Cure for Hyperacusis??

I got to thinking today, that these days there is a whole lot of research on tinnitus and finding a cure or better treatment, but I don't see any research on hyperacusis being done? No effort to find a cure there?

Am I wrong? or is it because what could potentially treat tinnitus would also eliminate hyperacusis?? I must admit that I see Hyperacusis and Tinnitus as two very different conditions, and I don't see why a treatment that works on T necessarily would remove H.

I'm glad that research on tinnitus is growing but I'm sad and a bit scared that there is no spotlight on hyperacusis which is almost just as awful as tinnitus (maybe even more in some severe cases)

 

@TheDanishGirl
Be assured Hyperacusis can be completely cured and do not listen to anyone that tells you that it can't. Sometimes this will require specialist treatment such as wearing white noise generators and counselling may be required. Like tinnitus, hyperacusis is something that I feel strongly about as I was affected with it very severely. I have been cured for 18 years. This condition like tinnitus takes time to be cured especially as a result of noise trauma to the auditory system. Taking up to 2 years perhaps longer. It all depends how severe it is and what treatment one is using.

Michael

 

I am very happy to hear that it often can be "cured" in time, thank you for your reassurance, Michael

Now 4 months in with H I get good days where it is quite mild which is about about 1/4 of my days, other days where it is more moderate (2/4 of my days) and bad days where even talking to one person in normal conversation level, hurts my ears a bit (1/4 of my days) so the severity of it varies quite a lot still, but I know 4 months is not a long time.

I will talk to my audiologist or another specialist on potentially getting WNG in time, if I do not getter on my own using sound enrichment.

 

Still it is weird.....I have no problem with noisy traffic, it does not hurt my ears, only if somebody nearby pulls the breaks fast which often makes a squealing sound, or if they speed up fast....urgh!

It is sharp, high pitched (frequency?) sounds my ears cant stand.

 

@TheDanishGirl

I am going to give you some advice and it's up to you whether you decide to take it. It is based on my many years of experience with "noise induced tinnitus" I am expressing noise induced tinnitus because it is different from other types of tinnitus not associated with loud noise. You will find other veterans like myself will have a similar opinion.

Try not to do too much reading about tinnitus and hyperacusis outside of this forum as it is likely to cause you more stress on top of what you already have. I am saying this because most people new to tinnitus (as you) are affected by stress and anxiety and that's just the way it is with this condition. In time things will get better. Furthermore, you must try not to expect too much. Tinnitus caused by noise trauma can take up to two years for a person to habituate. In some cases longer. It took me 4 years to habituate the second time. Try and be patient and take each day as it comes.

I wish you well.
Michael

 

Hi Sandra,

Take it from me I had the squealing brakes issue and still do a little.

But I'm currently doing much better. You just need to give it time.

Feel free of course to vent here in the meantime

I totally beleive H is curable, but you need to keep using sound enrichment and try not to stress too much about it.

 

www.hyperacusisresearch.org

 

@TheDanishGirl

You can read the Hyperacusis Research newsletters at this thread on TTalk. The most recent issue is dated Summer 2017.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-research-newsletters.15271/

Also, you can follow Hyperacusis Research on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/hyperacusisresearch

and on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/hyperacusiscure

 

Reading other peoples accounts and from my own experience H is often triggered by very specific sound types / frequencies.

I guess this may have some correlation to which part of our hearing system has become sensitive. In truth we will never know.

I can stand many sounds ( although avoid ANY loud noises ) however I cant at the moment bear to listen to a toilet flush, a bath fill with water or cutlery to clank against china...no idea....it is what it is.
This makes for some laughter at home as I now excuse myself from washing-up duties and fill the bath with foam ear plugs in... My wife thinks I'm faking it

Ever since reading posts from the good folk of TT, I have been limiting my noise exposure ( just being careful ) and I have low level nature sounds or talk radio on all day. I avoid silence. I do think my hearing is very very slowly improving after just over a year.

I am sure you will see improvement in time.
Keep smiling.
X

 

I'm almost certain that a cure of T will cure H in many cases. A cure for hearing loss might also help with T and therefore H. The term hidden hearing loss also refer to H. If those things don't cure your H, you might want to get your muddle ear checked as the problem would most likely arise from there.

 

For anyone interested in the current state of research into hyperacusis, the newsletters are worth reading in detail. To give an idea of some of the leading medical scientists and their associated institutions working on hyperacusis research, here is an excerpt highlighting the summaries of a series of presentations at a recent conference.

Richard S. Tyler, Ph.D.
Professor of Otolaryngology
Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa

Overviewed hyperacusis and its treatment from the patient’s and clinician’s perspective. A key point he noted was that while sound therapy and counseling can be helpful for some patients, at present there are no cures.

