Did I Develop Hyperacusis from These Incidents?

Hi all. I'm new here. These past few days have thrown me into a nervous wreck. I had a few incidents regarding very loud noise that seem to have done something to my ears. These incidents consisted of putting in earbuds to listen to music or a video only to press play and have the volume be cranked up to maximum and have it blast me in my ears. I think that happened three times in a row? Not even sure how the volume got up that loud but I've since put a volume control on my phone. The other incident was when I was listening to a video that I needed increased sound for since it was very quiet and forgetting to turn my earbuds down I went on an app with a video that had autoplay with very loud sound. Great, right?

Well I started to worry when I was watching tv and there was a guy yelling and everytime he raised his voice my right ear would kind of crackle? Not really pop. It was almost reminiscent of when you have a bad sore throat or sinus infection and you swallow and you feel that kind of crackle in your ear. I feel like that feeling has subsided but just yesterday I was washing dishes and the silverware was clanking together and I had an aversion to it that I normally don't have. It wasn't that painful but I definitely kind of winced a bit. I've become afraid of loud noise and I've started wearing earplugs around the house if I know someone will be clanking dishes or something like that. It's normally sudden loud noise that really scares me or seems to also hurt a bit. I have also had tinnitus at least once a day for a few seconds since about two or three days ago. To give you some history about myself: I've had tinnitus since I was young. It would come and go very quickly but I don't think I'd have it each day like I do now. I'm 18 years old and at 10 I was gifted my very first iPod and since then I will admit I have listened to my music loudly for hours at a time. Usually about 70-80% of the maximum volume.

Anywho I have not used earbuds and plan not to anymore in fear of making things worse. Now, I don't know if that has anything to do with it considering I just noticed these symptoms after the loud noise incidents I mentioned above. I'm also very anxious and I'm not sure if the noises that seem to hurt seem louder because I anticipate it after I freaked out from those incidents or if there is something wrong. As far as I'm concerned I can still hear out of both ears. I've also had a little bit of in-ear pain that comes and goes quickly. Not too bad though.

Anyways I'm a nervous wreck. I'm planning on having my mother take me to see a doctor if this doesn't get better. I would just like some input from people who might know what's going on here. Thanks so much for reading.

 

It does look like you are developping hyperacusis symptoms. My guess is that the crackle you hear is a contraction of the middle ear muscles that attempt to dampen the incoming sound waves. These contractions can sometimes be painful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_shock

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor_tympani_muscle#Clinical_significance