Hyperacusis, What Helped You?

Hi all,

I've come across a good few threads and other accounts relating to hyperacusis where people talk about how it was bad for them and now it's much better. Sometimes it's not clear how that improvement happened. If anyone had any points or helpful information it would be great to know.

I know a few examples like Michael who used TRT. I don't have access to a program at the moment but if there were any other helpful perspectives or experiences it would be great to hear them. I'll keep searching the success stories also. Thanks

 

My experience with hyperacusis is that -- along with the tinnitus -- anxiety is an underlying component.
So I would find ways to mitigate stress and anxiety first, and try not to "pay attention" to the hyperacusis.

But while the tinnitus is a stressor that one tends to have to manage, hyperacusis I think is more likely a result of the stress tinnitus puts on you.

 

HI @Anna V.

If you have had tinnitus for less than 6 months I wouldn't recommend TRT anyway. Many people habituate to tinnitus and the hyperacusis can improve within 6months to a year. Sometimes it can take up to two years. Give it time. Please read my posts in the links below for suggestions on treating hyperacusis. If you haven't read my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View, then I suggest that you do. The link is below.

All the best
Michael


https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

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

 

Thanks Oceaninshell and Michael,

M - Had tinnitus longer than that, habituated to the first version. The current version feels like action needs to be taken, for many reasons. Have read your articles, thank you for putting so much into them. Some would be steps I have taken, some that I don't have current access to or that don't seem workable in my current situation (speaker based stuff). But they are very helpful, thanks.

Still open to hear as many people's experiences as possible I guess, you never know when you'll hear something that fits with your situation.

 

Like any condition, the key part is to try to figure out the root cause.
For me, a stapedotomy (surgery) was key in taking my H from severe to almost inexistent.

What have you done to diagnose your problem?

 

You may need professional help to treat your hyperacusis @Anna V. so please remember that. There are very kinds so see a Hearing 'Therapist if you need to...

 

Yes, I would be inclined to be very thorough in these matters regarding getting the professional help, for sure. Long story but I am working remotely with an audiologist. It's noise induced as far as can be ascertained at the present moment, it came with a noise induced tinnitus increase.

 

Hi:

Over 22 years with H., the only thing that has helped me is to avoid all loud situations except for VERY BRIEF periods of time in a minor emergency which can't be avoided at first (they are rare). The ears in most cases will recover to a certain extent if you protect them and stay in quiet environments or use protection like on quiet streets with few cars or in cars. . They always have in my case. Naturally there are iffy situations,exposure to which may or may not result in a setback, but iffy situations will usually, 99.9 % of the time, result in short setbacks if you make a wrong decisions (and you will make plenty of wrong décisions, especially if you live in a big city).You may get very unlucky in the iffys, like I did last winter ,and have a permanent setback ( from which I did recover to a certain extent but not back to my previous pretty tolerable level).But such is hyperacusis unless you want to stay safely at home all the time .

I've never done TRT so I do not know about how much it could have helped me. Good luck.

Marco

 

22 years? Have you been a hermit for 22 years? You should give TRT at least a try.

 

Televisions sounds gave me slight uncomfortableness and pain and then I slowly increased the volumn so as to be adjusted to the soun. It really works unless the volumn is too loud.

I am recently having my piano lesson with a grand piano and for some time I thought the sound was penetrating me even if I used my earplugs. But once I got used to the sound, it doesn't give me any anxiety And I even feel that the sound is not big enough. So.. I think that fear and anxiety is a relevant factor. Neverthless, my ears are extremely unstable and I cringe at the sound I least expected.

I have heard that listening to the sound of the nature helps one to adjust to sounds. Rain might help too.

 

Dear Aegaeon:

No I was not a hermit for 22 years. I mostly had a moderate case for 22 years so I was able to get around in a quiet car for many years, or taxis, but not much due to cost. I could walk around my quiet neighborhood without muffs except to skedaddle fast when I came to a person mowing their lawn. Now I am worse and almost a hermit, which could happen since I now have to move by next July and who knows where I might end up?

As far as TRT I did try it but could not stick with it due to lack of discipline. Also maybe because Iwas not desperate enough: I figured my life was tolerable, I could do a lot of stuff ,so why bother with putting those things in my ears 8 HOURS A DAY? Who the hell knows? So I blew a lot of money for nothing. For those thinking of doing TRT remember that last sentence and try to make sure that you stick with it if you try TRT, so as to not waste money like I did!

Marco

 

TRT does not work for many patients, and the "success rate" reported is due largely to patients who realise it does not work and do not come back, and they are ticked as a "success case". Or patients who improve from LDLs of 40 dbs to 70 dbs, which is not enough to lead a normal life in a busy city. TRT, in my humble opinion, is more of a scam than a real treatment.

