Hyperacusis Since Aug 2016, Looking Into Possible Professional Treatment

An alleged "therapy" that claims success when it does not restores LDLs to normal levels is close to a scam, whether we like it or not. Most people who claim on the Internet to have recovered from hyperacusis in a short time, a couple of months for instance, probably did not have real hyperacusis, just some sort of sound sensitivity. No one knows today how to fix damage produced by sound.

 

You do have a point @Juan I had very severe hyperacusis that was so bad I had to ask someone to lower their voice when in coversation. It took 2 years to cure wearing white noise generators for 10hrs a day and using a sound machine at night. Also having regular counselling with a hearing therapist.

Michael

 

It wasn't the ENT exactly, it was another worked who conducts the hearing tests. They didn't specify this as tinnitus either though, they said something along the lines of this being something everyone gets at birth and compared the phenomenon to the noise you hear when you hold a sea shell to your ear.

But yeah, I think I've had this "tinnitus" for as long as I can remember. I don't know if it's changed since I was young. If it has, it's been very, very gradual and subtle. It has exacerbated at times since I developed hyperacusis, but it hasn't been consistent. But the tinnitus I've been referring to is distinct from this, it's comparable to the kind you'd experience when a very loud, sudden noise goes off, and was the most persistent, obvious indicator of the development of hyperacusis. I think my regular tinnitus exacerbated in the leadup too, but nothing like this.

I'm still experiencing after-effects of that "test" from yesterday. At one point last night, after my post, I started to experience the closest I've ever had to the beginnings of genuine "pain", and the general tinnitus got quite noticeable. I remember eating pretzels last night and I was actually rather irritated by the sound of chewing- first time anything like that has ever happened. It's all largely died down today, and things like an electric razor right by me ear were mostly tolerable, or having the window down on a busy freeway. There was even a situation where some worker was using a small power saw near me- I avoided that, but my reaction wasn't much worse than a normal person might expect without earplugs, which I'm sure the worker was wearing.

The generalized tinnitus has been quite noticeable this evening though (I even experienced that noticeable, "intermittent" hyperacusis I've been describing in this thread, probably the first time it's happened two days in a row in a long time), and throughout the day, I've often had a kind of on-edge feeling with various noises I experience, like I feel like I'm close to a threshold (even with typing right now). But it's really hard to tell if this is heavily psychological. I'm likewise still surprised how sensitive I am to audio from speakers/artificial sources. It really does seem like unclear audio is what gets me though- I generally can't stand static or low-quality sound, but getting irritated from phone speakers was new. My computer speakers might not be as high-quality as I thought if this is the case. Altogether though, the after-effects of my "test" are the worst I've experienced since this all first began, and in some ways even worse. I really hope this didn't do anything, but some of my behaviors early on weren't conductive to recovery anyway.

Is this tinnitus I've experienced since early childhood really anything to worry about? It's never been much of an issue and I seldom pay attention to it. I can't think of anything that could have caused it and I've never really had hearing issues before. I'm guessing tinnitus like this isn't treatable? If it isn't, it's not a big deal. But what is it indicative of or even caused by? Is it indicative of any other ear or hearing issues that atleast might manifest later on? Even though my hyperacusis is nothing compared to people's experiences with it from this thread and elsewhere, I'm hesitant to say if my "mild" case is really something to take solace in. After all, look how it's progressed over the past year+.

I didn't get a chance to contact any other specialists today, but I'm also wondering if the ENT really tested me as much as they should (or if they could have done more.) Both hearing tests- last year and a couple of months ago- were perfectly within normal range, but I don't think those captured tinnitus or much else.

Also, someone please clarify the privileges required to PM on this board.

 

A lot happened yesterday. Things were largely uneventful, I think, until the evening, particularly when I went to the gym. Before that, I'd find myself being variously in a way hyper-aware of various sounds, like they were really at this threshold/barrier I've felt before intolerability or something. When I went to the gym, there was banging of various equipment that seemed to have set it off even more. Not long after at home, I remember feeling physical sensations directly on my ear tissue that felt like the progression of something, and I'd just kind of pause at various sounds- a spoon clanging lightly, the creaking of a door, the sound of a nail file, the keyboard. It felt like with these and various other sounds, as I heard them, I'd not only feel like the barrier was somehow being really pushed against, but there was kind of this sensation (I guess) of the nature of the noise kind of just plunging downward somehow. I went to bed earlier than normal because I just wanted to see if I could sleep this off, and as I lay in bed, I felt like I was getting overpowered somehow, by like 3, up to 5 different sources of tinnitus sound that felt like they appeared.

