Loudness Hyperacusis — Sensitive Only to Certain, Mostly Low-Frequency Sounds

I developed tinnitus over 4 months ago due to an acoustic trauma. My tinnitus started 4 days after the incident, and over a period of 5-6 weeks became severe.

Hyperacusis was also noticeable within days, but seemed mild. The sounds that bothered me initially were dishes and such. It seems to have diminished fairly quickly. Even a cup dropped on a plate, while startling, did not seem bad within few weeks.

Otherwise other sounds did not seem particular bothersome in the beginning.

Loudness hyperacusis took maybe a month to develop. I suppose in sync with worsening tinnitus loudness I would consider the loudness hyperacusis moderate. Everything seems louder now (e.g., refrigerator, background noises) but not everything is particularly annoying. I have no ear pain at all.

Most bothersome and seemingly unusually loud are:

• Diesel trucks
• Motorbikes
• Cars with loud subwoofers
• Small planes
• Boiling water in electric kettle

Diesel trucks and motorbikes are the worst. They seem to be like being inside my bedroom when they drive by (street is at least 50 meters away from the house).

I do not have real issues with:

• People talking, even somewhat loud
• Phone conversation even on a crappy speaker
• Music/TV (low/moderate volume)
• Electric clipper, electric toothbrush
• Shower or running tap water
• Birds chirping

It's kinda weird, but it seems like low frequency noises are more bothersome.

Does it make sense? Did anyone experience anything similar?

I wonder why it is the way it is. I guess nobody truly understand hyperacusis.

 

I put my fridge into the garage due to my hyperacusis. It bothered me so bad I had to sequester myself in the bedroom with my door shut every time it came on.

Everything you have have problems with I have too, except boiling water in the kettle. I also have problems with everything you aren't bothered by, except birds chirping, most likely as they are beyond my hearing threshold of 6 kHz.

 

Very interesting, you’ve described almost perfectly how I would describe what I was experiencing, I wasn’t entirely sure if I should label it as Loudness Hyperacusis.

Almost identical in timeframe, mine didn’t seem too bad at first but was slightly sensitive to everything you mentioned. 4 weeks later is when I noticed it had amplified to the extreme, again primarily with everything you listed but with the addition of running water and possibly digital audio for me.

I know you’ve mentioned after exposure to these events, your tinnitus can be louder, but have you experienced them get louder during an event?

I wonder if the same rules apply to a tinnitus spike as they do a to new onset, do I have the same chance of recovery and lessening as a new onset?

Two days ago I was having a lower tinnitus day, and the sound of the fridge masked my tinnitus perfectly. I spent 30 minutes just standing in the kitchen enjoying the bliss. I then left the kitchen and realised I could still hear the darn fridge! Well for two days now my fridge-provided bliss is a tinnitus tone that does everything but provide relief. Maybe I should move my fridge to the garage.

 

I have a handheld switch that I use to switch the fridge on and off if I'm to spend time in the kitchen.

@Hardwell, you may find that other continuous electrical noises have the same effect; A/C, fans, heaters, boiler/furnace.

Keep us updated if your new fridge tone dissipates.

 

I shall keep you updated on the fridge tone, it has been a few different ‘mimics’ since the spike 5 weeks ago. I’ve been through lawnmower, helicopter and cat purr before the fridge.

I am praying this is all a spike and will return back to the baseline, because this is driving me insane lately.

 

Not sure if you are asking me? I have no idea. I suppose what I have is loudness hyperacusis? Else what, annoyance hyperacusis? Does annoyance imply loudness? I guess, as otherwise it would be just misophonia.

I guess something may be louder, but not necessarily annoying. Well, all these things are definitely annoying to me - they generally were, but not so much when they were perceived at normal loudness. Frankly, the small planes are interesting - actually I did not mind them at all before. Really. I almost found them soothing, or at least neutral. Never once complained about them. Now I hate them the same or more than motorbikes.

I also recall that tolerance to sound, or misophonia was a function of mood/stress. This is I guess just a universal thing - one can tolerate more annoyances of various kind if in good mood/no stress state.

