Afraid of Ear Damage

I have always been sensitive to certain sounds for as long as I can remember and I've just accepted it at part of life. It was only when I started with music on a more serious level that I started to develop sort of a phobia of damaging my hearing, having always had good hearing. I've had light tinnitus for as long as I can remember too, with the tinnitus appearing to be reactive too since a shower will increase it for a couple of minutes, as well as a couple of other daily sounds that are nowhere near dangerously loud.

My main problem is with high pitched sounds, like slamming cutlery or typically any other kind of metal-on-metal slamming noises. Working at a restaurant, I often come in contact with such sounds, and everytime someone is dumping a couple of knives and forks into the dishwasher, my ears physically hurt from the high pitched metallic sound. It sometimes hurts to the point of a slight muffled feeling accompanied by a ringing sound. I have found no evidence that cutlery would cause hearing damage or even any kind of data on what kind of decibel levels we are talking about, but seeing as my ears actually react as if though they've been through acoustic trauma, I have a hard time believing I should just force myself through the pain because everyone else seemingly is able to tolerate it. So I've started putting small pieces of paper into my ears during times where a lot of dishes are being taken care of. I find that the paper takes off enough of the top-end so that the sounds become bearable, although should someone drop a large pile of knives all at once it pierces straight through the paper and causes pain.

I don't have a hard time with other daily sounds typically, but high pitched sounds in particular are problematic for me. Now, my problem is that I've read so many horror stories of people with hyperacusis that I've become afraid of developing a complete intolerance to sounds myself. When these worries occupy my mind I find that I analyse every single sound to the point where it feels like things are louder, annoyingly loud and that I want to isolate myself from sounds. I suppose this is solely a psychological perceived sound sensitivity caused by my fears, but it somehow also feels so real that I would develop a debilitating sound sensitivity. I am always really careful with my hearing since I know how my ears behave and what my limits are though, I always wear hearing protection when attending concerts and when visiting pubs and the like, so I logically shouldn't really be at risk of developing severe hyperacusis or hearing damage at all, should I? . Even though I'm really careful with my hearing, my baseline tinnitus is elevated for an hour/a few hours after getting into a silent place, but it basically always returns down to the same level, so I guess that's just how my ears behave with sounds and I've gotten used to it.

Now, is slamming cutlery damaging to the hearing if I perceive the sound level as painful? I've been told that just because I perceive certain sounds as louder, it doesn't necessarily mean that my hearing would be more fragile and sensitive to hearing damage, but I have a hard time believing it' s good idea to expose myself to the sounds I find too loud even if they objectively shouldn't be damaging to the average ear. Or am I wrong?

 

You are describing hyperacusis and misophonia. Sounds to me like you already have H to some degree. I dont think you should worry about it getting severe, especially if you're able to deal with daily sounds.

I've had H but recovered. I still hate the sound of slamming cutlery, but it has never damaged my hearing or made my T any worse and with that knowledge I'm able to expose myself to these sounds. I have to admit that I never slam them myself, but I don't freak out anymore when sombody else does.

You should talk to an ENT about this and get your hearing tested, if you haven't.

 

Which part sounds like misophonia? Part of my anxious worries have been focused on misophonia as well, I was obsessing about that for a while too, being afraid of it. When I mentioned that I sometimes feel like things are annoyingly loud, that's when I'm worrying about conditions and actually analyse everything I hear, as far as I know misophonia sufferers experience their problem regardless of whether they're focusing on the sounds or not. In my case I believe it's just my elevated stress levels that are causing things, because when I feel calm I don't really have any problems at all, but when obsessing about all hearing conditions my hearing feels completely messed up. After all, anxiety is known to alter the way you perceive sounds, and I believe my problems stem from the anxiety rather than my problems causing the anxiety.

 

You are simply splitting hairs. You are anxious and phobic and this level of stress hormones in your system is problematic to hearing recovery. So you need to address your fear which seems always like a 3rd leg to the stool of tinnitus. Whether you pursue medication, a life style change, have an epiphany....you need to address your anxiety to help solve your hearing injury. This may start with behavior modification and addressing your lifestyle. Write down all the things that make you anxious and construct a road map to address each of these fears. In the context of hearing, you may choose to deliberately wear earplugs at a certain time. If working in the kitchen, you may put earplugs in before you start moving plates around for example. If you go to the grocery store and its loud, you may consider wearing ear plugs. Address your fears and your hearing and overall health will improve.

 

My current problem is that I'm obsessively analysing every sound I hear because I'm afraid of both hyperacusis and misophonia. I have for as long as I can remember been more sensitive to sounds in the morning before I've fully woken up, now that I'm worrying about my hearing I interpret this as a sign of misophonia even though this only is a problem that exists within the first hour of a day, not necessarily every day either. I think (and hope) my overly sensitive hearing is due to stress hormones going haywire.

