear some tones very slightly. So it is considered a profound loss of hearing.

I am surprised the first ENT you saw didn't give you Prednisone, knowing you had obviously suffered acoustic trauma from the event.

 

I am so sorry for you, I can still hear some words, but everything sounds dull.

I am actually pretty angry that my GP didn't even test my hearing with a tuning fork. He totally overlooked sudden deafness, even after I told him I had severe tinnitus and hearing loss. Even my ENT said my audiogram looked fine. You have no hearing loss was his reply! They really don't know much about these ear problems.

To be honest, i am about to sue my GP/ENT for overlooking sudden deafness. On the other hand, that will give me a lot of stress too, which I have to avoid. Difficult...

 

Can hearing damage still restore after several months? I read a lot of stories about tinnitus disappearing after 1-3 years. But does that also apply to tinnitus due to hearing damage (loss)?