Is That Hyperacusis?

[bwspot]

So its been 6 weeks since my tinnitus started. There are bad and good days. I spend a lot of time reading about it and educating myself as much as i can. Understanding what is going on makes me feel better. I am still bothered by the fact that it happened and i still don't know why? Was it music , was it dental work, I wish i could tap in to my brain to find that out. Makes me so angry that i did it to myself. Anyway, my question is about hyperacusis. What I am noticing is that high pitch sounds aggravate my tinnitus to the point that it sounds like broken speaker at its highest volume not being able to keep up and therefore making distorted sound. I feel like i have a broken speaker in my head. Does any of you feel that? Also, what is interesting is that i can wake up with very light tinnitus and only touching the keys and sound of it activates the tinnitus like a switch. Another thing that happens to me is at times when i cover my ears with my hands there is no ringing, so i start to listen for it and it gets activated. But i can only activated not the other way. If tinnitus can be activated and deactivated all the time what is actually happening. Is this hair damage or something else? Is the side effect of the hair damage always a hearing problem which i don't have?

 

[cullenbohannon]

Hey @bwspot I have had certain types of sounds seem like a broken speaker in the begining, i still get it from time to time but it doenst bother me at this point so i dont notice it as much. This is not hyperacusis.

I think the other part, regarding activating and deactivating your t is more of a perception thing. So for example most of the time i don't hear or pay much attention to my T, but when i listen to it it gets so loud that i honestly dont believe it. Certain sounds or changes in noise levels can make me aware of my T when i was not just moments before and indeed it seems almost like it being activated. WHen i wake up my T is quiet as well and the same thing happens as you described, but i dont evert try to hear it anymore.

 

[bwspot]

Thx, so the hyperacusis is different then? I started to noticed that it is easy to make this sound. When i say broken sound, i still mean the same sound but like with distortions of some kind. All I have to to is clap with my hands and it happens. Sometimes it makes the T worse, sometimes it goes away after few claps. Today I used the hammer and just the sound hitting on the nails was enough to aggravate my T. I had to hit pretty hard and I discovered that next time i will need probably to use the earplugs which i did not have with me. I though i was habituating and T is back again with higher volume.

 

[cullenbohannon]

From what I understand Hyperacusis is when sounds that other tolerate are much too loud for one with H. I have some distortions it seems to have gotten a bit better, I to have t that gets agitated by sounds but again not as much as it used to. I would suggest trying to rest your ears for a while and use earplugs. Other than that, the T i would give it some time and reassess , try not to think about it too much, theres a good chance your T will calm down again.

Thx, so the hyperacusis is different then? I started to noticed that it is easy to make this sound. When i say broken sound, i still mean the same sound but like with distortions of some kind. All I have to to is clap with my hands and it happens. Sometimes it makes the T worse, sometimes it goes away after few claps. Today I used the hammer and just the sound hitting on the nails was enough to aggravate my T. I had to hit pretty hard and I discovered that next time i will need probably to use the earplugs which i did not have with me. I though i was habituating and T is back again with higher volume.

 

[bwspot]

yes it seems like i have similar symptoms to yours. When it goes away it gets lighter and it feels so good. I wonder if sounds aggravate it proving that there is some inner ear hair damage or not necessary. I don't feel like i lost any hearing at this point.

 

[cullenbohannon]

Im not sure about that, a lot of times the hearing damage is at frequencies above what usually gets tested which is about 8khz. I had a test done higher and my hearing was ok not great i guess, so it could be you have it at some
greater then 8khz. Which you would not be able to tell from your day to day experiences.

yes it seems like i have similar symptoms to yours. When it goes away to gets lighter feels so good. I wonder if sounds aggravate it is it a prove that there is some inner ear hair damage or not necessary. I don't feel like i lost any hearing at this point.

 

[bwspot]

Just Before T happened I tested my hearing with tone generator. I was able to hear up to 18400 with higher volume and easily around 16000. I retested myself after it happened and I did not notice a change although i am not trying to test more as I am afraid testing itself can do more damage.

 

[bwspot]

So if this is not hyperacusis I wonder why before I got tinnitus I was usually listening to music at 80-85% of the volume on my iphone and now 40-50% is enough for me and 80% would be just too loud. Did I get too sensitive due to fear of harming myself more or my auditory system amplified all signals to compensate for the loss?

