Scared of Getting Hearing Checked in a Soundproof Room

[Lynny]

I'm so scared of being in a soundproof room and being fully confronted with my tinnitus. I've been (semi)masking 24/7 and I freak out in quiet places, let alone soundproof places. Any tips?

 

[JohnAdams]

I'm so scared of being in a soundproof room and being fully confronted with my tinnitus. I've been (semi)masking 24/7 and I freak out in quiet places, let alone soundproof places. Any tips?

It sucks but it will go by quickly. There is a test that plays a very loud sound to measure the pressure inside and outside your ears. The device is like a wand thing they put in your ear. I'd avoid that like the plague if I were you.

 

[Lynny]

It sucks but it will go by quickly. There is a test that plays a very loud sound to measure the pressure inside and outside your ears. The device is like a wand thing they put in your ear. I'd avoid that like the plague if I were you.

Oh gosh. Thanks for the tip. Things is, even though it will be over quickly, I know I will be so scared and anxious afterwards. Every time I've been confronted with it I've become severly depressed and anxious for up to 2 weeks after the exposure. Even when I'm masking. I don't understand how people with t handle fully listening to it, even for a little while.

 

[JohnAdams]

Oh gosh. Thanks for the tip. Things is, even though it will be over quickly, I know I will be so scared and anxious afterwards. Every time I've been confronted with it I've become severly depressed and anxious for up to 2 weeks after the exposure. Even when I'm masking. I don't understand how people with t handle fully listening to it, even for a little while.

Yeah it's an ugly sound. Just be strong and confident and you'll be fine.

 

[John Mahan]

Underlying anxiety...many suffer here including me is a real problem with tinnitus. In fact, it could be speculated that many that contract tinnitus is based upon a brain chemistry that is predisposed toward anxiety. Tinnitus merely accentuates this disposition which may trend high for a long period of time and in fact may contribute to contracting tinnitus. Anecdotal accounts here seem to suggest this is the case. Medication helps tremendously as needed. Yes, a little tiny pill can change your outlook completely and make you feel close to normal again even with the noise in your head.

I just had an audiologist perform an evaluation. It went OK. I didn't take any meds prior to the visit.

If you are a bit freaked out, meds are avail...like Xanax, Ativan, Clonazepam...benzo's...to calm you down which makes coping with tinnitus MUCH easier. I am in the 'as needed' camp.

If you are in the early stages consider having your doctor prescribe a med to calm you down as you confront many things that you maybe fearful of. What freaks each of us out varies by the individual. For example I have no fear of being in a silent room with my tinnitus. But being in loud crowded places makes me uneasy due to my hearing deficit.

Good luck.

 

[Lynny]

Underlying anxiety...many suffer here including me is a real problem with tinnitus. In fact, it could be speculated that many that contract tinnitus is based upon a brain chemistry that is predisposed toward anxiety. Tinnitus merely accentuates this disposition which may trend high for a long period of time and in fact may contribute to contracting tinnitus. Anecdotal accounts here seem to suggest this is the case. Medication helps tremendously as needed. Yes, a little tiny pill can change your outlook completely and make you feel close to normal again even with the noise in your head.

I just had an audiologist perform an evaluation. It went OK. I didn't take any meds prior to the visit.

If you are a bit freaked out, meds are avail...like Xanax, Ativan, Clonazepam...benzo's...to calm you down which makes coping with tinnitus MUCH easier. I am in the 'as needed' camp.

If you are in the early stages consider having your doctor prescribe a med to calm you down as you confront many things that you maybe fearful of. What freaks each of us out varies by the individual. For example I have no fear of being in a silent room with my tinnitus. But being in loud crowded places makes me uneasy due to my hearing deficit.

Good luck.

Thanks John, that's good advice. I'm glad your visit went well.

Regarding anxiety and tinnitus; I've also read being in silence has been proven to be beneficial for brain development and will lower blood pressure.. so I'm sure not being able to find silence can be connected to anxiety as well

I'm currently already dependent on alpralozelam (xanax) but I do plan on taking a bit more for my visit. Would you mind describing the standard protocol when it comes to hearing checks with an audiologist?

Hope you had a good day!

 

[linearb]

I find it calming; ymmv.

just avoid/ refuse evoked emissions tests.

 

[Lynny]

I find it calming; ymmv.

just avoid/ refuse evoked emissions tests.

Evoked emissions tests?

 

[Contrast]

I'm scared of the hearing test giving you an inaccurate result. Such as telling you your hearing is fine when it's not.

read
https://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss

 

[John Mahan]

Lynny as to testing protocol...likely varies a bit based upon your practitioner. I was fortunate to find a Dr. in Audiology who remarkably was the daughter of an audiologist. You will laugh but when she read my form I filled out about my condition, she knew I was an engineer. In spite of her training and academic pedigree, she smiled and said her and me were a good mix because she is much more right brained. She says tech isn't her thing and she believes there is a lot of 'art' when it comes to fitting hearing aids and addressing hearing loss which I agree with.

Protocol is kind of how you would imagine. Beeps through headphones in a sound proof room. I could hear my tinnitus and heartbeat and in fact, my tinnitus may have drowned out some of the highs I couldn't hear...presuming this is not uncommon.