 

I suppose you have tried it already and it didn’t work, right?

 

TRT can be an effective treatment for tinnitus but it is not a cure. It also has to be administered correctly. Some people believe they are having TRT when it isn't. Two white noise generators must be worn for up to 10hrs a day. A patient also has to have regular counselling sessions with their Hearing Therapist or Audiologist. A sound machine has to be used at night for sound enrichment. A person also has to back this up with positive reading to reinforce positivity. This is the reason it is not good for anyone having TRT or CBT to visit tinnitus forums. Reading negative posts can prevent the treatment from working.

TRT can take up to 2 years to work. I have had this treatment twice with good results. If a person starts this treatment or another with a negative mindset or is looking for a complete cure, then it is unlikely to work. Posts on my "started threads" explain TRT in depth.

Michael

 

Do you have a source for this? That is a pretty big claim. To be able to say that with certainty any data on successes would need to clarify how they got their results.

 

Michael, I’ve read many of your posts and I found them quite helpful so I thank you for that.
However, I’m still trying to find out whether those who claim TRT (the real) is a scam have actually tried it and it didn’t work or they just reinforce negative thinking.

 

Thank you for your kind words. In my opinion, TRT doesn't reinforce negative thinking it is often peoples expectations of the treatment and others that believe it is a scam and never having tried it. They want to convince themselves and others of this because the treatment is quite expensive.

 

I have tried TRT with a therapist listed and recommended by those who invented TRT and it did not work. I know for a fact that those TRT clinics that are recommended tick like a sucess case the patients who do not come back. The clinic where I went recognised that. The "treatment", if you can call that thing "treatment" is very expensive, and the clinics make very simple and standard tests like an audiometric test be extremely expensive. I can give you specific numbers: for an audiogram and an eardrum test (this is like half an hour) they can bill you in the region of 300 euros. These test are FREE at most hearing-aid audiology clinic and they may even have better equipment, better audiometric cabins.

My private insurance is very expensive and covers everything, including TRT, all the tests etc I can choose any doctor, clinic, and just send them the bill. They paid for everything but it did not work and the price is ridiculous if you have to pay it out of your own pocket.

When you read any study or article on TRT you have to read very carefully what they define as "success", because the results they get after their "treatment" is pretty much the same as the result you are going to achieve by just listening to a sound of your choice at home over many months. For them an increase in LDLs to way below normal levels is going to be tagged as "success".

Actually, I can tell you too that there is one particular audiologist in my country that has been trying to sell this sort of treatment for a good 15-20 years, and the clinics of this audiologists have been renamed like 4-5 times already. After some time, the service is offered at some other place.

Some clinics also say they have a 99% success rate and they have ENTs on a freelance basis in case you want to ask about the "treatment". Well, it seems not everyone goes to check with their ENTs because I have had some funny conversations with them, where they admitted that they cannot endorse TRT as an effective therapy. Even one of the ENTs said he hadnt seen any patient with hyperacusis referred by that clinic in his life!!!

Make a deep research and you are going to find plenty of information on this sort of "clinics" and "treatments". Also wonder why in Western Europe there arent many hospitals endorsing this sort of "therapy". Do you think that a country that spends thousands of millions on "free" healthcare (supported by taxes) for everyone is not going to carry an effective therapy?

 

For those interested, here's some information about the problem with bias in TRT studies (and TRT studies in general since it's impossible to do a double blinded study on such a treatment).
http://hyperacusisfocus.org/research/soundtherapy/

 

Michael Leigh seems to think that psychological processes like attitude, expectations , "positive thinking" etc... may affect the outcome of TRT even if the person does it. Maybe though I am reading him wrong. But if not, that is magical mystical thinking like believing in a God who does not exist who may cure your ears. The only psychological process that can affect TRT is defeatism and discouragement, or conversely hope, which can the affect ACTIONS of the person doing it. If those sound generators really work on the ears materially, they will work whatever the person is feeling mentally or emotionally.

Marco

 

Not a cure for me, but the reactive component of my t and thus, h, improved post adipose derived stem cells. my spikes have dramatically improved.

 

How long after getting T did you got the treatment ?

 

I waited for about six months (while protecting my ears from moderate noises like that of a vacuum cleaner), and my H was gone.

 

chronic t. over 3 years. probable ototoxicity from cipro

 

How is that treatment administered please Deb/anyone ?

 

Ok thanks. And did they inject the cels directly in your ear ?

 

No.

To be clear, I did stems for joint pain relief. (mainly)

I received a series of facet joint injections under ultrasound guidance and the remainder intravenously.