Airhorn Blown Next to Ear: Hyperacusis, Ear Fullness, Sound Sensitivity — Tips?

On June 30th an acquaintance decided it would be funny to blow an airhorn next to my left ear.

I have since had fullness and sensitivity to sound. My sensitivity seems to be more fullness that comes to my ears when outside or at work. Dishes clanking and things to that degree are annoying but not painful in a way that would bring me to my knees.

I have not worn ear plugs or ear protection in fear it could make it worse.

I have gone to the doctor who stated that he doesn't believe this is permanent...

I am just worried due to my anxiety and stress levels spiking since the event. I know it hasn't been that long in theory, it's just annoying. I do not have tinnitus with this, just mainly fullness and annoyance to sounds.

Is there still hope for this to go away? And what are some tips to help with recovering?

 

Wow. Beat that guy's ass for one thing. Also though - Protect your ears and handle them delicately. I would not go into any too loud places up to a month or three. Be cautious of door slams, sirens, vacuuming, garbage disposals and sirens. Lawn mowers, screaming. Too loud restaurants, club, concerts, movie cinema. Things of that like. The best thing for hyperacusis - since it has a variety of different subtypes is to determine the one you have and make sure you don't suffer another acoustic trauma, so the pain from sound type doesn't come on.

The best tip for any damage to one's ear is to be vigilant in protecting it, but also avoiding loud noise for the time being. Time is the best potential healer.

 

Is it bad to put myself in those situations? For instance would it make it last longer or possibly make it worse? My ears feel like they constantly need to be popped but they never clear. Also, pain from dogs barking and stuff of that nature. I'm just wondering if I should avoid almost all public situations in the coming months or go out for as long as I can handle? I already debated quitting one of my jobs due to dishes.

On a side note. I was in active band for years and never wore ear protection and never suffered any hearing issues after. Could this have also contributed to my hyperacusis? When I went to the doctor they said my hearing was excellent almost better in the one that is messed up. But yet that ear feels full/clogged/needs to be popped. With pain coming from dogs barking or the phone continuously ringing. Like I said it's still been less than 2 weeks. It's just such a weird feeling and looking for help.

What are recommendations on when to try different therapy options? As you said this is acoustic trauma. I do hope this goes away and I hope sooner than later. Is it smart to wear earplugs in certain situations or is it better to just take the noise?

 

It will get better. Give it some time. Trust me on that. Now you need to be careful around loud noise, wear earplugs if you are on this kind of situation. Try magnesium, it may speed the recovery process and help with the ear discomfort you are having.

 

Resting your ears and avoiding noise that causes discomfort until you get better is your best option.

 

I can't disagree.

 

So true!

 

This is maybe the "first strike" so you should be fine. Just be careful with loud noise and follow a healthy diet (antioxidants, it does make a difference, stuff like fruit, dry fruits, garlic, onion, vegetables, ginger, green tea, curcumin…) Try to exercise a bit and to keep you mind off the muffled hearing. Also, do not pop your ears.

 

What is the benefit to not popping my ears? It feels like i should be Popping them as its a slight second relief

 

How? Why? Many of us found that protecting our ears ended up helping our ears, whereas denying our ears that protection ended up making things worse.

Some people here got their T as a result of doing Valsalva manuever (i.e., popping their ears).

If you are experiencing ear fullness as a result of an acoustic trauma, then you won't be able to pop your ears, as the sensation is a symptom of damage that was done to your inner ear.

Your doctor is right - within 3-24 months your sensitivity will likely be gone. However, chances are that your ears have been compromised and it will now take less for you to begin experiencing ear fullness, hyperacusis and even tinnitus. So you will want to be easy on your ears while you have hyperacusis and ear fullness, and even after this symptom is gone you will still want to be more careful than the healthy people around you.

For tips about what you might want to watch out for, in order for this nightmare to not come back, check out the tips on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Unless you're going absolutely crazy without popping them I wouldnt.

 

You have acoustic shock, which can sometimes turn in to acoustic shock disorder. It took me awhile after my incident to actually figure out what the issue was, you can Google it to find more info. If it makes you feel better, acoustic shock symptoms usually resolve themselves within days or weeks, but some people have issues with it persisting for months or longer. It's been about 4 months for me and symptoms have pretty much stayed the same since it happened so far.