I will give you one tip however. Perhaps something to avoid. I suffer from some level of hypercusis or my brain turning up the amplification of sound. She tested for this. I didn't like this protocol because it kind of hurt my ears. I almost jumped out of the chair when she was 'searching for my threshold'. I kind of forewarned her that my ears were sound sensitive...even though I don't hear high's very well as confirmed by frequency testing..but didn't help. I found this test procedure to be needlessly clumsy but not sure how to determine unacceptable dB limit without testing for it.
I cover my ears when I firetruck goes by for example if at a street side café. Others aren't as bothered.

So you may want to mention to your tester....or ask, do you test of maximum sound level to deduce amplification shift? aka hypercusis? If so, how do you establish this dB level?....do you gradually increase volume...or bring volume up quickly as did my tester?

So that is one complaint but otherwise, all went pretty much as expected. Some of the beeps were a bit loud and some were a bit too soft to discern...or wasn't absolutely sure.

They do some other tests like pressure tests which I believe determines flexibility of the ear drum.

If you are the type of person that really wants to know precisely what they do, I would be sure to ask...in particular above any testing to determine what volume you maybe uncomfortable listening to.

Good luck, have fun and be excited to learn more about your hearing in our collective quest to better understand the relationship between our hearing and tinnitus.

Please know the real reason I went....and mentally I am not completely comfortable with the 'idea' of wearing hearing aids....I don't like stuff hanging on my body and there is the vanity element as well...but some speculate that properly tuned hearing aids, helping to fill in the highs in particular the brain can no longer hear, for many this has lowered their tinnitus. Both my primary care doctor and this Dr. of Audiology believes this to be a credible benefit of hearing aids....or can be.

Let us know how you do as we learn about this condition together.

PS. I am sure as with many, hearing loss and tinnitus was the last thing I ever thought I would have to contend with in my life. I have had pretty much perfect hearing and no tinnitus my whole life. Of course we all went to school with select individuals with hearing challenges likely most of us didn't know why. Like some kind of birth defect. I have met people and have one friend that has had 'tinnitus his whole life'. He is a smart guy and working on his PhD and he told me he thought it was normal to have background sound and that he thought everybody had it until he learned otherwise. Honestly, hearing loss and tinnitus was the last thing I ever thought I would have to concern myself with. So I didn't think this was going to happen to me...but rather what may happen to other people. Until it happened to me.

 

[Lynny]

I'm scared of the hearing test giving you an inaccurate result. Such as telling you your hearing is fine when it's not.

read
https://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss

Yeah I know, but I figure its better to check it anyway. Its probably hearing loss regardless of the results, I suppose

 

[Lynny]

Lynny as to testing protocol...likely varies a bit based upon your practitioner. I was fortunate to find a Dr. in Audiology who remarkably was the daughter of an audiologist. You will laugh but when she read my form I filled out about my condition, she knew I was an engineer. In spite of her training and academic pedigree, she smiled and said her and me were a good mix because she is much more right brained. She says tech isn't her thing and she believes there is a lot of 'art' when it comes to fitting hearing aids and addressing hearing loss which I agree with.

Protocol is kind of how you would imagine. Beeps through headphones in a sound proof room. I could hear my tinnitus and heartbeat and in fact, my tinnitus may have drowned out some of the highs I couldn't hear...presuming this is not uncommon.

I will give you one tip however. Perhaps something to avoid. I suffer from some level of hypercusis or my brain turning up the amplification of sound. She tested for this. I didn't like this protocol because it kind of hurt my ears. I almost jumped out of the chair when she was 'searching for my threshold'. I kind of forewarned her that my ears were sound sensitive...even though I don't hear high's very well as confirmed by frequency testing..but didn't help. I found this test procedure to be needlessly clumsy but not sure how to determine unacceptable dB limit without testing for it.
I cover my ears when I firetruck goes by for example if at a street side café. Others aren't as bothered.

So you may want to mention to your tester....or ask, do you test of maximum sound level to deduce amplification shift? aka hypercusis? If so, how do you establish this dB level?....do you gradually increase volume...or bring volume up quickly as did my tester?

So that is one complaint but otherwise, all went pretty much as expected. Some of the beeps were a bit loud and some were a bit too soft to discern...or wasn't absolutely sure.

They do some other tests like pressure tests which I believe determines flexibility of the ear drum.

If you are the type of person that really wants to know precisely what they do, I would be sure to ask...in particular above any testing to determine what volume you maybe uncomfortable listening to.

Good luck, have fun and be excited to learn more about your hearing in our collective quest to better understand the relationship between our hearing and tinnitus.

Please know the real reason I went....and mentally I am not completely comfortable with the 'idea' of wearing hearing aids....I don't like stuff hanging on my body and there is the vanity element as well...but some speculate that properly tuned hearing aids, helping to fill in the highs in particular the brain can no longer hear, for many this has lowered their tinnitus. Both my primary care doctor and this Dr. of Audiology believes this to be a credible benefit of hearing aids....or can be.

