Hyperacusis Question

Recently I was exposed to what I would consider a moderate amount of noise for a reasonable amount of time. A few minutes following the exposure my right ear felt like threshold shift had set in and my ear felt full. Normally the feeling would go away over a bit of time or would be gone the next morning and my Tinnitus would be back to baseline. In this case my Tinnitus has remained at this higher level and I am experiencing transient pain and pressure in both ears. I am also feeling a burning sensation in my Eustachian Tubes from time to time. This pain generally builds throughout the day and it seems my ears are at their best when I first wake up in the morning.

Am I experiencing Hyperacusis? If so, does it have a tendency to come and go or ramp up and down? Finally, are Hyperacusis "spikes" accompanied with loud(er) Tinnitus?

If I recall properly, this has happened to me before and I've always chalked it up to some kind of low level sinus infection (I'm currently not sick) and it has always resolved on its own over time.

Anyhow, thanks in advance for your answers!

 

Scott...."it's complicated". However, sinus infection or whatever aside, it sounds like you got "zapped". Remember that it is not just volume of sound exposure, but also exposure time that affects "hearing" (aka hearing damage = for us, possible increase in tinnitus, etc.). I suggest you look under this 'Hyperacusis' section at some of the posts, as there is a lot of pertinent info here that may apply to you. It's very individual, but there are some similarities that run through the gamut of ways hyperacusis and/or 'sound reactive tinnitus' manifests.

By the way, that feeling of "fullness" may be similar to what I have referred to a number of times as "bruised feeling", and indeed that has been a precursor for me of further damage if I did not 'heed the warning' so to speak. Which unfortunately I missed a couple of times.

Until you figure out what is going on I would strongly advise "sound caution" and be aware of any meds, etc. you are taking or have recently taken.

Good luck. I sure hope it resolves as before... Zimichael