Am I Developing Hyperacusis? Occasional Clicking, Sensitive Eardrum, Some Sounds Feel Uncomfortable

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me? I’m very anxious about whether I’m developing hyperacusis. I had an ear infection about four months ago which has since cleared but caused a massive spike in my tinnitus which has not gone down.

My GP looked in my ear and said she thinks I might have ETD as my eardrum looks dull.

I have occasional clicking and sometimes my eardrum just feels a bit sensitive generally, like a dull ache and now sometimes I feel like certain sounds are uncomfortable, but it’s off and on, and I don’t know if I’m just feeling anxious about it or whether my eardrum is just a bit sensitive because of ETD, or healing after infection.

I’m really hoping that this is temporary while my ear is healing or ETD is there, any advice appreciated, I feel like I’m going mad.

 

Sensitivity to sound in hyperacusis doesn’t tend to be “off and on”. I don’t think you have it, especially if you have a detectable abnormality with our eardrum which is likely to be the source of your achiness. Ears are very sensitive and take a while to heal!

Don’t worry about it too much, I think you will feel a lot better in the coming months I would just be careful with noise exposure for now and don’t spend too much time reading scary stories on this forum.

 

Get some tests done to confirm/rule out ETD (Eustachian tube dysfunction) before we can give further advice. And try not to get too anxious about it as this increases sound sensitivity