Hyperacusis / Reactive Tinnitus / Hearing Distortion

Hi all,

I wanted to create a post in the hyperacusis section as I’m a bit confused whether the phenomenon I’m experiencing is indeed hyperacusis, and if so, how to try to recover.

Essentially, whenever I hear certain frequencies of white noise, two things happen.

1) Much of the white noise will be shifted in pitch, presenting as a distortion. For example, a fan or a toilet flushing sounds higher pitched and much more shrill than it normally would.

2) Certain frequencies sound squeaky and dog whistly, similar to my tinnitus. This comes across from air conditioning and the sound of my car tires on the highway.

I am about three weeks after an acoustic trauma with no improvement to these symptoms whatsoever. Some days it seems less apparent while other days it is front and center, but I haven’t trended in a direction.

It is unclear to me if improvement is possible, and if so, how to encourage it e.g. should I expose my ears or protect them.

I know there are several people on this forum who have had months or years of experience with this subject so was hoping I could solicit some other opinions.

I’ve been to 7 doctors all of whom are useless so no need to suggest I visit an ENT

According to a standard audiogram I have no hearing loss but appreciate full well how primitive these are.

Thanks!

 

I experience a similar thing. The sound distortion for me manifested as a weird whirly tube/Tibetan singing bowl tone. It’s a bit different for everyone but I’ve seen this weird distortion mentioned fairly often by people with hyperacusis.

I heard it in my shower, on the freeway, the space heaters at work, if someone was blow drying their hair in the next room over. Any distant fan type sound (leaf blowers 20 feet away,etc) The fan I kept in my room made it, I heard when walking by fridges/freezers in grocery stores, pretty much any noise similar to that emitted this weird tone. The weird part was if got close to the source such as my space heater, the distortion would disappear.

Certain songs sounded weird, like weirdly flat but other notes would sound weirdly stretched out and prominent. A memorable example is I was listening to “G-Eazy - Tumblr Girls” in my car and from around 3:15 to the end there’s a weird sound in the background that bothered my ears a lot

I’ve had hyperacusis since November. I don’t think it has gone away fully because I still notice this from my fridge and tower fan on occasion.

 

HI @Gordon Steinberg

You need to stop going to doctors as you have already had a hearing test and everything is fine. The best treatment for noise trauma also known as Noise induced tinnitus, in the early stages is to do nothing and leave your ears alone. In fairness to the doctors you have seen they are physicians not tinnitus specialists. They treat underlying medical problems within the auditory system that cause tinnitus but not actual tinnitus. Please read the post below where I explain more.

Hyperacusis which is what you are describing often accompanies noise trauma. Please click on the link below titled: Hyperacusis, As I see it, where I explain how this condition can be treated with self help and professional help. If you use headphones or a headset at the moment then I strongly advise you to stop and don't even use them at low volume. More about this is explained in the links below. Please click on them and take your time and read the articles without skimming.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/


Most ENT doctors do not treat tinnitus because this is not their area of expertise. They are physicians not tinnitus specialists. They treat underlying medical conditions within the auditory system and ear nose and throat that causes the tinnitus. They treat these conditions medically or surgically. Those that have knowledge of tinnitus is as you've found to be quite lacking. Some have more insight into tinnitus because they have it, but usually it's mild and nothing like you or other members in this forum experience.

When a patient's tinnitus is not caused by an underlying medical problem and is noise induced, they should be referred from ENT to Audiology for treatment. However, in the early stages of noise induced tinnitus it's probably best to leave the ears alone and not start treatment too early. At Audiology a patient will usually see an Audiologist sometimes a Hearing Therapist. The role of the Audiologist is to fit a patient with hearing aids, white noise generators and carry out hearing tests. They can also diagnose other problems affecting the ears and fit patients with cochlear implants and help with speech therapy. Some branch out and specialise in tinnitus and hyperacusis management and treatment. This can be particularly helpful when counselling is required which is often used in TRT and CBT.