 

Not exactly. As I wrote above. There is a difference between vigilance which is objective consideration of your limitations and blatant anxiety, which I believe you have. It is written in your every word. I will give you an example. I have H and T. When I get up in the morning like everybody here, I take stock of my T. What kind of day is it going to be today I ask myself? I am not anxious about this like I was in the early days, rather a bit more accepting.

Now, I move in the kitchen where I have to move dishes around and I have granite countertops. I am not anxious about my H. I am respectful of the fact I have it...like a tender foot I would try to run on. As a result, I am 'careful' about setting dishes down on the counter because they can be offensively loud. Another strategy would be to wear earplugs in the kitchen but I am not the kind of guy who is prissy about doing everything pre-emptively even though I am a bit on the meticulous side as probably too many here are with OCD tendencies...lol....part of the perfect storm of tinnitus.

So Frank, that is the distinction. Objective vigilance versus fear. I believe you have fear brother and btw, many do including me at different times in my life and you need to address this to not only get on a better path to address your T and H but to improve your overall quality of life.

Hope that makes sense.

 

Has anyone else experienced a decreased sound tolerance when anxious/stressed? Not that it's painful or such, but rather that it feels slightly overwhelming and like you want things to be calm around you?

 

I am not a doctor but I have H. A doctor should diagnose you and monitor this but if not, here is what I can share with you.

It appear to be H from what you describe. I am in month 8 of treating it. I was sleeping with ear plugs for 12 years and over time my brain latched on to the only sound it could find - the T. The way it was explained to me was like this: If I went outside the external sounds drowned out the T and my brain tried to find the ringing. The result was it doing the work of my ears. I was agitated all the time and didn't understand why. Mornings were horrible too. I was losing my teeth because I was clenching. The more I clenched the jaw the worse the ringing got. The more the ringing increased the more my H got worse. This led to more anxiety. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

My brain was doing so much work that I was always unable to focus and just exhausted. I thought I was losing my hearing for the longest but in fact it was that my brain was focused on the T. The T was not just one frequency either. It is like a chorus of crickets. Each of those frequencies on the spectrum were sort of tuned out by my brain because it was seeking the ringing. I remember when my tinnitus was so bad I would sleep with fans. Somewhere along the way I thought I just adjusted when in fact I was reprogramming the brain the wrong way. I wanted quiet spots so I could hear the ringing. I wanted to hear ringing to I could relax. That should have been a warning sign. Also there was that sensation of someone pouring water in my ear. Didn't take much either.

If I went into a Starbucks I would walk in and walk out angry - I wasn't consciously aware I was doing it until I finally sought help and began to really think about my mood changes. If this sounds familiar then you're not alone and you have hope. Keep noise around you at all times. Fans, HEPA filters, white noise, rain sounds, etc. If you have the $$ then you can look into hearing aids that will also help. They won't be helping you hear but sending very quiet fractal tones to your ear so that you can let your ears do the work and not your brain.

You may notice some changes in the way you hear. I now noticed warbling in bad audio. I never used to notice it before. (Example: The CW channel in Chicago has bad audio. It's that station, not others) VBR MP3s transcoded poorly have artifacts. I hear them now. That's good. The bad? My T changed and at times gets really loud. I've not yet started the T treatment but that is coming very soon. (Doctor said she likes to wait 9 months before she begins to ease back on the H treatment) If you can't find a doctor or your insurance can't cover it then at a minimum, sleep with white noise, rain sounds, fans, etc. Keep this going throughout the day as much as possible. If you can, do it 24/7. It should not be too loud but just loud enough to keep you out of silence and still low enough to hear people talking, the TV, etc.

I encourage you to stay away from silence. Silence == Bad if you have T. It's only going to make it worse.

Good luck!

 

When you are around loud sound don't fear it and calmly walk away as you are in control and give no reaction to it other than you are in control .
It's all about desensitizing your hearing again and building up time around troublesome sounds and takes lots of time but you will get there... lots of love glynis

 

I've been obsessively analysing everything I hear for the past two days, my hearing felt just fine before that. Now that I've started worrying like crazy, it feels like I can't tolerate hearing sounds at all, like everything feels demanding to listen to somehow. Seeing that this literally started from one day to another just as I got really worried about my ears, this has to be that I'm constantly noticing my hearing which in turn makes me notice everything, and then when I sense something unusual (brought on by the elevated anxiety) I further increase my anxiety, right?

