Is 70-80 dBA at Work Too Much? Hyperacusis Got Worse...

Hi!
I suffer from Tinnitus for 5 months now.

Since the onset, it gradually got worse, moved to the second ear and became reactive (or was that way from the beginning, hard to say). At first, I blamed overuse of earbuds and loud work environment but as my boss measured noise at work it shows 70-80 dBA (noise from drills and hammering peaks up to 90 dB or more).

Since the onset I'm using earplugs or earmuffs most of the time. During last two days I've tried to spend the shift without them as I figured that maybe I am overprotecting and increasing my sensitivity. None of my co-workers seem to find the noise annoying.

This "experiment" had a slight impact on my T (I am used to the fact that it reacts to noise and usually gets back to the baseline after some sleep or few days) but a huge negative impact on my Hyperacusis...

I would say I experience a Hyperacusis Spike (if there is anything like that) Now even a slight noise produces distress (surprisingly never pain) and a weird feeling of nose/sinuses pressure although no classical ear fullness. This sinuses pressure accompanies me since the onset and often predicts the temporary increase of T volume and H reaction. I hope it's not permanent...

What is more likely:

1. That I am more prone to additional damage as tinnitus sufferer and standard noise limits do not apply to me?
2. The distress and hyperacusis is a temporary effect and will diminish as I will limit my use of earplugs?

I was expecting a certain temporary aggravation of sound sensitivity but I wasn't prepared for that!

What should I do? Continue or abandon? If this aggravation form exposure is temporary I don't mind few days of suffering but I am afraid of making my condition worse...

Does anyone can relate to this weird sinuses/nose pressure?

I would be grateful for your opinion/experience on this matter.

Thank You!

 

Maybe the readings of 70-80 dbs are not accurate and the real decibel level is higher. This can happen if sound is measured with cheap soundmeter apps or devices.

Also, the nose pressure can be a way your hearing protects itself. Take into account that a bad nose sometimes makes sounds feel lower, so maybe that pressure is a body reaction to sound that seems too much for you at the moment.

If I were you, I would not push it, because your body is telling you clearly to stop doing that job with no earplugs. You may worsen your H if you keep exposing yourself to levels of sound that are around 80 and peak around 90, and that may be even louder in reality, depending on how you are measuring sound.

 

Don't take your ear protection off...

 

Thx for feedback. Interestingly the same feeling of fullness sometimes appears when the sound around is nowhere near hazardous levels. I've noticed that my sound sensitivity (and tinnitus reactivity) does recover when I withdraw from moderately loud sounds for some time but on the other hand my H during this 4 months period of variable ear-protection is gradually getting worse.

 

People who have severe H tend to search controlled environments where they can be exposed to sound but without being exposed to very loud sounds. So most people have to be at home for a couple of weeks, listen to music or white noise at home and then start moving on to different settings, like going to a quiet restaurant, etc

Fullness can go up and down, and sometimes there is just no way to explain why that happens, but what we do know is that for H sufferers loud sound triggers fullness, there is a clear cause and effect pattern. Besides, after being exposed to a loud environment, the fullness may subside progressively, but along that process fullness goes up and down, and fluctuations in hearing balance of high and lows (on the quality of sound) may be noticeable too, and change at the same time fullness changes. I think this is a reactive mechanism triggered to protect our hearing, and that our hearing is "unblocking" progressively after a noise offence.