Usually these Audiologists will have tinnitus. They were either born with it or acquired it at some time in their life. Some also counsel people with phonophobia and misophonia. Both these conditions can affect a person that has tinnitus and hyperacusis.

The role of the Hearing Therapist is similar to an Audiologist. They counsel patients with hearing loss, tinnitus, hyperacusis and other problems affecting the auditory system. Many have tinnitus as does my hearing therapist who was born with it. I believe for an Audiologist or Hearing Therapist to give good quality counselling to a tinnitus patient, they have got to have tinnitus. Unless they have tinnitus they cannot understand or know how the condition affects a person's mental and emotional wellbeing. Therefore, at best the counselling will be unconvincing and mediocre something the patient will quickly realize.

 

I think what you are describing is not too bad, and I would not describe it as hyperacusis.

For instance, if you had nasty hyperacusis you would not be able to close a door without pain, without turning the handle, and all and every impact sound would drive you crazy.

I think you do have some sensitivity to sound derived from your noise exposure. It is very early for you so it may go away. Just dont pay attention to it, eat healthy and exercise, try to live as normally as possible but be careful around loud sound and carry earplugs with you in case you need them.

 

Hi,

Sorry I was delayed in replying. This is very close to what I have - the whirly tube thing in particular is spot on.

Mine seems like it has been fading/changing a bit over the last 4 weeks, but certainly still there.

The weird thing is I have no pain hyperacusis, just tinnitus and distortion, though I appreciate I may have some "latent" hyperacusis that I simply don't feel.

 

Same going on 2+ months for me. Fans, car engines, AC, air planes, etcetera all give me distortion sounds. Even some voices. I wish I knew what caused it. I do have eustachian tube dysfunction and head pressure. I have a brain MRI this week. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

Best of luck.

 

I will definitely report back if mine improves. Please let us know likewise! I have seen other people on here say it has gone away after some months.

 

Hi @Gordon Steinberg and @Orions Pain, I have exactly what you guys described as well, distortion and the whirly tube although i have a bit of pain which is generally not too bad and triggered by some high frequencies and some popping and roaring in each ear apart from the normal tinnitus. Music also sounds quite tinny, harsh and some frequencies hollow this has been the hardest for me as i love music and i am so aware of this differences having to EQ the music to take the high frequencies down a few dB.

It´s been 3 months for me but slowly adding new symptoms as the distortion and hyperacusis were not from the start, more like 1 month after the onset of my tinnitus. You can check my full story on: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...usis-still-present-—-my-3-month-update.42342/)

Keep reporting, I will do the same. Hopefully the distortions clear up. I´ve read some people reporting improvements after few months in so fingers crossed. Tinnitus is already bad by itself but the distortion and hyperacusis is another level.

 

I’m very sorry to hear that. Unfortunately for me my distortion has not budged an inch. I think for me however the tinnitus is the bigger issue - I believe it is truly severe given what I’ve read here. I will keep reporting. Stay strong!

 

Has this gotten any better for you? I think for me it has somewhat but is still noticeable, and I want to not notice it...

 

This is very interesting. It's almost as if the distortion is the result of faulty auditory amplification/translation of the original signal, which presumably happens after the ear and in the brain. Once the input is raised to a certain threshold, that auditory amplification/translation is no longer required, so no distortion happens. This is interesting to me because I am convinced, as per a lot of the latest research, that hyperacusis itself is NOT in the brain and is very much an ear problem, but perhaps your experience would suggest that the distortion issue is beyond the ears?

 

The interesting thing is for some people like myself, Xanax reduces or eliminates the distortion, so maybe both views are true. Damage to the ear causes the brain to try to compensate, creating distortion, but the compensation is unnecessary, and if you turn off that brain activity it will also disappear. My hope then is that it could be solved both by correcting ear issues, and brain issues.