When I woke up, I didn't really notice anything, but when I became aware of what had happened yesterday, it seemed like a whole lot hadn't changed. I think there is now a new degree of tinnitus I notice primarily in my left ear. The threshold/barrier I described doesn't really exist anymore, in the sense that there's no longer that feeling of apprehension, but instead I just kind of go through with the noises, I guess. They no longer hit me as readily and in a way seem to "deal" with them better, but there is somehow a level of awareness and arguable "irritation" with them I never experienced before. So all of this could be just me being forced to handle them this way now. Likewise, as I was typing this- my house has those old heaters on the floor that ring around the room, and they at times make these tapping noises when they're active. I got concerned about this noise and went to another room and closed the one open window, and I again noticed what seemed like 3 sources of tinnitus.

I really don't know what's happened and I'm doubt much of what I've experienced before was psychological. I can't believe such a simple "test" like I did the other day could have caused all this. If it's taught me one thing- with conditions like this, unless there is a genuine, encompassing sense of recovery, never, ever "test" for something. Ever. And I am never going back to that fucking ENT who never even told me the name of this condition and never told me of any other options. I am going to look into another specialist by way of primary care physician first, but I might finally go ahead and contact or look up some of the options described in this thread.

If anyone can, please tell me what I might be experiencing.

 

There may be something going on in your ears, but whatever it is sounds extremely mild and probably not much cause for concern.

More importantly, nobody can tell you with any certainty what is happening to you. There are too many bizarre unknowns in the realm of tinnitus and hyperacusis. Individual experiences vary wildly and not even the PhDs can agree on what any of this means.

In my opinion you should leave this place and never come back, for the sake of your own sanity. I suspect if you see a TRT clinician they will tell you this as well. The very act of being here is probably doing you more harm than good. Stop trying to analyze or make sense of your symptoms. They will either go away over time or you will adjust to them and they'll stop bothering you.

Learn how to properly insert foam earplugs, and use them when you're in loud environments like clubs or noisy restaurants. Be mindful of how loud you are listening to music at home, in headphones or otherwise. Low volume is always better.

 

Whoa, I didn't mean to give the impression this place was really getting to me. I altogether really haven't read much of this forum and have primarily stuck to this thread. I am absolutely not combing through it looking at other people's stories for any information I can or whatever. I've primarily gone at it like this because I've gone so long without any kind of proper guidance, diagnosis, advice etc., and I haven't been sure of who to turn to for anything else (yet). And what I've experienced recently has genuinely gotten me worried, on top of the realization I have had tinnitus perhaps my entire life. Which in and of itself isn't remarkable, but again, it goes back to the lack of any proper guidance.

I am hoping you're right what I'm experiencing is mild. It's just baffling how I've experienced so much else over this past year that hasn't done anything like this.

 

I don't mean to keep bumping this thread, but until I go to another specialist, I would like advice on what more to expect and what this all means. I feel it has again gotten worse throughout the day, I have been showing apprehension and felt irritation towards all sorts of noises even more. The barrier that I've felt before for these noises is gone, and what I described as being able to "deal" with them better is because I have no other choice. I have felt genuinely apprehensive about going out to today, though I didn't do much. I couldn't bare to keep the radio in the car on for long at all, and I ended up wearing foam earplugs to the gym today, the first time I've ever done that. I'm afraid to even listen to speakers on my computer at all right now.

I am honestly pretty scared about what might come next and what this all is, I don't know if I've experienced anything truly like this even when this first began. I feel as if the more I continue in my day to day to life, the fewer options I'll have because it'll get worse and worse no matter what. If anyone has any other suggestions on what to do and what this all means, please let me know.

 

For me it is clear that habituation to a certain sound at a certain pitch is not going to happen through gradual exposure. I just talk from my experience: at work I was exposed for years to a certain loud tone from the equipment we use and never got used to it. My workmates also reported that particular sound as loud and annoying. So habituation is not always the rule, even with repeated exposure, or gradual exposure. There's something that triggered hyperacusis and things do not go totally back to normal.

 

In my case my severe hyperacusis, has been completely cured for for 18 years and my auditory system's sensitivity is back to normal.

Michael

 

The only thing you can do to feel better is adapting your lifestyle to the new reality but without getting obsessed with it. People who suffer accidents have to do this too. There are people who suffer an accident, end up in a wheelchair and they adapt to their new reality.

Things that may calm hyperacusis are sounds of nature, something as simple (and as difficult) as going to a nature park and walk, or swim on the beach. Also following a good diet, including fish, dry druits, vegetables, fruit etc Nothing processed.