M. Charles Liberman, Ph.D.
Harold F. Schuknecht Professor of Otolaryngology
Harvard Medical School, Harvard University

Described the two types of “afferent” neurons that transmit signals from the cochlea: Type I neurons transmit information about sound; Type II neurons may be nociceptive (transmitters of pain signals). Type II dysfunction may underlie hyperacusis with pain, while differences in the Type I pathway may underlie differences in loudness discomfort.

Jaime Garcia-Añoveros, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Neurology
Northwestern University

Led us further into the topic of auditory nociception and the biological research that has added to the theory that Type II cochlear neurons are pain receptors. He proposed that the auditory nociceptive system may trigger the pain sensation often associated with trauma-induced hyperacusis, since pain hyperacusis represents a pathological sensation akin to neuropathic pain.

Paul Fuchs, Ph.D.
John E. Bordley Professor and Vice-chair for Research in Otolaryngology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Showed us that damaged Type II neurons do not require an extremely loud sound stimulus to transmit “this hurts!” information to the central nervous system. Because these neurons are strongly activated when the outer hair cells are damaged, they may serve as the cochlea’s nociceptors.

Ulf Baumgaertner, M.D.
Chair of Neurophysiology, Center for Biomedicine and Medical Technology
Heidelberg University

Illuminated where in the brain sound and sound-related pain are processed, suggesting a way to visualize through fMRI what transpires in the brain during painful hyperacusis. When exposed to a painful auditory stimulus, the regions activated were those considered to be part of the nociceptive network in the brain.

Allan Basbaum, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair, Department of Anatomy
University of California, San Francisco

Suggested the pain of hyperacusis may be in part neuropathic. If true, this may allow us to tap into emerging major discoveries in treating this type of pain in patients with severe and disabling chronic pain. Some currently available pharmacological agents could be tested with hyperacusis patients.

 

My son has H but not T so there isn't always a correlation. You did say "in many cases" though. The opinions I trust least are the ones that say that all cases are the same thing or can be treated the same way.

 

So when will mine be cured, Michael?

 

Markku
Yes it is my opinion and I stand by it. However, I would like to stress I mean no offence. I feel quite passionate about tinnitus and hyperacusis having had both conditions quite severe. Many of these doctors have never experienced either condition.

This is my opinion. If people were to stop reading up on tinnitus and hyperacusis a little less they would start to feel a lot better about themselves because many of these reports all they do a is spread doom and gloom and often make people feel worse. It causes nothing but discord and worry.

Michael

 

Does your son have pain or only discomfort / amplified noises ?

 

Hi @Sen

I do not think you have straight forward hyperacusis, of the type that I once had or the majority of people do that have suffered noise trauma to their auditory system. You have additional symptoms that can be quite severe and no doubt distressing. I have never heard anyone else speak of them that has hyperacusis. This is unfortunate and therefore, regard your condition as something quite unique. You do have a form of hyperacusis but I think there is an underlying medical problem coupled with it, that is causing the additional symptoms that you have. Just my opinion.

Michael

 

I think it's time for you to take a trip down the chat-hyperacusis.net archive.

 

I'd rather not but bow to your better knowledge...lol

 

Here's a thread for you to read right here at home:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-hyperacusis-has-turned-into-chronic-ear-pain.920/

 

Hi @Sen
Thank you for the link and I will read it in full tomorrow. I briefly scanned through it and see this person wasn't treated by a Hearing Therapist or wore white noise generators when he first got hyperacusis. He didn' have any treatment a all. He continued to subject himself to loud sounds and even boasts about playing Michael Jackson's trial over the radio at high volume levels. What on earth was he thinking. Throughout his post I see no mentioned of having any counselling as I did and using sound enrichment with white noise generators etc. I want to make this point: If hyperacusis isn't treated the condition can get progressively worse especially when one throws caution to the wind continues to be around loud sounds.

As I've said I will read it in full tomorrow.
Thanks again for the link.

Michael

 

No, that's not what happened. Try reading it. Read the whole thread.

 

I've had severe hyperacusis and major hearing loss in my left ear for four years now after a accident. I've tried pretty much everything to get better to no avail. Personally I'm glad that there is research going on, and that these fine folks don't just turn away because the "reports" are doom and gloom. I feel indebted to these people that are searching for a cure and taking this condition seriously, and you come along and discredit them, not very helpful Micheal.

Maybe the hyperacusis you had was different to the next group? Just because something worked for you, or for others, does not mean that this is a universal cure. If this were the case there would be no discussion regarding this condition at all, everyone would be well aware of the cure, there would be published reports, and every doctor in the world would know about it. Unfortunately this is not the case, and we are still searching.

