How Loud Is Too Loud? 14-Year-Old New to Tinnitus

Hello,
I am writing on behalf of my 14 year old son who has had tinnitus and hyperacusis for 5 weeks following a firecracker exploding about 2 feet from his left ear. He is going through regret, depression, hopelessness and desperation and believes that since it has been 5 weeks, it will never go away. I know this is a possibility and there is no way to know. I want to work towards helping him have positive thinking and to habituate (even if his T does resolve, there is no harm in starting the habituation process now), however, he like so many of you, freaks out at the thought of trying to habituate to this... he is desperate for it to go away, not accept that it might not.

As part of this process, I am trying to get him to enjoy his normal life doing things like getting out of the house and riding his bike, but when he rides his bike, he always hears loud squeaky breaks of a truck, or the roar of a loud engine, the shouts of his friends and then he panics. "It was getting quieter and then that noise happened and now it is worse than ever! It's never going to go away now!", is something he will typically panic about after he hears a noise. He has terrible panic and anxiety that any noise above a normal in-home level will cause further damage to his ears that could make the difference between a full recovery and no recovery. School starts next week and I am concerned about the bells ringing at school, fire drills at school, etc. Will these things potentially cause "more damage" that could prevent a full recovery?

We have asked the doctors he has seen how we should assess what noises are to be avoided, what noises could cause further actual damage (vs. a temporary T or H spike). We give examples about doors slamming, horns honking, etc. and the doctors just give vague "I don't think so" type of answers. And, "sure, that's a good idea to wear ear plugs to protect your ears". I feel like they really don't know the answers.

Does anyone have any words of advice about what noises you'd hear in the course of your life that seem loud to you but are not damaging? Has anyone had a doctor give them a helpful guideline?

 

I am sorry to know this happen to a young teenanger.
Firecracker's decibel is high (close to gun) when exploding within two feet.
Does he take Prednisolone when visiting doctor ?

 

Doctors are idiots.

 

@robHing when this happened we were in the boonies. We went to a local urgent care and he was given no treatment. We were told we just have to wait and see what happens. Since then, he has had full hearing evaluation (which came back normal) and has seen a pediatric ENT at our local Children's hospital which is affiliated with our local medical school.

 

He should stay away from loud environment.
He also needs to keep earplugs or earmuffs handy to wear them if needed.
Give him some time to heal the ears is important.
Do no aggravate his ears is also important.

 

I got T a few years ago and I only went to the ENT once, to test for hearing loss. There is no cure for T (yet), so there was no point in me coming back and back for no reason. I accepted I had T and that was it.

There are a few people here who went to the ENT...got experimented on, and their T got worse because of it. Not every doctor knows what they're doing, and the fact that they say "I don't know" is probably the most accurate answer one can have about T. Nobody's T is ever 100% the same, some people's get worse over time, some people have variables, some people stabilize, some people goes away completely, some hear crickets. The "I don't know" just means that there is no "one size fits all", it is unique to every person.

For me my T faded almost completely (it's still there if i really search for it), I wear plugs when I'm at the mall...restaurant, crowded places. I don't wear plugs when im outside jogging, when I'm in the shower, when I drop pots and pans, when I watch TV, when I hear music in my car. The most important thing to do is to acclimate and try to forget about it, this will force your brain to suppress the sound and it will magically be reduced by 50% (in my case). What you're doing is excellent and will help him overcome it, thanks for posting!

 

Does he have earplugs?
Maybe it would be helpful to have some, especially if sounds like the ringing bell's noise worsen his tinnitus temporarily. It would definitely help him feel safer. The best for now is probably to buy reusable low-profile earplugs such as the Eardial ones, and perhaps consider buying custom molded plugs.
At school, the most potentially harmful noise would probably be the fire drills that you thought about, because that noise can be very loud.. Would there be any possibility that the school informs you and your son of when they will make those drills?

 

@Davey126 and @drivera2592 thank you for your messages- I am not able to "reply to messages" for some reason- there is no reply button anywhere. Do you know how I reply to a conversation someone started with me?

