Hyperacusis Since Birth, Tinnitus After Earbuds Incident & Worsening After Seeing a Live Band

Hi everyone,

I'm glad I found Tinnitus Talk because I don't know where I could talk about tinnitus and hyperacusis in my hometown. I first got tinnitus in college, might be in 2007, from plugging in my earbuds into the classroom computer and not checking the volume when I turned on some music. I immediately took off the earbuds when the music blasted in my ears and noticed a small ringing in my ears. I haven't had a quite day or night since then. My tinnitus got worse over the years because I wasn't paying attention to it and every time I was in a loud area my tinnitus got worse.

I went to see a live band and my tinnitus became extremely worse. I have anxiety from inner ear damage and tinnitus. The doctors that I went to didn't know what to do or just told me I have to live with it. An ENT mumbled under his breath that my symptoms seemed like hyperacusis besides the tinnitus. I researched hyperacusis and found out that I was born with it and didn't know it. My ears are naturally sensitive to high pitch sounds my whole life. There was nothing the ENT could do and I felt helpless. It took me ten years to learn tools to help me cope with having tinnitus. It's still hard having this condition because whenever I'm exposed to really loud sounds my tinnitus gets worse and it takes weeks for my ears to heal from the exposure. I always bring earplugs with me, but there are times where loud sounds come out of no where and hit me in the ear drums.

I look forward to talking with y'all in the forums.

 

Our modern world is filled with so many unnatural, random and often harmful sounds that it is hard to avoid them, and they can definitely make hearing, tinnitus and hyperacusis worse.

In many places I just accept that I need to use earplugs, not because it is so loud, but because I don't know what random sounds might come along and cause problems. I was walking down the street in the city one day. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on. But a bicyclist road by in the bike lane and just as he was passing me his tire blew out. It was as loud as a gunshot. Fortunately, it was one of those times when I was using good earplugs, so it didn't cause a problem, but if I had not, it could have been a disaster. I have often felt like a dog on a chain, and every time I would pull against the chain doing life things that just seemed just normal, I would exceed the limits of what my ears could tolerate, the chain would get a bit shorter, and I would find that thereafter I could do less without problems. It is frustrating. For some, their tinnitus is stable and doesn't seem to worsen with normal activities or even some loud noise exposures. For others, including me, both the tinnitus and hyperacusis just get progressively worse, and vigilance is required.

You need to remain vigilant and just give up some of those old habits, like using earbuds, headphones, loud concerts and such while using hearing protection with louder sounds or when you might be exposed to louder sounds. Wherever you are at now, it can get worse, and you could end up looking back the current times as the good old days. Your task is to not let that happen. Enjoy life but recognize the new limits and realities.