If I only knew how to reduce my constant state of high stress now

 

Yea, I was asking you. I think you 100% have loudness hyperacusis. You gave me the realisation and confirmation I too am dealing with loudness hyperacusis. But also like you, it doesn’t seem to be tied to everything; primarily the low-frequency sounds makes it worse.

Planes and helicopters are definitely my worst annoyance so far which is incredibly upsetting for me, we often have the occasional military aircraft flyover and it’s a good sight.

And I’m lucky where I live in the sense that I’m surrounded by a lot of country. Every year they organise a 20 minute low flyby pass of a Spitfire. I love sitting in the yard and watching that thing, the sound of it is also incredible. I can’t imagine being anywhere near it this year with how I am currently am. If a fridge sounds as loud as car, then I can only image a low flying Spitfire will sound like one of Elon Musk’s rockets strapped directly to my eardrum. And I don’t think I would want to endure the resulting tinnitus spike of that!

 

Yeah, the brain makes no sense. Maybe it's the "central gain"? Since maybe our low frequencies are just fine (no damage whatsoever), but the gain is across the board, and that's why low frequency stuff seems louder?

Clearly, tinnitus + hyperacusis is where evolution failed us. Many of us get it later in life after we procreated. There is the theory that the gain allowed us to hear predators after hearing loss. Maybe it might have developed in another species we descend from.

In any case, our brains are stupid pieces of garbage. Hearing some shit less would not be a big deal compared to tinnitus + hyperacusis.

 

So some people apparently recover/improve from hyperacusis? What's the recovery mechanism? I suppose nobody really knows, since the mechanism of hyperacusis is not well understood.

Today is a day of relatively quieter tinnitus, hence my focus on hyperacusis. If I moved to a quiet remote place, hyperacusis triggers (motorbikes, trucks, planes) would stop being an issue.

 

The order of seriousness and likelihood of recovery probably looks something like this:

1) Hyperacusis - Best chance of recovery, even from doing nothing.
2) Tinnitus - Fair chance of recovery, provided you protect your ears.
3) Dysacusis - Difficult to recover from but can happen.
4) Hearing loss - Almost no chance of recovery.

 

I’m glad today has been a better day for you!

I’m just truly lost with all this shit now, yesterday I did loudish stuff and I don’t think it has spiked my tinnitus, I even had a few moments it was masked. I also had a positive doctor’s appointment that listened to my theory of my spike and agreed it could be the cause. She noticed my swollen lymph nodes in the neck and jaw, I told her I had just come off of a 7 month long run of a decongestant, and the 1st day of cold turkeying I got gum inflammation and static fullness sensation in my ears for three days before this shit spiked up to whole hell. Rebound congestion (which I’m assuming is inflammation) is a common long term side effect after prolonged use of the spray I was using.

I got maybe an hour of relief and optimism that there may be an underlying cause that could resolve this, so why I am now in my lowest place? I have never felt so low and hopeless before, I honestly hate typing this out and admitting to myself the position I am in. I’m often known for not letting anything get to me and my positive outlook on life. Now there is no positivity, I don’t see much of a future and I am struggling with that.

 

I'm moderately better, but my mood sucks.

Sorry to hear about where you are now, @Hardwell. You are a good guy, despite your own suffering you have shown me sympathy and lots of encouragement. I hope you can survive this. You seem indeed way more positive than I am. Heck, I am all about negativity. Sorry if that weighs down on you (and others).

Congestion/sinus stuff is almost certainly relevant. I am 99% sure that the sinus infection I had at the time of my acoustic trauma is at least co-responsible for my injury. First, it changed the perception of loudness, second I bet it contributed to the damage.

 

Well, I have (1), (2) and (4). Since (4) is quite certainly cause for both (1) and (2), I guess it does not bode well for me at all.

 

Same as me. Sucks.

 

@Hardwell, how are you doing today?

 

It seemed to last 3 or 4 days, it’s now my extractor fan as the head tone. Every so slightly less annoying though.

 

It certainly sounds like you have a reactivity that mimics external sounds. I have the same and am careful to avoid continuous electrical noises.

At least it was gone within a week which is easily tolerable.

 

It is pretty crazy you get noises that last for days. My tinnitus is realtime reactive. It resets within minutes or less.