 

First of all doctors are stupid. ENTs are idiots as well. I am suprised that they finished school. How did they finish school? Second of all no that will not cause hearing loss (sirens, horns, slamming doors, dishwasher, washer machine working, windows closing, dishes dropping, bells ringing, etc wont cause damage), now he does need to protect his ears from fire alarms, loud venues, cinema, concerts, no earbuds/earphones ever again in his entire life. Please dont let the ENT do any ear tests as this is also very risky.

 

5 weeks in is so early into this. He needs to wait at least 4-8 months, from there he will see major improvement in this tinnitus. Hyperacusis will go away

 

This really upsets me. I too got T at a very young age (13) all because of an ear infection with a stubborn ringing that never really went away. I have been in his shoes. I was full of anxiety just like him. I eventually accepted that it was there and it could stay with me for god knows how long.

It is possible to habituate. But it takes time depending on how well you let things go. It has been 2 years now and it does not really bother me anymore. Still would be nice if it wasn't there though.

 

Hi Claudia. I went through the same process as your son when I was 17. The fear and avoidance of sound, panic, isolation, depression - all of it. The tinnitus started after a rock concert. I already had issues and this just pushed me over the edge. It took me 2 years before I began to lead a normal existence again. I slowly came out of it and began to expose myself to normal sounds and activities. But I didn't have the support and guidance that you are providing.

Everything went fine, as far as tinnitus goes, for many years. Then a series of further noise traumas and stresses led to a worsening of my tinnitus and so I am here again now trying to cope and heal.

I would advise you to continue showing your son understanding and support. Listening to him - without enabling him. He's suffering from a trauma, physically and psychologically, and it will take time to recover and move forward.

Stress and anxiety can have a profound affect on both tinnitus and hyperacusis. The best remedy for anxiety that I have found is to have fun. To do things that bring joy and a sense of purpose. Keeping busy with positive activities and social interactions.

Finally, it *is* very important that he not expose himself to excessive noise exposures in the future. As to what exactly constitutes excessive, well, I cannot say precisely. It differs among individuals. But definitely no concerts, nightclubs, jamming sessions, or explosives.

 

@TuneOut Thank you for such a thoughtful response! I hadn't thought of the fact that he is also trying to recover from an emotional and physical trauma beyond the T & A themselves, so that is helpful for me. Can I ask for you to explain more about what you mean by "not enabling him"? Also, is it to nosey to ask what the series of noise traumas were that reignited your T?

 

@RockyDoctah I see that you live in 'Murica LOL, so do we. Thank you for your reply. It is really helpful to hear from other teens dealing with this. Part of my sons problem is that he is a stubborn teen so he resists a lot of the help I try to give him especially when I tell him about the importance of thinking positive. It seems like it is impossible for him to be optimistic or positive about this so I worry how he's ever going to get better. When you say it doesn't bother you any more is it because you have learned to live with it or it is gone or almost gone? How loud is it?

 

Not sure how other people see this but maybe you shouldn't push positive thinking too much in the beginning. Focus more on coping and getting through each day. Especially in the beginning hearing things like 'You have to think positively!', 'You have to learn to live with it' just made me feel worse. Your son might have a chronic condition for the rest of his life - even if he habituates well to it things like clubs or parties might pose a risk.
Which is not to say you shouldn't try to support him of course but sometimes well meant words can still hurt. But it's great that you're posting here to be able to give your son the best possible support!

Unfortunately doctors know very little about tinnitus and hyperacusis. They can't give you exact guidelines like "this db range will hurt you and this won't" - it's different for every person with tinnitus and hyperacusis. Some people's tinnitus will spike for hours or days after a loud noise and other people's tinnitus is more stable. Especially if someone's also struggling with hyperacusis their tinnitus is more prone to spikes. So if your son says his tinnitus is louder after a relatively loud (or even everyday) noise this could be due to anxiety or due to hyperacusis or due to mixture of both. However, hyperacusis usually goes away on its own with time. Listening to white noise or nature sounds over extrenal speakers (not headphones or earbuds) during the day and at night could help.

From reading several posts I'd say that the hardest time for someone with tinnitus is usually the first few months up to a year but most people can eventually cope well. Most doctors I've met have said they consider tinnitus chronic after 3-6 months but I've also read from people whose tinnitus slowly faded away within a year or two years. It can be a quite unpredictable condition.