 

Contrary to what you believe @Telis I do not think I am discrediting anyone neither am I going out of my way to cause offence. I am speaking the truth as I see it and unfortunately there will be those that disagree with that and that's fine. It is strange how there are people quick as lightening, to post website links to show there are no cures for tinnitus or hyperacusis. In the case of hyperacusis I believe it can be cured and before people jump on their keyboard to disagree I mustn't forget to say: in my opinion as I have no scientific evidence to back it up. I have 21 years experience with tinnitus and two years experience with severe hyperacusis that was eventually cured using treatment which people don't like to hear me mention but I'm going to say it anyway: TRT

The majority of these doctors have never experienced tinnitus or hyperacusis. I respect them as physicians and that is what they are. They can treat the ear medically or surgically but when it comes to tinnitus or hypercusis, most know little about these conditons. As I've often said in this forum, my consultant is an Audiovestibular physician, at the top of her field. I have immense respect for her. She told me one day that I know more about tinnitus than her. Just for the simple reason she has never experienced it.

Many people that are unable to get access to TRT for one reason or another will not have the opportunity to have their tinnitus and hyperacusis treated. These conditions need proper treatment. In the case of hypercusis, it is well documented that the treatment for it is using "white noise generators" with counselling ideally with a Hearing Therapist.

I know how distressing tinnitus and hyperacusis can be. Unless one is able to get treatment and it doesn't always have to be TRT it is unlikely they will see improvement. I have read many posts in this forum. A lot of people are seen at ENT and have all the relevant tests. This is a hearing test and MRI scan. After that nothing. In many cases I've read posts where people are not referred to a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist for treatment and management of their tinnitus. I am flabbergasted. I will not be commenting on this matter further for I am here to help people not engage in flame wars.

I wish you well.
Michael

 

In terms of the effectiveness of TRT and counseling for treating hyperacusis as assessed by formal scientific studies, this link provides a summary of the results that have been published.

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/research/soundtherapy/

The TL-DR (too long, didn’t read) version:

“Sound therapy should be viewed as a rehabilitation strategy rather than a cure-all. It is slow, not effective on all patients, and will not necessarily lead to a complete recovery. Those who have recovered are at risk for redeveloping hyperacusis as a result of loud but not necessarily uncommon sound exposure. Continued research into other treatments is needed.”

 

Time to expand your knowledge. In the H support groups on Facebook, there are people with symptoms like @Sen's. Please don't limit a disease's scope to fit your agenda.

 

Don't have time to read through the entire thread properly (I'm sure there's going to be some debate) but with most cases of hyperacusis, time seems to be the best healer. Of course there are exceptions but from my own experience, and having followed other members on this and other forums, it seems that hyperacusis can go away with time.

I had severe hyperacusis from the middle of 2013 through to the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016 - it's a bit hard to pinpoint when the symptoms actually subsided completely.

Anyway, when my hyperacusis was at it's worst I had the following symptoms: hearing distortion, extreme sensitivity to certain frequencies in both ears, tonic tenson tympani syndrome, feeling of fullness in my ears, almost constant pain in my left ear that would radiate through the left side of my face alongside my jaw and down into my shoulder, and just no tolerance for everyday normal noise. Exposure to loud noise would spike all my symptoms.

I resigned myself to the idea that it was going to be permanent and was super bummed, but I tried to stay positive and spent some time on here trying to be helpful to others going through similar situations.

Anyway, over time my ears just became less sensitive to noise and now the hyperacusis is completely gone. Tinnitus is still kicking but much more tolerable and stable. It was a roller coaster on my way to recovery though, I'd have periods early on where it seemed like my symptoms improved and then something would set me back and I'd be a mess for weeks, then the same sort of pattern seemed to repeat over and over. Over time the symptoms just stopped.

I can't pinpoint anything that definitely helped with my recovery but I did make an effort to use my ear plugs appropriately, I always kept them in my pocket and popped them in when I thought I was somewhere too loud, but over time I also put a great effort to gradually exposing myself to louder noise to increase my tolerance. I also got big into exercise and always recommend it to anyone on here, I work out 4 to 5 days a week either running, lifting weights, hiking, etc. Was by far the biggest thing that helped me deal with stress and anxiety. I also did a couple courses of prednisolone when the hyperacusis was really bad, and that gave me a break of a few weeks from the pain - it was a godsend at the time. And I've always been big into supplements so I was using stuff like NAC, B12, Niacin, Melatonin, Magnesium, etc.

I could yap on for ages though but you seem to be relatively new to tinnitus and hyperacusis, so try not to stress too much. Time is an amazing healer.

That said, I do hope that there's a continued focus by those in the industry to focus on hyperacusis research.

 

@Michael Leigh you indeed have the right to speak your own opinion and claim that H can be cured but stop saying "Don't listen to X or Y because he's wrong and he knows nothing about T or H or whatever he is talking about".

That's what offend people, at least in my case.

 

I will continue to write what I believe in and I never once said anyone was wrong.

 

Time to acquire some respect and manners.