 

Yes you need try relax and not be afraid of daily sounds and learn to walk away from troublesome sounds and feel in control just keep plugs with you and maybe counselling for anxiety and medication . ..lots of love glynis

 

The thing is, I haven't had a problem with daily sounds until I started worrying about my hearing two days ago, only slamming cutlery but I've always been sensitive to that and I don't really view that as a problem because I don't encounter it overly often and I can stay away from it often times. I've just got stuck in a vicious circle now I suppose since I focus pretty much all attention to my hearing, to the point where it feels like all sounds are overwhelming. I don't see why I over one night would develop hearing problems when there was nothing that had happened, the only thing that happened was I suddenly started worrying after reading horror stories about hyperacusis.

 

I would not worry about sounds as you will know yourself if you find a sound a problem .
You can download sound apps to monitor loud sounds and give you a rough guide when your ears are in danger.
We all can have sounds we don't like I know I have a few so we have to make sure we don't fear sound or fear about sounds that could happen.
We have learnt about our ears and how to protect them and lots of people don't know about T and H and put their ears in danger all the time so we have the knowledge and hope that gets us through life with more of a chance in keeping our hearing protected...lots of love glynis

 

I've started obsessing over misophonia since it was brought up here and now it feels like I'm actively seeking out sounds and checking if I feel weird, while constantly being anxious that I'll encounter something weird. As I've mentioned, this suddenly happened over night, the day before I even thought about hyperacusis or misophonia I was completely fine and went about life without even thinking about my hearing. Then the next morning after I had read horror stories about hyperacusis and misophonia I suddenly felt like every sound I heard was "annoying" to hear, or that it was overwhelming to listen to. Surely, this must be because I'm focusing basically all my attention, now also subconsciously, to my hearing and therefore causing these symptoms myself? I don't see why I would develop a complete inability to withstand sounds just overnight considering I was just fine the day before.

 

I would go about your day as normal and when you think about hyperacusis and misophobia just think they are two new things you have learnt about and move on to what else their is to learn about tinnitus as their is lots of help to cope.
There are lots of things people can fear and be scared about and it's learning about them and dealing with the feelings that helps cope better.
Don't think of sounds as a threat or danger and you will be fine and just be sensible around loud sound and move away if causes you a problem or pop ear plugs.
Life will throw us some noisy surprises that carnt be helped but no need to search for them or be on high alert about sound as your brain will only react to sounds that are a threat and not noises it's already heard....
I think for you,you might need time to switch off about ear problems for a while and when you start thinking that way then say to yourself STOP! and don't keep going over what you have read over and over again....
Like a story in a paper . ...
Stay positive and don't fear sound as most sounds we hear are nice and normal than a danger . ..lots of love glynis

 

Hi Frankenstone, if I were you, I would stop doing what is bothering you for a week or two, try to rest in a quiet environment and do other things that can keep your focus out of H. If the sound of cutlery is bothering you to the point of thinking often about it and you work in a restaurant, then maybe you could take medical leave and rest. Dont try to look for reasons or explanations; listen to your body. With H is usually better to be on the cautious side than to be too brave with sound or trying to continue putting up with a situation that may get you anxious. The problem with cutlery (a fork on a plate, stacking dishes and stuff like that) is that it has a high-pitch and also has a high dynamic range (the volume of sound goes up really fast). Hyperacusic ears have a problem with volume and also with fast increases in volume (dynamic range).

 

Vigilence doesn't work...I'm clumsy and everyday I startle myself.…

Best way is to adjust environment, no plugs and muffs are fine, but use plastic dishes, put a mat on counter top, don't use glass bottles for condiments, transfer them to soft plastic containers.

 

Frankenstone - you're right to be worried. In my work in the dish pit of a busy cafe for 12 months, I quickly learnt to wear both plugs & earmuffs. Paper will do nothing, as will plugs alone. I could still hear voices better than without them but they protected me from those sharp, high-pitched, hurtful sounds. The kitchen staff had a laugh when I left them on in quieter periods. That's OK...they're not you're painful ears, Buddy. My tinnitus resulted on the first day at work when emptying wine bottles into an empty council bin, surrounded by brick & concrete to magnify the sound. Expecting pain, I pressed one ear to my shoulder but the other ear sustained the damage. My audiologist was unwilling to believe the source of the damage, asking "Are you sure someone didn't fire a shotgun next to your ear?" Nope...I think I'd remember that...especially with my hatred of firearms. Ear protection should be law for all workers in noisy workplaces...including dish pits.

I also CAREFULLY dry both ears with tissues & soft cotton buds after each shower or my ears are likely to ache later. I try to prevent my ears to getting cold. Some ear canals seem to be less convoluted than others.

And CDNThailand - good luck convincing restaurants & cafes to use plastic plates & rubber mats on the counters!