 

[cullenbohannon]

I didnt mean to make it sound like I know for sure that you do not have hyperacusis, apologies if it came out that way. It just seemed like you had similar symptoms to me and I dont think i have H. It might me a good idea to see an audiologist that can test your sound tolerance and diagnose you for sure. I know i had some fear of sounds and still do to some extent, which cause my muscles in my ear to contract and cause pain. If sounds are louder then they were before its possible you have H. Again i think especially when it comes to H its something you would want to get diagnosed. LDL testing can help figure out if you have H or not.

So if this is not hyperacusis I wonder why before I got tinnitus I was usually listening to music at 80-85% of the volume on my iphone and now 40-50% is enough for me and 80% would be just too loud. Did I get too sensitive due to fear of harming myself more or my auditory system amplified all signals to compensate for the loss?

 

[bwspot]

I know that I should stop digging but it's hard to just let it go. Curiosity wins in my case.

I must say that i fell like more sensitive but i don't feel like i fear sounds.
Higher volumes just create that distortion feeling but not all the time.
Mostly speech does it a lot especially when i speak louder. (Weird)

My ENT performed below tests.
They told me all was good and i have slight hearing loss around 4K frequency but still minimal and above the average what people have and they said this is nothing to be worried about.
They want me to come back and redo it.
I wonder if i should even go.
They charged for all 1000$ but due to my stupid insurance i had to pay 500$ for it.
Now another 500$. I wonder if this is worth to redo it?

Test I had:
Exam Of Nose And Sinuses
An exam using a scope (endoscope) of the inside of the nose or sinuses.

Series Of Hearing Tests
A series of hearing tests that measures both speech and sound levels. The tests record the lowest level at which speech can be identified. They also record the quietest sound that can be heard (audiometry)

Inner Ear Hearing Screening
A screening test of the ability of the inner ear (cochlear) to pick up and measure sound.

Eardrum Function Test
Tympanometry is a hearing test that measures how well the eardrum moves in response to sound.

 

[Cor]

I would personally not go. If your inner ear test was ok when you had tinnitus, then measuring this again is not going to accomplish anything. Similarly, what is a new audiometry going to accomplish? Maybe you hear a bit better? Maybe a bit worse? The accuracy of these tests seems to be a bit wanting anyways.

There may be other tests you could do, but I dont think these tests will proof or disproof anything.

 

[bwspot]

I would personally not go. If your inner ear test was ok when you had tinnitus, then measuring this again is not going to accomplish anything. Similarly, what is a new audiometry going to accomplish? Maybe you hear a bit better? Maybe a bit worse? The accuracy of these tests seems to be a bit wanting anyways.

There may be other tests you could do, but I dont think these tests will proof or disproof anything.

Yep that's my plan, just skip the next visit, as i dont see a point except wasting another 500.
Another thing is that when they do testing and i hear ringing is harder to concentrate on those little tones they play, so i dont even know how true are these tests.

 

[bwspot]

I am getting confused about T and H. After I moved away from the beach things got back to the old crappy state.
So, I hear constant high pitch tone, but things like opening a letter or squeezing the plastic bag aggravate the T so there is more of it. Once I stop the process of opening the letter or squeezing the bag, the T subsidizes to the its usual level. Is this H? I can repeat it anytime i want. Clapping my hands does the same. Is that true that I should be exercising few times a day with the bag or the letter to get used to the sound? Will this sensitivity will ever fade away? Why is that happening? Is there any explanation for it or its unknown as with all things T related?

 

[Nick the Swede]

Had exatcly the same as you bw, think it came after 2 months of my noise induceed T. Went away a couple of months later. Plastic bags and flushing toilets sort of had a very strange sound to it. The only problem that is still with me is that fans and water pipes sounds is a little bit disorted still. No pain at all just a little bit annoying.

 

[bwspot]

Had exatcly the same as you bw, think it came after 2 months of my noise induceed T. Went away a couple of months later. Plastic bags and flushing toilets sort of had a very strange sound to it. The only problem that is still with me is that fans and water pipes sounds is a little bit disorted still. No pain at all just a little bit annoying.

Any ideas what is that and why?

 

[Nick the Swede]

Sry but not a clue there. I was put on Zoloft at the times when i experienced most of these distortions, i took it for two weeks and during that time i felt like the end of the world. I don´t know if it was Zoloft that did this for me. Just on 15mg Remeron for sleep atm and most sounds seems pretty normal in my ear. Just kitchen fans and pipes with running water that sounds like blublublublu..., it dont bother me much at all, could even laugh at it at times. No pain involved.
I think the medical term for it is Dysacusis.