 

I hate to say it’s gone within a week, that specific noise is gone within a week but it only goes because it’s replaced with another. So there’s always something unfortunately.

Ahhh, I think I get both, for example having a shower or driving will raise my tinnitus, might take a few seconds or minutes. But it will rise and then it can take minutes or hours to subside.

 

I reported this in another thread, but I will update it here. Three days ago my hyperacusis spiked and now I seem to be sensitive to other sounds: silverware, plates, refrigerator again, chewing. Forced air hearing sounded like jet. Boiling water sounded like volcano eruption. Motorbikes, small planes are even louder. Yet, human voice is not a problem still. Maybe slightly louder than normal.

It slightly improved since then, but maybe 20%. But it is weird still. I was near a city today and a large passenger jet flew over my head. I was without hearing protection, yes it was loud, but not crazily so. Kinda like I remember them. This is so weird, because the small planes I have at home appear maddeningly louder.

WTF is going? How much is in in the brain vs. elsewhere in the auditory system? Is it some interplay of misophonia and hyperacusis? I.e. I get worse reaction to certain sounds due to my emotions about them (like I hate these fat ugly men on Harleys)? But I have no negative thoughts about plates or silverware for God's sake, I like to eat food using plates and silverware!

Or my child chewing food - always ate quietly, kept mouth shut, etc. - not once in life this kid irritated me while eating. An older sibling yes, had issues/habit eating loudly, and irritated me in the past (before tinnitus/hyperacusis).

It makes no sense. At the same time, my tinnitus today seems to be milder. Noticeable, but tolerable. Maybe I am making some progress on habituation? (EDIT: Not habituation, my tinnitus is simply quieter today.)

 

I should update this thread. After hyperacusis setbacks, I reduced hearing protection. I stopped using earmuffs to sleep and generally use earplugs only when I drive (not always) and outside in environments I don't control. I just use -26 dB musician earplugs and occasionally foam earplugs (in a loud car).

I also started to use sound enrichment (cricket sounds) at night and often during the day. This seems to be also helping, including reducing reactivity of my tinnitus.

It is not easy to me to assess my hyperacusis. I never have physical discomfort, it's just that sounds are distressingly louder. I know they should not be as loud and that causes distress and anxiety or just severe annoyance. Motorbikes, trucks and planes particularly annoy me. A/C compressor outside is very distressing and I cannot tolerate it. Refrigerator is distracting but tolerable. Water boiling in electric kettle is very uncomfortable and causes reactive tinnitus increase.

Now, the result of increased exposure and sound enrichment is that my hyperacusis has improved. It fluctuates and seems to be in lockstep with tinnitus, especially with spikes after waking up. A short nap badly spikes my tinnitus and so hyperacusis.

All things listed above are still abnormal, but more tolerable. Less annoyance and less distress. Maybe 30-40% less, hard to tell.

 

Yes. It causes an epileptic fit of sound in my ears lol.

 

Who would ever think a boiling kettle would be such an issue to us

 

Hey @gameover, do you still experience any loudness hyperacusis with high-frequency things like dishes or dropping something hard on a hard surface? I think I remember you mentioning this at some point..

My hyperacusis seems to be the opposite of what you experience, as low-frequency things are way easier for me to tolerate, although not fully comfortable

I also relate to your anger. Do you also find if you're the one making the same sound, it doesn't trigger such rage?

Anyway, hang in there, hopefully, things will take a positive turn, and disappearing into oblivion doesn't seem so tempting anymore!

 

Sorry, I missed your post.

So my loudness hyperacusis is again biased towards the low-frequency spectrum, I think. It is mostly back to the state when I started this thread, i.e. the subsequent worsening mostly receded. Everything seems to be louder than normal, but the annoyance is mostly about motorbikes, diesel trucks, small planes, etc. Dishes seem louder, slightly uncomfortable but not as annoying.

I think the fair summary is that everything is louder than normal, but only certain sounds are annoying. Basically a combo of mild/moderate loudness hyperacusis with a broad spectrum of misophonia on top of it. The annoyance part may be about duration and intensity. When a plane goes by it takes a while. A loud clang of dishes is short. Anyway, this is a wretched condition. I also have no pain.