Wishing you and your son all the best!

 

@Autumnly thank you for your insights. I think you are right, you just can't tell a teenager to think positively about something new that he hates and that is driving him crazy. I will make sure I am careful about that!

 

Your kid seems pretty smart to protect his hearing.

Honestly the best advice there is, is to focus on research. There are people who will disagree but that's because they forgot that what most (sic: all) recent sufferers want is a cure or treatment. By far what helps people the most is trying to see what's on the horizon for a treatment.

He's a teenager. He shouldn't have to live the next ~80+ years with this shit. Of course he's going to be upset.

 

I would say mine is in between mild/moderate. I only really hear it in quiet areas. When I am outside I almost never hear it. It hasn't really gotten quieter though.

 

But don't overprotect him from his environment though, being TOO careful about your hearing will lead to other problems regarding T. He should be able to live his life normally again with regular sounds not being an issue, but be careful to wear protection in restaurants, noisy dorms, loud gatherings etc....just don't over do it otherwise youll feel like a prisoner. Just enjoy life and have fun...responsibly. Teach him to practice common sense and he will be fine =]

 

Hmm. You know what I find "funny"?

ClaudiaT disagreed with my comment, and gave me a funny (because there's nothing funny about it). I'm not upset about it at all, but giving a funny to a comment you disagree with is the community version of a downvote, because we don't have a downvote button. This is a unwritten rule in the community that outsiders or noobs can't see or notice. In fact a lot of our veterans haven't figured out yet, yet ClaudiaT was able to figure it out in a day. Hmmm...

Don't use alts. It's against the rules.

 

Just to be careful not to encourage an exaggerated fear of sound, avoidance of healthy activities, or overuse of ear plugs. I'm probably not the best person to ask about this though since I have a renewed fear regarding sound levels that are considered as acceptable by most. But I do know that intense stress can make the tinnitus worse, at least for me. I've experienced it many times.

 

I think I'm gonna stay out of this one.

 

Good idea. I'm just giving Claudia a heads-up because I learned that one the hard way.

 

When it came to tinnitus, I have found audiologists... to be more helpful than GPs and ENTs. Your son needs to protect his ears. Possibly have a talk with his teachers and let them know that your son has ear issues. The trauma he experienced and the distance for sure can affect the ears and bring on ringing. I would advise your son to protect his ears, do not go near loud environments. Avoid ear buds/headphones and loud music. Avoid parties.

He's only 14 and has a life ahead of him, but today's world is much LOUDER than the pervious generations. He needs to understand this. All in all he has what I had when i was a teen. A beginner's stage of tinnitus, lets hope he keeps his tinnitus manageable.

try to help him keep his stress/anxiety down as much as possible. Stress can increase the ringing, even if he protects his ear.

Bless.....

 

Maybe they thought it was funny that you used the "S" word?

 

@threefirefour you are right in that I am a noob. But you are wrong in that I "figured it out". In my mom of teenagers world, that smiley face in response to your comment would mean, "ain't that the truth" or "you are so right!" So you interpreted my smiley face in the exact opposite way I intended it. Sorry to have offended you- now I know not to do smiley faces when I totally agree with someone. I hope you forgive me, I am brand new to all this.

 

Good save. No I was just curious. Here on the site it has different connotation. Even if you were an alt, it doesn't mean your story is false or less credible than if you had a main account.

Eh, I doubt it. Cussing isn't very funny.

 

@threefirefour one question for you... you said not to use alts... I don't know what that is, can you please explain. THanks!

 

I'm going to be completely honest with your sons situation, the only hope your son is that science one day can repair the inner ear and or silence parts of the brain that generate tinnitus.

Please support hearing loss and tinnitus research if you want to give your son a second chance.

Here's the good news that may come soon

In two years or so University of Michigan may successfully release a device to help with tinnitus (2-3 years)
https://www.ata.org/news/news/tinnitus-clinical-trial-university-michigan

A bio tech company has an active clinical is using native molocules found in the body to regenerate hearing cells
(this may reverse tinnitus and hearing loss together) (5-9 years hopefully)
www.frequencytx.com/

 

An alt is an alternate account. Like if you have more than one account when really you only need 1.