Hyperacusis Gone!

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to spread a note of positivity.
When I first got Tinnitus back at the end of December, I had a month of hyperacusis; I can confidently say that I don't have it anymore. I don't know exactly what I did, it just sorted itself out. I'm very confident that one day my tinnitus will sort itself out as well. I tend to think of it as scar tissue; like I have cuts and burn marks on my body, they're scars I can see them. Just like my ears, there was damage done somewhere somehow (possibly a virus) but eventually the scars fade and it's just a memory. Even if it takes forever.

If I habituate to it, that's fine too - I have 4 brothers and a sister and my mom who all have tinnitus and they have all habituated to it and lead completely NORMAL happy fulfilling lives (they go to concerts, dance clubs, we went to Universal Studios last year). They sleep just fine. I think it's our anxiety that gets the best of us and intensifies the ringing.

Last night I went to a bar with my friends. I had cotton balls in my ears but the music was still too loud so I sort of shot myself in the foot, but I'm sure it'll calm down. I went to watch Gods of Egypt last weekend (was pretty good btw) and it didn't bother me much. Anyways, hope you all have a great day today.
Ricardo

 

Are you kidding, your whole family got tinnitus, wow. I am sorry for all of you.
Take care and be blessed. not with tinnitus, of course. Smiles.

 

I'm happy for you. i hope my Hyperacusis goes away soon. Are you taking any meds?

 

Yea, I'm the youngest of all of us. However, they do help me by keeping my head on straight. Like we'll joke about it and stuff. Thanks for the positive vibes!

 

I'm taking traditional chinese medicine. People on this forum don't seem to be open to taking TCM but I sure am! I just sort of woke up one day and everything was at a low volume. I thought for a second that I was going deaf but nope. Just gone. I still have tinnitus in both ears but it doesn't bother me as much. It favors my right ear over my left, sometimes it gets worse but honestly, I'm really starting to get past this as in it doesn't bother me as much.
I hope you can find peace too!
Ricardo

 

I think H is probably temporary for most people. And the ones that get it for longer end up here..
Play it safe w headphones and loud music my friend and may H never ever come back..

 

Hello richardo1991

What is TCM ?? What it stands for??

Kind regards
Dilshaad

 

Hi Dilshaad, it is traditional Chinese medicine.

 

Hi ricardo

What traditional chinese medecine you took for tinnitus?

Kind regards
Dilshaad

 

Congrats.
I wanted to say that with tinnitus (which is 24/7 by me) ive totally habituated, but hyperacusis to me (which comes and goes) is an absolute bitch. I get these annoying whistling echose and after effects and its a bitch to deal with. Any help you can offer will be appreciated.

 

I took the kind that was made for me by my practitioner; but I also took Er Ming Zuo Ci Wan. I don't take it anymore because mine isn't as severe as it once was.
Ricardo

 

I hear people who get hyperacusis after tinnitus and lose there hyperacusis. I havent head so much about people with hyperacusis getting tinnitus dropping either of them.

 

Did your T ever react instantly to sound when you had H?

 

Excellent, I too have had my hyperacusis calm way way down. It's not totally gone, but it used to be triggered by a crinkling paper bag or a door shutting.

 

How did your hyperacusis behave when it was triggered?

 

High frequency sounds were very loud. I could set down a paper cup on my desk and it would be as loud as a gunshot.

 

Hi

When you say you had hyperacusis for a month, can you describe the symptoms you experienced? Any ear pain? You mentioned you think that "our anxiety that gets the best of us and intensifies the ringing", but what physical sounds aggravated your symptoms e.g. plastic bags, voices etc?

 

Hey, Yes definitely with fan sounds. Ie. low humming noises.

 

Anything that had a low frequency sound, I couldn't listen to even cars passing by because it would make my tinnitus flare up.

 

Hyperacusis, by definition, does not normally last only one month.

 

Most people do seem to have it for longer. It can mean different things to different people.

All success stories are worth sharing though.

 

Gotcha same as me at the moment. And high pitched sounds are uncomfortably loud. My current theory about the humming sounds is that somewhere in those sounds are high pitched frequencies. And it is those high frequencies that are causing my tinnitus to react. I suspect if you could EQ out the high end from sounds like fan noise or cars passing by, then my T wouldn't react. I had an LDL test at audiologist 3 weeks ago and my range was 70db on the low end and 55db on the high end. While 70db still isn't great on the low end, 55db on the high is particularly problematic and I'm guessing this causing the biggest issues.

And one thing I would say is while you may be free of H at the moment, I would still exercise care around particularly loud environments (90+ db). Apparently when you have noise trauma and/or a condition like hyperacusis, you are significantly more susceptible to making the condition worse. Or in your case, contracting the condition again. I would suggest investing in a pair of musician earplugs and put them on your keychain so you can use them for things like movie theaters. My T started 7 months ago. It got to a point where it was so low it wasn't bothering me any more. But then after getting my teeth cleaned it got a lot worse. And then I played a big show for an event here in Cincy. Then went to a loud wedding. I even had earplugs in for the show and wedding and it still didn't matter. Now my T is so much worse and now have this hyperacusis with reactive T tones. My point is, it seems even tho my T wasn't bothering me I was still super susceptible to having it get worse and in getting H. Now I have quit my band, and my music career may be over.