 

Damaging noise is bad to endure and 'stand' with compromised ears. If you have pain from dogs barking - then avoid dogs barking, plug your ears. The pain of your ear reacting to sound is a warning from them, them telling you; hey, this is too much, let's go away from here. It's a balancing act, only you can determine what is best for your ears, or not - but I will advise you to not go to too overly loud public situations overall.

Also, as far the better hearing, since your hyperacusis onslaught - have things been sounding too loud for you as of late? Abnormally loud? If so, that's the loudness type of hyperacusis - it could be a reason why your hearing seems superhuman or good.

It's definitely smart to wear earplugs in certain situations - best to leave if stuff causes pain to your ear or burns them. Never just take the noise.

 

My ear has had the fullness feeling since the event. I do not feel as if i have superhuman hearing or anything like that. I feel as if i have less hearing in the ear affected. Its feels like we just changed elavation and my ears need to pop. Loud noises tend to give me a sort of stabbing pain or making want to wince and throb minutes after. My whole left my face feels messed up including behind my ear, above my ear, even my jaw. It seems if its almost a throbbing pain that comes and goes depending on the sound.

Ive read instances were people have said that ear plugs and such has made their hyperactusis worse. That was my worry about the earplugs.

 

Wearing earplugs 24/7 or for even the very minor noises might eventually result in hyperacusis getting worse. If you are reasonable, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

I would have knocked his fcukin head off his shoulders. I hate people like that.

I would say give it time; let your ear heal and don't expose it to further loud noise. Not loud noise for you but noise that anyone would consider loud and be mindful of where you go when it does recover.

 

Thank you guys! My stress and anxiety levels are at an all time... you guys have put my mind at ease a littler bit.

I started carrying earplugs with me as of today lol! What kind would you recommend?

I hope time will heal

 

Pressure inside your ears can be way greater than you imagine. If you pop your ears you will alter the pressure and it can be really painful.. only that you will not know it until it happens to you for the first time. ENTs usually recommend not to pop ears.

 

Whatever is comfortable really--some are softer, some are harder. And get acquainted with the right way to insert and remove them--they are actually supposed to go in MUCH further than most people realize to offer the protection level they claim. But the downside to this is that you can create damaging suction if you don't take them out correctly (i.e., pull your ear up and take your time to "roll" the earplug out, rather than pull straight out).

But honestly, even if you don't put them in that far they will help reduce the day to day annoyances, e.g., dogs, clinking glasses, car horns, etc.

Also, I think your airhorn "friend" needs some educating on how damaging this is--airhorns are like 130 dB at very close range; instant hearing damage can happen at >120-125 dB

 

I couldn't disagree more! I have been reading this forum for over 29 months, and one big lesson I learned is that it doesn't matter whether the noise would be not be considered loud by the healthy people. What matters is whether it feels loud to you. Listen to your own body, and not to the others. Here is a small sample of the countless posts that caused me to come up with the above:

Also, check out the advice in

My plugs of choice are 3M 1100 foam plugs.

 

Similar thing happened to me ... about 2 years ago.

Still got tinnitus, still can't pop my ears, still sensitive to dishes and all that crap.

Was also told by GP it could go away but ENT told the truth that there's no cure and they have no idea what will happen. They advised therapy and that was it.

 

I feel what I'm about to say is going to be highly controversial to many here. Recently I moved to Hong Kong, which is an extremely noisy place, and I have hyperacusis. Since being here I've had way less sensitivity and fullness than I did sitting in a rather quiet house being reactive to lawn mowers and other random loud sounds. I've been wearing earplugs way less often here with very few exceptions. Unless I coincidentally experienced some healing at the same time, it almost seems like being distracted and busy and wearing earplugs less often actually helped my hyperacusis. That's all I have to say.

 

Should i be wearing earplugs in both ears or just the one affected. I only tried to wear mine yesterday in certain situations at work and when we ate out for dinner.

And do others seem to get pain in the neck and behind the head from this? Does this also cause clenching of the jaw on that side as well?

 

That's a tough one. Two years ago, I had an acoustic trauma in only one ear. I ended up getting T and ear fullness in that ear. I wore an earplug only in that ear. Nine months later T spread to the other ear. I know that it often spreads to the second ear for other people here. I have no idea whether those for whom it happened have been protecting both of their ears.

If I were you, I would wear only one earplug when there is a chance that you will have to socialize (as good earplugs can make it hard to hear the other people speak). I would wear earplugs in both ears otherwise.

 

It is possible that you healed Despite the noise.