Can You Recover to Baseline from a Setback (Decreased Sound Tolerance and Ear Fatigue) Lasting a Couple of Weeks?

[mky10159]

Hello all,

I developed tinnitus and hyperacusis after a party in the fall of 2020. It took me about three to four months to recover to around 90 percent. I don't say 100 percent because certain noises, like clanking dishes or dropping something in complete silence, would still make my ears flutter. I never used earbuds again or went to any concerts. In louder environments, I always used ear protection. I was living a completely normal life for over four years, and hyperacusis did not interfere with my daily activities.

On March 7, my ears seemed to have experienced a setback. I can't pinpoint the exact exposure that caused it. However, I did get a new car radio recently, and I flew back from Florida earlier that week. That said, flying and the radio had never bothered my hyperacusis before.

This is the first setback I've noticed in over four years. Over the past two weeks, the burning in my ears has subsided, and the sense of fullness is much less noticeable. My tinnitus increased and then decreased, but it is still fluctuating. The biggest issue from this setback is the decreased sound tolerance and ear fatigue. My sound tolerance has been improving very slowly, but I'm still not back to baseline. This past week, I kept waking up feeling good, only for my ears to become more irritated as the day went on due to everyday sounds that never used to affect me.

I've been feeling pretty down since March 7. I'm afraid I won't bounce back like I did last time. Has anyone experienced setbacks that lasted for weeks or months and still recovered to baseline? How can I stay calm and trust the healing process?

 

[kingsfan]

Bumping this. I'm also curious.

 

[Mags]

How are you doing now, @mky10159?

I'm in a similar situation. Tinnitus followed by hyperacusis started in October 2020. The hyperacusis disappeared in March 2021, and I was left with mild tinnitus, which I eventually habituated to.

Now, more than four years later, it's been two months of increased tinnitus and loudness hyperacusis. The tinnitus has decreased slightly by now, but the hyperacusis is still quite bad. Everything around me sounds loud.

I hope you are doing better, and I hope I will eventually improve as well. Fingers crossed.

 

[mky10159]

Hey y'all! I'm not fully recovered yet, but I think I'm getting there.

What I've figured out is that I likely have TTTS, tonic tensor tympani syndrome, and not just hyperacusis on its own. My ear fatigue and burning completely went away after about two months. My tinnitus stopped being reactive and went back to its baseline. I'm approaching the four-month mark now, and the hyperacusis is pretty much gone.

Oddly enough, my main issue now is with silent environments and places that lack background noise. One of my ears thumps like crazy when I talk or hear louder sounds. The other ear does not thump as much, but it often feels full, as if something is stuck in there. Sounds no longer physically hurt or seem louder than normal, but the muscle contractions in my ear are still startling and uncomfortable. I do feel like I'm still healing, but some days I'm just exhausted from dealing with it all.

My audiologist gave me the contact information of a doctor at Johns Hopkins who treats TTTS, and I have an appointment next week.

As for what I've done so far, I went through sound therapy with my audiologist, took Carbamazepine and Magnesium for the ear thumps (which helped a lot, though not enough to resolve TTTS to the level I would like), tried to reduce stress, gave it time, and pushed myself to endure as many environments as I could physically handle so my ears could adjust and maintain a sense of normalcy. I want to acknowledge, though, that I understand sound therapy and pushing through is not a viable option for everyone. This condition is very individual, and there are different forms of it, so I really do not want to sound insensitive.

@Mags, I'm sorry to hear your hyperacusis returned. I was so surprised when mine came back after four years without symptoms. But if we beat it once, why not again? My hyperacusis was still really difficult around the two-month mark, so I completely understand what you're feeling. You are still early in the healing process, and I think it is a great sign that your tinnitus is already starting to decrease. Wishing you the best.

Also, excellent Christafuh pic, @kingsfan. Wishing you well, too.