 

Hey, I know it may seem really bad right now, but it will get better. I go to concerts again, I go to clubs I go have fun and everything but I wear ear plugs while I do it. I just bought some cheap foam ear plugs at the drugstore and they work better than any expensive pair of plugs I've bought online.

With that said, I would highly advise everyone to just be careful and knowing your limits. I don't like to categorize tinnitus personally because I don't know how it all works but after having it for about 4 years already I kind of know how it works for me. I don't know if it has gotten better or worse over time but I know that I have gotten better, if that makes sense.

You will be able to enjoy music again, you will be able to play music again (maybe not as loudly) and you will be happy trust me, I have been there done that bought the T-Shirt. Let me know if you ever just need to vent! My comment section is always open!

 

Thank you Ricardo for the kind words. So actually the last two days I was noticing improvements. Things seemed to be reacting less, and when they were it was less noticeable. I also seemed less sensitive to sounds in general. However, yesterday I had an appointment with audiologist. She did a hearing test and an LDL test. I had to use use specific vocabulary to describe the comfort of the sounds. I would get to "uncomfortably loud" and she would raise the volume even after that. It was just too loud. After the test, my T was screaming and it hasn't calmed down since. And things are also more reactive again. It is usually pretty calm in the morning when I first wake up, but that wasn't the case this morning. I am going to try and keep my head straight and assume this was just a minor hiccup/spike that will calm down eventually. But still it is super frustrating. I was starting to get some relief and my mood was way up the last few days and then this shit happens... Sorry for venting lol but you said I could

P.S. The results of the LDL showed my levels DID improve. However I feel like after test, my levels are probably back down a bit. It was just too loud.... I think she went all the way up to 90db on some tones. Whereas 4 weeks ago my LDLs were 70db on the low end to 55db on the high end.

 

Dang that really sucks, but I feel you there! Some days my tinnitus spikes still, try and relax for now. Have you tried masking? I like to use the mynoise app with headphones (or ear buds) and watch TV or a movie. It helps to hide the screeching in my right ear or at least soothe the noise.
I don't know if this is for everyone, but I also like to meditate with ear plugs. It helps me to confront my tinnitus and somehow calms it down a bit (I like to think of it as like when we look at a dot on white wall the dot begins to disappear). Maybe that can help give you some quiet

 

So I think my main issue is the Hyperacusis. I think that is what makes my T scream. It seems to build up throughout the day as I am exposed to more and more sound and then resets in the morning. I am finding that my H did in fact collapse back down. Because I now find things like the TV and my gf's voice intolerable whereas they weren't giving me issues last week before the audiologist appt. My thought is that if the Hyperacusis can get resolved, my T will stop being reactive and it will stop building up throughout the day to screaming levels. Did you ever encounter setbacks like this? I definitely felt like the H was healing last week. But that hearing test really aggravated it something fierce. I am just fighting the thought process that I fucked up my chance of healing and now it won't improve again.

 

I completely understand that sentiment. The thing is that nobody knows how it all works. I like to think it's all just a constant and it is what we make of it every day but that's what helps me get a grip on it.

I will say, that sometimes it is louder if I don't sleep well, and I one time went to a club without ear plugs and the tinnitus was pretty bad for a few weeks - so there's definitely physical attributes. So unless you had done something like that, I wouldn't worry about accidentally doing something to set it off.

Have you found anything that seems to soothe the noise or the hyperacusis? I think maybe start there and focus on trying to soothe yourself even if it's just for a few weeks until you can maybe take it up a notch, if that makes sense? And sometimes for myself I can't handle music or tv shows that have a lot of metallic noises (for example music with a lot of cymbals or if there's a scene with a waterfall). I will usually just cover my ears and wait for it to pass. There's a lot of ways I try and cope. It's definitely not perfect lol.

 

One sound I have found that somewhat masks my T and doesn't make it react if at a very low volume is sound of crickets and cicadas. This is what I play at night on my portable speaker while I sleep. Not sure if this was mentioned before, but some of my tones are reactive. They basically spike up in volume instantly in response to most sounds. It is hell on earth. This all started 2.5 months ago. Before that my T was like a 2/10 and it did not really both me much. And no Hyperacusis. I was not even a member of this forum till now because I was coping well with T before. But this reactive T is really getting to me because it is damn near impossible to mask.

I'm sure you are probably familiar with Julian Cowan Hill. I actually spoke with him earlier this week. He suggested a similar thing. He said I should take my focus away from ears for a while, do weekly cranial sacral therapy / other body work, work on self soothing and self massages, and do 40 minutes of my Tai Chi every day first thing after getting home from work. I find this very tough though. There is a very thin line between too much sound where it is hurting my ears, giving me a headache and causing my T to react and total silience where my T is super loud and intrusive. Both inevitably give me much anxiety. But I am working on it.

I'm so happy though your Hyperacusis went and I hope it stays away. Did you find that your T improved after the H went? Because yeah I feel like the H just makes my T go crazy.

 

Hey! I've actually met Julian. He's a nice guy; I'm not sure that the cranial sacral therapy really did anything for me but he seems like a genuinely nice man who wants to help.

And yes, I feel that my tinnitus is easier to manage now that I have just one beast to fight; but I think that might go without saying lol but you can do this! I'm happy you were able to find a tone that helps you mask your tinnitus. It is definitely worth using if it helps you sleep at night.

 

@Phat Tuna

Did it ever resolve?