Best Approach to Improve Reactive Tinnitus?

Hi all,

For those that have had improvements in their reactive tinnitus/hyperacusis, what approach should a newbie take?

Should I try to avoid sound as much as possible or immerse myself in everyday sounds?

I have sound-sensitive tinnitus that reacts to external noise and goes away once the sound is gone or I leave the environment. My baseline is low, so it’s just the reactivity that is bothering me.

Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forum. Did your tinnitus come from acoustic trauma or loud noise exposure? Usually this can cause high pitched tinnitus and also hyperacusis. One of the result of hyperacusis is that normal sounds tend to feel much louder. Sometimes, people consider reactive tinnitus is a subset of hyperacusis. Here below is an extract from a site talking about reactive tinnitus:

What makes reactive tinnitus different from “normal” tinnitus is that reactive tinnitus is combined with hyperacusis so that we perceive our tinnitus as getting louder as the surrounding noise level increases. As one ear specialist explained, “Reactive tinnitus is a subset of hyperacusis and is due to a collapsed tolerance to louder sounds.”

What this means is that if your tinnitus was the result of noise trauma, very often, you also get hyperacusis as well as tinnitus. As a result, sounds that become too loud due to your hyperacusis may also cause your tinnitus to increase at the same time. The result? You now have reactive tinnitus.

One saving grace of hyperacusis that results from noise trauma is that it tends to fade over time and thus the reactive tinnitus tends to get less and less noticeable. Hope yours will follow that same path. In the mean time protect your ears from loud venues and use earplugs to protect from them if you have to be there. Also, try to accept normal ambient sounds of the environment and don't excessive use earplugs for these normal sounds. Too much protection can cause sound sensitivity issue. Good luck. Take care. God bless.

 

Unfortunately, my reactive tinnitus got worse over the last five months. I’ve spoken with many who have it and some had theirs improve while others did not. For the cases that improved, it did appear that it took a while to get better (generally greater than 6 months).

There is uncertainty regarding whether or not reactive tinnitus should be classified as a form of proper tinnitus or as a version of hyperacusis. I personally believe it’s a form of frequency-specific hyperacusis where the central gain is turned up upon hearing external noise due to cochlear damage. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. It’s still an awful condition, though I do believe it will be alleviated to some degree by regenerative medicine.

Hang in there and protect your ears. Everybody is different. You can surely improve over time. Wishing you all the best.

 

I have a similar form of reactive tinnitus - it's disconcerting as I'm unsure whether to class it as a form of tinnitus or hyperacusis. It feels like a weird hybrid of both. For me, my reactive tinnitus isn't necessarily 'loud', it just develops a very harsh, piercing electrical quality where I can almost feel it cutting my ears. I agree that it must be some form of frequency-specific damage.

 

@serendipity1996, that’s exactly how I describe mine! I’m only 3 weeks in. How long have you had this and has it improved at all?

 

I had a setback about 7 months ago - I have improved a great deal since then and most everyday noise doesn't trigger my reactive tinnitus or hyperacusis except I still have issues with artificial audio - cheap laptop speakers, phone etc. This triggers facial symptoms for me (hyperacusis) and also makes my tinnitus feel really unpleasant and piercing. I've definitely improved a lot so IMO you will likely make a good recovery! If I flashback to 5 months ago, February, I was a complete mess - hyperacusis with burning prolonged pain in silence, difficulty leaving the house, suicidal ideation and misery. I'm not 100% there yet but it's improved substantially just with time and rest. This is actually technically my 'second' go with hyperacusis so there's every chance you will get significantly better if this is your first time.

 

I have the same thing regarding reactivity having a physical feeling. For me it varies between burning and a super harsh nails on a chalkboard feeling that effects my whole body. Did your reactivity get better over time?

 

Sort of - I am pretty much symptom-free with one exception: artificial audio is still an issue - noise from my laptop/phone. It's lessened and I used to get a delayed reaction that consisted of burning and facial pain. I don't really get much of a delayed reaction anymore but I still can't handle anymore than like 20 minutes? The sound quality actually sounds different though - almost very tinny and poor-quality. I'm forced to conclude that I must have damage at those frequencies otherwise why else would I be having these issues? I hope it improves!

 

What has helped people with “reactive tinnitus”? It’s more uncommon and I recently heard about it on this forum. I need to do everything I can right now so I can be a functional person with sound mind and body in the future.

Any sounds, even running water, cause prolonged spikes in my tinnitus.

I have hyperacusis as well, and I’ve heard that for some people the hyperacusis goes away but the tinnitus doesn’t. That being said, if the tinnitus is directly from the noise sensitivity, could that possibly mean the tinnitus could go away if the hyperacusis does?

 

When my hyperacusis improved - reactive nature of tinnitus improved too. Spikes were shorter (i.e. after driving car - a few minutes spike in comparison to a few hours spike before hyperacusis improvement). So yeah, I think reactiveness of tinnitus is a symptom of sound sensitivity in some way.

 

That's really interesting. How much did yours react, other than for car drives?
Mine seems to react to almost any sound whatsoever, causing short spikes and fluctuations. My reactivity has worsened the last month, coincidentally so has my hyperacusis (which I think is due to severe over-protection), so there may be a link. Hopefully this will improve over time.

 

Any contiunous, high pitched or white noise kind of sound (like rain, frying food, sea waves, electric kettle) made my tinnitus spike. Interesting fact: music at 70 dB - no spike, my girlfriend frying chicken in the kitchen when I was in another room - spike. So it isn't only how loud the sound is.

 

How is your reactivity now?

 

Thanks for asking, @GoatSheep. It hasn't changed all that much in a year unfortunately. On a brighter note, my loudness hyperacusis is just now improving, very very gradually. So I still hope to see improvements in the reactivity, since I assume they're connected.

 

Glad your hyperacusis is improving. It was my experience, when I was in a much better state than now, that my reactivity did actually end up going away after about 2 years.

Unfortunately, since this latest noxacusis flare up it has returned. I would definitely agree with you that hyperacusis/noxacusis are tied to reactivity. Hopefully your reactivity goes away.

 

Thank you so much for sharing! How did you experience this reactivity? Was it in terms of lingering spikes afterwards, or an immediate reactivity that receded instantly after the noise had ceased?

 

Both. Spiking dissipated first. Then reactivity that overlapped sounds like air conditioning and air purifiers.