Also, you are realising that places where people go all the time and situations that are commonplace are really loud. Places like the gym, or a coffee bar, let alone a cinema or a sports bar, or a concert venue. Those places are objectively loud, very loud. The sound of traffic is loud too. If you can avoid those places for a couple of weeks, rest, do exercise and eat healthy you may see a difference, even if it is a slight difference.

 

This sounds like moderate hyperacusis, not severe. Severe hyperacusis would not be able to tolerate voices at any volume.

 

If I were to give a full description of my severe hyperacusis that took two years to cure, by the time readers reached the end of my post they would forget what they have read.

 

What were your LDLs?

 

I do not know what my LDL (Loudness discomfort levels were) I am going back 21 years. All I know is that I had excruciating tinnitus and hyperacusis.

 

Those are subjective measures, saying you had "excruciating tinnitus and hyperacusis". If you spent several years in sound therapy as you say, your LDLs were not measured??

 

Maybe I am wrong, but I think you said in another post that you went to a game arcade, with sound at around 90 dbs and it wasnt comfortable. And that's a level of sound that people with normal ears and normal hearing can tolerate without any problem.

 

Please read the post again. The sound levels at the venue was 100dbs and it was comfortable. My tinnitus was silent the next day and I experienced no sensitivity to my hearing. My hyperacusis has been cured for 18 years. Regarding my LDL levels. I do not believe they were ever measured and if they were they weren't relayed to me. As mentioned I wore white noise generators for two years and had tinnitus counselling with a hearing therapist. I also used a sound machine at night. The hyperacusis was completely cured in 2 years.

 

I went back to the same ENT, though with a different specialist. Not a whole lot they could tell me; said my best bet would be to go to that center in Boston, but the person who gave me a hearing test was more helpful. They genuinely recommended musician ear plugs for day-to-day coping with this issue, and also something called "earplanes". I have worse tinnitus than ever before, but it's only really in my left ear and it's just a mild irritant. But the hyperacusis is still the worst it's ever been and at times close to some of the cases described here.

There is another specialist in another city I might look into, and of course the Boston one, but beyond the musician earplugs, I'm not totally sure what to do next. Someone recommended against them already, but I feel what I've been experiencing this past week It generally hasn't been as bad as it was described in my last post, but it's unpredictable. I was told by the hearing test specialist that this is best described as a "temporary threshold change" and it altogether isn't much to worry about, and it shouldn't prolong the general hyperacusis or increase permanent damage risk- though the ENT themselves wasn't sure.

One thing I will say though is that there is a silver-lining to this, in that it's prompted me to change my sleeping habits, and I think that will be key to improvement across the board. I have for sometime had very abnormal sleeping patterns and habits that have been getting worse, I get to bed incredibly late and wake up very late. Sleep gives me my best respite with this new phase of the hyperacusis. When I've woken up in the past few days getting 6-8 hours of sleep, I have almost no hyperacusis or tinnitus. There's basically just some faint tinnitus-like sensation in what I could best describe as the "lower right" of my hearing perception, but it isn't long before the sensitivity increases and the hyperacusis/tinnitus sets in (I have noticeable tinnitus now in my left era that's at worst a mild irritant.)

Again, my next step is to probably look into musician earbuds and other specialists out there. I'd like to know what anyone else might suggest and what I should make of my this "temporary threshold change." Sleep is the only real respite I get for it, and avoiding exacerbation of it is impossible throughout the day.

Though I don't know, are musician earplugs really the next best step for this? I wear generic yellow foam earplugs to the gym and those work fine, but those are too flimsy and obvious for day to day life. I really feel like all I need get through this phase (putting aside the general hyperacusis) is some decent noise dampening earplugs and getting enough sleep. It's too unpredictable and risky to go throughout the day with my ears unprotected, but I imagine there's other earplugs out there. Would earplanes be something like this?

 

There are of course all sorts of generic plastic earplugs/earbuds, but I would again like to know what would be best for day-to-day coping for something like this. It's not just an issue of lessening the harm to my ears, it's just making things more comfortable and manageable. And I'd like to avoid anything like what I encountered early on wearing earplugs those nights.

By the way, for other former H sufferers (particularly Michael Leigh) in this thread, even though I'm still apparently not at the level of severity some people have described, how long did symptoms this bad/worse last? Did you ever experience any episodes of increased threshold sensitivity like this?