 

It sounds to me like certain frequencies, starved for information, are "stealing" their information from other frequencies, which would be fine to a small degree if, say, 18 kHz was stealing a little from 17 kHz to give you a subtle bit of artificial clarity, and we probably wouldn't notice anything weird. But if 18 kHz is stealing from 2 kHz, or 700 Hz, or 100 Hz, that's not pleasant. And I have no idea why they would reach so randomly across to such a distant pitch for that. I really hope that restoring the hair cells would give these frequencies enough of their own information that they would stop feeling the need to "steal".

 

Xanax does the same for me. Someone mentioned the ear has GABA receptors as well as the brain.

 

@Gerard M @Gordon Steinberg @Orions Pain

I have just recently started to go through something that sounds very similar.

I started with tinnitus a couple weeks back and now I am getting weird sound distortions at some high frequencies. I first noticed it in the high pitched noise coming from the back of the fridge, then at the supermarket, then in my bedroom fan, then most noticeably in the sound that a running faucet makes. None of these things bothered me 2 weeks ago. However, over the course of the last few days, I am noticing it in nearly everything and I am going mad. It is a certain pitch or tone that cause my body to react like nails on a chalk board or chewing on aluminum, it makes my skin crawl and now I am getting headaches. I can hear it a few times and step away and be somewhat ok, but longer exposure to theses noises seems to make my tinnitus very loud and will constantly ring in my head. It like the frequencies match the pitch of my tinnitus and then it starts pulsating very loud.

How are you all doing? Any suggestions on how to handle this? I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. I have an ENT appointment in a couple days, so we shall see what that yields.

 

Did you just reply to yourself.

 

This is exactly what happens to me.

 

In my tinnitus delirium I was speaking to myself.

 

So I just wanted to give an update on the sound distortion. It's gotten marginally better. I'm realizing today it's potentially caused by reactive morse code like tinnitus beeps coming out of my left ear. My left ear had previously been silent. I noticed it today because the beeps and distortion had a totally distinct pattern. I can hear the same beeping in my left ear when it's quiet/silent or when I plug my ears and gets loud with things certain sounds like the fan/heat/microwave/faucet etc and competes with noise.

I know __nico__ I initially told you it was coming from the noise only but this is a new discovery I just made today because the beeping is slowly less reactive and I notice it now in complete silence. Not sure how to feel about all this. It's more annoying than my single clear tone t in my right ear.

 

Okay I have been drinking but I can still express how I'm feeling. I am just sort of venting.

This is not really anything personal or directed towards anybody but I read a lot about how people's reactive tinnitus and dysacusis goes away after a month or two but here I am 15 months later still suffering on a daily basis.

I don't know why dysacusis and reactive tinnitus comes and goes for some people and for others like myself, everyday is a living hell as I am unable to enjoy sound. I fucking wish those stupid doctors knew why some people's brains are like "oh this isn't right, it's not normal to hear chirping, beeping and whistles over cars and music so let me fix that for you and I'll reset myself back to normal so you can hear normally again," then the brain returns to normal and the distorted hearing is gone. It's like the brain corrects itself for some people so that's why maybe reactive tinnitus and distortions go away on some days for others so they get to have days of feeling normal and listening to music while I suffer on a fucking daily basis.

I try to be happy for those people but I am feeling more resentful now. It is so hard to feel happy for others who can get days off from being debilitated while music is probably ruined for me forever. I was born with severe hearing loss so maybe me not having perfect hearing ruins my chances of ever getting music or any joy in life back. I might be stuck with this nightmare forever so those with perfect hearing might have a chance of getting better and reactive tinnitus going away completely for them.

I'm kind of obese too but I think some have a healthy weight so they might still have distortions for different reasons. I thought of changing my diet but what if it doesn't help reactive tinnitus or distortions?

I'm not mad at anybody really because they can't help it if their brains can fix themselves and get rid of the distortions, I just don't understand why mine can't do that and why I can't get days off from disabling reactive tinnitus but others can. I hate my auditory system and my brain.