As to one making the same sound not causing anger. I think this is typical of misophonia. And it is more of the context. Like I would be pissed at people eating in the office's open space (and making noises). I would have no problem with same noises in a cafeteria. But then the background noise in cafeteria is much different (louder).

 

Hyperacusis update:

I completely stopped overprotecting and lived somewhat normal life for a bit. Basically using earplugs in car and pretty much anywhere above 70 dB. Early July I flew for a vacation to a Caribbean island, staying in a secluded quiet cottage in the middle of a rainforest. The cicadas and birds were blaring loud, but it was actually nice and it often blended with my tinnitus. I had a good time. Hyperacusis was a real pain on the plane, but I survived using double protection.

It was trending better after the vacation until early August, where it spiked. And it remains elevated since. It is not at its worst like in May, but it remains stubbornly higher. Everything seems louder, eating meals with the family is difficult, electric kettle is again hard to tolerate (I was able to during my good period), motorbikes and cars remain annoying, creaking wood floor pisses me off, I cannot stand the sound of air from the central A/C in louder parts of the house.

Since the vacation I was taking it easy and careful. Just the occasional car ride in earplugs, walks in the woods, therapist visits, coffee shops (outside). Always with earplugs except at home and in the woods.

So overall plenty of normal sound exposure. On and off I was using sound enrichment, starting at the end of May or so. I stopped after coming back from the vacation, and resumed again. No idea if it helps or hurts in the end.

I still do not have real issues with:

• People talking, even somewhat loud
• Phone conversation, even on a crappy speaker
• Music/TV on low/moderate volume
• Electric toothbrush
• Shower or running tap water
• Birds chirping

Summary is - my hyperacusis (along with tinnitus) is deteriorating without loud noises and from being exposed to low/normal noises on a regular basis.

I now also get mild burning sensation inside my ears. Not very frequently, not every day, but maybe half of the days, for some seconds, probably still under one minute, maybe two total. It looks like an early onset of noxacusis.

If it wasn't for hyperacusis, even with the loud, often severe tinnitus, I could see myself returning to life. Hyperacusis is nixing those plans.

 

My hyperacusis has really increased in the last 6 weeks despite my tinnitus suddenly worsening much longer ago - about 19 months.

I went to a family gathering back in April and don't recall being bothered by anyone raising their voice and laughing. I never wore earplugs that day.

I went to one yesterday at the same location, and it happened quite often, even late when fewer people were there. I even put in musician's earplugs at times, which I never felt a need for back in April. I also experienced some TTTS (MEM) fluttering when speaking among a smaller group.

Low frequency sounds don't seem to be much of an issue for me.

Tinnitus seems worse today. The tinnitus and hyperacusis are both terrible, but most days the tinnitus is worse for me.

 

I hate both, it just varies with day or moment. Anything beyond mild tinnitus is a torture.

 

Found this, rather interesting. I have high frequency hearing loss but still the low frequency sounds like motorbikes bother me more:

Physiological mechanisms of hyperacusis: an update

It is not consistent though, because plates are rather high frequency and still bother me. I also now think I tolerate human voices better because most people interacting with me know to keep their voice down....

Anyway, this part indicates that they have some ideas but nobody really knows:

Here is the related paper, I don't see it referenced much on Tinnitus Talk, an interesting read:

Central Gain Control in Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

Reading it, I have no I idea how hyperacusis can improve/recede without restoration of hearing loss (in case of noise-induced hearing loss). This sort of reinforces my lack of hope/resignation that my loudness hyperacusis is here to stay. Or tinnitus for that matter...

 

Indeed. My tinnitus is most certainly from noise induced hearing loss, mostly longer term with repeated exposures / trauma and worsening 19 months ago, so there's not much hope for me. I then started experiencing TTTS 3 months ago. And hyperacusis is a more recent development, becoming more obvious about 6 weeks ago. Also terrifying are the posts from people stating they had hyperacusis that later worsened into pain hyperacusis / noxacusis. You realize things are getting worse over a matter of months and can continue to. It's no longer just about living with tinnitus and the anxiety/insomnia/brain fog it brings.