 

Hi ,

I'm very similar to you in that I analyse everything for fear of getting worse. I was on holiday a few weeks back and I was almost back to normal, but then I started getting anxious after a while and slowly sensitivity came back a little.

My own sound sensitivity was cause by an ambulance, but like you I can tolerate most sounds except the high frequency ones like car brakes , sometimes those REALLY get to me.

If I see an ambulance on the road I will not go near it for fear of the damage it caused me. I haven't really been to the cinema in a year, I've even started avoiding dogs and babies.

But I do believe it's all psychologically connected to a certain degree.. just like a what a lot of these guys are saying.

I'm in that strange bracket of no T but sensitivity to higher frequency sounds.

I try my best to go out though and absorb sounds, luckily my gf is quite understanding and is great at calming me down when I get a little nervous about noise

 

The key is trying to be exposed to sound in normal environments - not only music at home - without getting hearing damage. That may be easier in some countries than in others. For instance, it is not the same walking on the street, around traffic in Helsinki or in New Delhi.

 

Ye, you just need to be sensible in what can cause damage and what can't.

I've read loads of horror stories on the web about even baby screams causing tinnitus , while this probably possible I think it's also extremely unlikely .

Here on the UK I believe that Ambulance sirens are at dangerously loud levels and they should use a different sound for them...

 

I too have a serious phonophobia. I have had a severe hyperacusis for about 3~4 years and had many experience with noises.

I am a great music fan and in a few months planning to have a piano lesson. Still, I can't stop getting nervous about this because I always play my digital piano in a considerably low volume at home.

Exposure to loud noises frightens me not only because of its effect on my ears, but also of the possible distortion sound I might hear. About 4 years ago, when I had my first onset of my hyperacusis in a college class(sound of the lecturing was loud), music was low in pitch and the bass range sounded lighter. That was not good. Now, I've been taking a very good care about my ear and am trying to not use earplugs. But recently a young girl screamed in high pitch in front of me which gave me a slight tinnitus in my right ear and my hearing has numbed a bit. Also, only recently I encountered a very frightening and bad sound of my heavy measuer-spoon falling over the counter. It was an integral type and not a plastic one. I'd always put it over the lofty lock-and-lock for convenience's sake and I accidentally made it fall. A very blunt and forcible sound that made me tremble. My ears aren't good after that incident, I think.

I am very perplexed and ever regret that I didn't see it coming. Sooner or later, if I had put my measure- spoon on there, I might have happened if things went unluckly. I try to stay calm and read and hear music at a low volume.
It's painful to think that way, but life is long and you have to be prepared to such noise if you're trying to live your life. We should get on with our lives, I think.

added: I'm very sorry for your trouble. I was surprised if you have written MY story. Working in the kitchen would be so hard. I hate those noises dishes and stainless steels make. I hope you have good earplugs. Getting stressed only worsens the condition, I think.

 

A baby screaming or the measuring spoon shouldnt be sounds that make permanent damage. Believe me I know how it feels because I have been exactly in both situations you describe. You have to be careful of sirens, and the very loud sounds of traffic, etc Those can really make damage, together with any kind of speakers or loud PA systems.

 

yeah, sirens are very loud. In general the world is getting noisier.. gardening! Ughh There are all kinds of new loud machinery, and now everyone seems to need them.

 

....Or a small old bus screeching when they stops. What blood curdling and terrible noises they are.... Thanks for the advice. Fear and worries disappear with time, I hope.

 

I think you should do your piano lessons, these sounds although might hurt will not cause nay further damage plus you can start to get some enjoyment out of life

In fact I'm willing to get that playing the piano will help den sensitise u and will improve over time as you play.

I'm also a music fan and has to give up headphones because of the advice given here, but I have followed this to the letter since my accident don't believe it's gotten any worse .

I really really really wish I hadn't walked next to that damn ambulance though, as this is how it all started for me..

Now I literally put my fingers in my ears even if one drives past because you never know when they are going to start blasting away.. but so far this has been effective.

 

Yes, you are doing great. Humans already have good earplugs, naturally.
I thoroughly appreciate your comment. Can't wait to meet my teacher and the piano.

 

Hell I wish I had no T. I use to be in the same boat sure no T and hypercasusis then T developed. ;-;

 

You are in the early stages of tinnitus and it will get better in time. Life is problematic and throws challenges at us and treat it as such. Follow some of my suggestions in my posts and listen to the advice of other members. You will get through this so try not to worry.

Michael

 

Think of Tinnitus as an angry child if you pay attention to it , it will continue to cause problems . Ignore it and it does actually improve to the point you will go "wow I didn't even realise u was there )