 

If you are like this, I would recommend to lose weight.



It's not good to be obese. It might or might not help the distortions and tinnitus, but no matter what, being a fatty isn't healthy.

Do you think you can change your diet? I hope you have the willpower.

You're not the only one with a bad case.

Try to get out of that resentfulness. Does more harm than good for you.

 

Well I'm not far off from that I guess. I hope I have the willpower too. I do art and games to try to distract myself but it's hard not being able to listen to music. I used to listen to music when exercising. I am working on the resentful thing but will try harder. I should probably work on my alcoholism but it's one of the only things that gets me away from reactive tinnitus and distortions for awhile.

 

I can't workout without music.
Which is why I'm here. I got worse for other reasons but the catalysts was weights and blowing my ears off. All the treble apparently is the worst thing to do. I've never had T so bad post workout it screamed until morning where it became a pinch behind my skull and I couldn't pronounce anything with an "s" until then (had absolutely anihalated some 4k cells..dipped to 20db on the audiogram and since recovered to about 10) as if I had a lisp. That got better by morning.

Since then I do listen to music when I workout still at much lower volumes then before and purposefully reduce the treble. Inner ears are highly vulnerable while exercising to damage and moreso at night compared to at rest during the day which I wish I knew other than just loud music bad....I would have changed my habits to daytime half volumes. (Was working out in evenings max volumes with even some preamps until I'd hear music clipping)

I also was getting distortion with music. They get worse at night. They seem to come out less when my blood pressure is up so have been doing day workouts that way and if I feel thuds or fluttering I turn things down and take a break. Just a thought. Way less distortion. Especially if you avoid music with long drawn out notes that could kindle up the distortion.
I know preT me...I did a Shotton of exercise and weights. I was like Arnold and it made me feel like I was on cocaine.
Loved music and weights.
Plus the self confidence. Basically unless there's a real reason you can't....I would hit the gym regardless. My ringing was always worse after and during...but it would always settle (and is better than distortion by a long shot). Just keep the equilizer and preamp flat.....

 

Just wanted to say I've gained a lot of weight since this all started. It's hard because food is one of the only reliable ways to make myself feel happy. I know it's just another platitude but please at least know you aren't alone.

 

How is this helpful? I'm sure she knows obesity isn't healthy.

You know what never helped my mom quit smoking? Me constantly telling her when I was a kid how unhealthy it was and how she needed more willpower to stop since she was born with a heart defect. It just stressed her out more and made her smoke more.

 

See if the morse code tinnitus sounds anything like "typewriter tinnitus" and try Carbamazepine.

 

Will do, some of the music I listen to still sounds broken so it can't explain all of it. How have you been?

 

I'd really advise against taking a random sodium channel blocker anticonvulsant unless you really have "just" typewriter tinnitus. The side effects are potentially very unfun (nerve atrophy (when long term), hyponatremia and pitch shift dysacusis (short term) are actual side effects) worse than an occasional beep which will very likely dissipate as your nerves slowly downregulate. Sodium channel blockers are heavy drugs and your nerves will upregulate to fight this process. If you got a beep out of nowhere or clicking with no ringing then maybe.

I tried DXM for a similar reason (sodium channel blocker, shorter half life) and although it worked for the ringing temporarily, it may have been part of my drones / wavering now.

My beep came and went (and came again off steroids) and kept changing ears frequently (so I figured it was a brain thing) and I heard it in silence too, however that is becoming much more a thing of the past.

 

Oh wow that sounds awful. It's definitely a beeping and not clicking and I definitely have a ringing lol. The beeping competes with other noises like the faucet/heat/fan etc.

How long did it take you to get rid of your beep? I hope your drones go away like the beep did.

 

It's been off and on and still makes appearances with enough white noise.

But so far it seems to hang out for a couple weeks... then switch ears on me, then dissipate or leave.

It's at the point where I don't hear it in silence (just a lot of other shit).