 

So since I last posted in here, about a week ago it seemed like this recent exacerbation was about to go away, but it didn't. I'm still finding this increased sensitivity throughout the day and have worn ear plugs throughout much of the day to avoid irritation, particularly things like creaking doors and plates and silverwear.

I looked up the MA specialist from this list (http://www.chat-hyperacusis.net/post/trt-worldwide-list-of-clinicians-retraining-therapy-3334680) and contacted them, but they're not close and their treatment isn't covered under insurance. Still no luck at all with the Boston center. But I haven't tried any local audiologists again, and I imagine that if they specialize in tinnitus treatment, it can be applied to hyperacusis.

But I'm getting frustrated with how hard it is to get help and am wondering if I should just go ahead and start treatment on my own. Should I just start with something like continuous pink noise listening? Is looking into professional help really that important for someone like me?

 

Hi @Srebint

I believe in most cases of straight forward noise trauma where a person has been using headphones or going to venues where loud music is played, and has then got tinnitus with hyperacusis; the hyperacusis can be cured over a period of time possibly taking up to 2 years. Depending on how severe the hyperacusis is, it may or may not require specialist treatment. The specialist treatment requires desensitisation of the auditory system and this means wearing white noise generators for up to 10 hrs a day and using a sound machine at night until morning to continue supplying the brain and auditory system with sound enrichment.

Wearing the white noise generators alone might help but it should really be backed up with regular counselling sessions with a Hearing Therapist. The counselling helps to remove and demystifies the negative thinking that many people have about tinnitus and hyperacusis and this takes time.

Some people have hyperacusis due to an underlying medical problem within the auditory system that is not associated with exposure to loud noise and it may be more difficult to treat.

Twenty one years ago with the onset of my tinnitus which was very severe, I also had what I can only describe as excruciating hyperacusis. It was horrendous and made my life a misery. Every sound hurt and I mean literally and this carried on for many months. When in conversation with someone I had to ask them to please lower their voice. I wore foam earplugs at times but not all day. I didn't know back then that the overuse of hearing protection can make the auditory system more sensitive.

I don't advise you to use white or pink noise with headphones /earbuds that are connected to a mobile phone or other portable device. In my opinion, the sound will be crude, unregulated and won't be smooth and gentle. Neither will you be able to finely tune the volume as one can when wearing proper white noise generators, that have been built specifically for the purpose of supplying, high quality broadband sound to the auditory system and brain. Please remember, the ear is a very delicate and sophisticated organ and needs to be handled with care. I still wear my white noise generators regularly at home as I'm used to using sound enrichment even when my tinnitus is completely silent. I can wear them all day if I wish and they don't feel uncomfortable or sound harsh.

If you are unable to get to a medical centre that provides regular counselling while wearing white noise generators, then you could purchase the white noise generators alone and go on your own. However, this treatment should be backed up with counselling as mentioned above for best results.

You could try helping yourself by following my suggestions in my post: Hyperacusis, As I see it:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

Best of luck
Michael

 

Thanks for the detailed reply, I'm sorry I haven't gotten back sooner, I've still been depressed and despondent about this and some other things. I have still yet to take any steps with treatment. There is as I mentioned only one specialist in my general area, and their services aren't covered under insurance. It would be only 2 meetings for $150 each, and from that phone follow-ups. They are perhaps the only such specialist in this area, even Boston doesn't have much. I will consider them, but I'm not enthused about the price, distance etc.

I have been repeatedly recommended, here and elsewhere, to start with pink noise therapy, but I'm kind of at a loss on how I'd go about it without professional therapy or guidance. What audio sources? How many hours a day? How can I be sure of my sensitivity and threshold? Should I use it in tandem with anything else? When will I know to move onto something else? Where regimens or guides should I follow?

Would it be a bad idea to listen to white/pink noise on a stationary device, like just a regular computer? I have been suggested white noise generators on another board I'm consulting, but they're remarkably expensive. Would it be beneficial to start wearing those even now? Could I ever sell those off?

As a bit of an update on how my hyperacusis has progressed, it got much better over the weekend, where I went out twice- where I spent awhile at a busy mall. But with no protection. I was able to handle it quite well, but it might not have been the best idea. I didn't wear any protection those days (unless I was in the car) due to how awkward I felt it might look. It wasn't like I was left reeling after the mall day, but I think it wore on me. And since then throughout the week, my tolerance hasn't been much better compared to other days of this threshold increase. I still wear earplugs on and off throughout the day though, and when I go to the gym. It was only ever comparable (but still not as bad) to the severity you described early on.

 

I thought hyperacusis usually goes away, T on the other hand is a bit harder.