Ear Pain Hyperacusis: How Do I Combat It? Painkillers? Tincture of Time? Stay Indoors?

Help anybody.

I seem to have tinnitus and pain hyperacusis that has gotten worse over the last few weeks and developed into the following symptoms:

•Short and sharp discomfort feeling in the ears from sharp sounding objects like plastic, paper and cutlery.

•No ear pain from everyday sounds like nature, indoors, tv etc. It does not seem to be linked to volume basically.

• However a burning ear pain late at night (1/2am) that comes on during sleep. I often go to sleep with no pain and am waking up with pain in the ears like fire/acid. This is also accompanied by a raised high static sounding tinnitus.

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How do I combat this? Painkillers? Time? Sit indoors with ear defenders on all day?

Thanks

 

Sorry to hear it's gotten worse. I had that a few weeks ago where rustling noises and stuff would cause pain but nature sounds wouldn't- so weird, right?

I personally would never use ear defenders/earplugs indoors because it's not natural and doesn't do your auditory system any good.

Here's my advice: You could try having pink noise/nature sounds like waves or wind on a speaker in order to 'cushion' the rustling sounds so to speak. I think it's the silence and then the sudden, sharp peak of sound that causes the discomfort and pain. Also try and relax into the sound and keep telling your brain it's just a sound which cannot do more damage to your ears- after all it's your brain sending the pain signal to your ears.

It's hard, I know, but I improved by actually making music again and not being afraid, which goes against most advice on this forum. A lot of people think that noises causing pain actually do more damage but in my experience it's not the case. People wouldn't be able to improve like I have if it was actually causing more damage.

It's up to you to find out what works for you at the end of the day so hope my advice helps whether you use it or not

 

Did you try to keep your head elevated all the time (sleep on 2 or 3 pillows)?

 

How much sound exposure are you having during the day? It could be a delayed effect at night. Are you still using headphones or listening to audio off of a laptop or small speakers? Lots of phone time? There are lots of people here who struggle specifically with artificial sound

There’s no “one size fits all” advice when it comes to Tinnitus and Hyperacusis because we’re all so different. Some people say expose your ears to sound and some swear that “over protecting” made them recover.

I think the best thing to do is play around with what you do during the day and see what helps

I’m not a doctor so this is purely general information but drugs in the anti-convulsants class such as Gabapentin & Oxcarbazepamine are known to lower neuropathic pain (which is usually felt as a cold, menthol type of burning) Amitriptyline is a Tricyclics anti-depressant used off label to treat neuropathic pain too. Xanax is an option as well but these of course aren’t light medications and must be used with extereme caution. If your burning gets unbareable, these are options.

 

Hi,

I've had a bad couple of days with ear pain... Mainly some weird tingling tightness (not burning that went away thank God). I also have constant face pain and jaw pain.

Doctor prescribed Tegretol (Carbamazepine) which has helped me quite a bit on the bad days. Strangely smoking a couple of fags helps to bring it down a bit for a little while too.

I've been lacklustre with plugging and that's made the symptoms worse. I don't mean going to concerts etc but sometimes not plugging in the car.

My idea now is to plug at anything, even moderately noisy to give this biatch a chance to heal.

Shaun.

 

I agree. I tried following the standard advice of not over-protecting and my ears got so much worse. Started using -33dB plugs while walking on the street, I'm trying to heal.

 

What symptoms do you have?

Shaun.

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

So basically my left ear is my bad ear and it literally is like an amplifier on max. If I lightly touch the outer part of the ear it will make little ping sounds. I tried last night sleeping on my right ear to avoid any rustling sounds from the pillow, and guess what, no ear pain or anything. I will try again tonight to see if this works again.

I am getting concerned about my hyperacusis though as it seems my tinnitus is entirely driven by internal sounds, which seem to be getting more and more audible. I am now finding voices painful indoors, cutlery, scrunching paper and even toothpicks being placed lightly on a table catch my ear with discomfort. I also have tones that appear across fuzzy sounds like pink noise, boilers, water etc that were never there before.

I am not listening to headphones (I have not done so for 4 months now) and any loud environments such as streets or supermarkets I have worn earplugs. For 4 months now I have led a solitary life for 4 months now with ear protection and I have no regrets in terms of how I have tried my upmost to protect my ears, yet the H seems to not be shifting in any way. I don't find outside sounds any louder than usual, it is only singular sounds like a conversations one on one in a room, or creaky floorboards that seems to be catching my ear and causing more and more discomfort. I really don't want this hyperacusis to get worse as I can't afford it too in any shape or form.

I had alot of wax removed from my microsuction and also found the procedure quite whincy with the noise - I really hope I have not done something permanent.

A clinician has prescribed me Nortriptyline as a way to reduce my central nervous system as he things this is a good start. I have seen it has worked for some people on here too for reducing their their hyperacusis and for others not so.

If anyone has any tips or advice that would be amazing.

 

@musicblue

Nortriptyline 50 mg changes the character of my tinnitus to be a bit less forceful, however I believe this is highly individual. Interestingly, it is prescribed for nerve pain in addition to being an antidepressant.

 

After a huge setback I'm stuck inside a room for a year already and I honestly don't know how to advise you how to get better.

What I can advice is that if you follow stuff like normal sounds can't hurt you and do not overprotect if you have to, you're going to get worse.

And btw, hyperacusis has a delaying effect, many stuff don't hurt at the time but hurts a lot later.

 

Just curious if you're still taking the Nortriptyline and if you've experienced a benefit or worsening while taking it? My doctor prescribed it for my anxiety but I'm unsure about taking it.

 

Do you snore? I mean snoring can be loud, so it should be able to trigger hyperacusis.
Side or stomach lying is better for snoring, though lying on your stomach isn't so great for your neck.

Personally I snore very loudly on my back (positional sleep apnea) but not at all on the side or on my stomach.