Let us know how you do as we learn about this condition together.

PS. I am sure as with many, hearing loss and tinnitus was the last thing I ever thought I would have to contend with in my life. I have had pretty much perfect hearing and no tinnitus my whole life. Of course we all went to school with select individuals with hearing challenges likely most of us didn't know why. Like some kind of birth defect. I have met people and have one friend that has had 'tinnitus his whole life'. He is a smart guy and working on his PhD and he told me he thought it was normal to have background sound and that he thought everybody had it until he learned otherwise. Honestly, hearing loss and tinnitus was the last thing I ever thought I would have to concern myself with. So I didn't think this was going to happen to me...but rather what may happen to other people. Until it happened to me.

Thanks for taking the time to reply! Means a lot.

I'll ask not to have any testing on my hyperacusis, the sound of a firetruck always hurts my ears (and also makes me freak out for a few seconds wondering wether its part of my t or outside noise.)

I wonder how severe that guy's T is, but its cool to hear of people going on to actually do things in their lives, regardless of t

I've been told there's a lot of hearing aids that are barely visible, perhaps that might be an idea for you? As for me I would wear the biggest and ugliest hearing aid if it decreased my perception of t..

but I'm pretty sure my hearing generally isn't that bad, as I hear things other people don't, even when I'm the one wearing earphones. My ENT only does appointments after clients visit an audiologist beforehand so I have no choice but to get my hearing checked. Still it might give me some information as to why there's a bunch of alarms going crazy inside my head

 

[Mila9828]

Hey! I just wanted to ask how old you were? You look young like me hehe, also do you have tinnitus in both ears? I have yet to visit an audiologist but please be optimistic. It's ironic for me to say that because I wake up with anxiety everyday but I believe in you!

 

[linearb]

I'm scared of the hearing test giving you an inaccurate result. Such as telling you your hearing is fine when it's not.

read
https://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss

Please quit it with your alarmism, this HHL meme is tired. The fact that hearing tests aren't completely accurate isn't a reason not to do them, and I think anyone having hearing issues is well advised to have them on a somewhat regular basis, to have a baseline and then be able to see any change over time.

Just because a tool has some obvious limitations, isn't a reason to throw it out until we have a better option. Hearing tests are harmless and very inexpensive and easy to perform compared to any of the space-tech visualization that might be in the pipeline.

 

[vttbx]

I'm scared of the hearing test giving you an inaccurate result. Such as telling you your hearing is fine when it's not.

read
https://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss

Is the inverse possible? Could a hearing test tell you it's bad when it's not?

 

[John Mahan]

Thanks for taking the time to reply! Means a lot.

I'll ask not to have any testing on my hyperacusis, the sound of a firetruck always hurts my ears (and also makes me freak out for a few seconds wondering wether its part of my t or outside noise.)

I wonder how severe that guy's T is, but its cool to hear of people going on to actually do things in their lives, regardless of t

I've been told there's a lot of hearing aids that are barely visible, perhaps that might be an idea for you? As for me I would wear the biggest and ugliest hearing aid if it decreased my perception of t..

but I'm pretty sure my hearing generally isn't that bad, as I hear things other people don't, even when I'm the one wearing earphones. My ENT only does appointments after clients visit an audiologist beforehand so I have no choice but to get my hearing checked. Still it might give me some information as to why there's a bunch of alarms going crazy inside my head

Sounds good Lynny. Please be sure to share your experience with us after you have your hearing checked.
As to the hearing aid eye sore...yes there are many varieties. One thing I learned is the bigger the unit...like behind the ear, the better the battery life. So I will have to determine if I do in ear hearing aids or maybe over the year.

I sometimes wear glasses when working on the computer and watching TV and don't know how having the battery behind the ear would interfere with the glasses frame stems. My elderly Mom has very high end completely in the ear hearing aids she likes because they don't interfere with her glasses.

There is a funny dynamic to old people and wearing hearing aids I will share briefly. Latest higher end hearing aids have bluetooth as an option. Pretty cool tech for those with profound hearing loss. So if you have a bluetooth sending unit...from any music source, you can hear it right through the hearing aids. This is a god send with older people who have major hearing loss like my beloved Mom. She can be in the kitchen cooking now and hear the TV with volume set real low because her hearing aids pick up the Bluetooth signal from the TV. This is pretty awesome. Before, she would crank the TV and blast everybody out which was beyond annoying because I have loud sound sensitivity in particular.

I won't need Bluetooth....I hear the TV pretty well at low listening levels.

Not sure what config hearing aid I may opt for. Going in for my fitting tomorrow. Will see how it goes. I am not convinced I will purchase the hearing aids in fact after the trial basis. I am primarily interested to see if they either mask or help reduce my tinnitus by filling in the highs. The Audiologist as stated said there is a great deal of art trying to find the best solution based upon a particular individual's hearing challenge which makes sense.

 

[GregCA]

Sounds good Lynny. Please be sure to share your experience with us after you have your hearing checked.
As to the hearing aid eye sore...yes there are many varieties. One thing I learned is the bigger the unit...like behind the ear, the better the battery life. So I will have to determine if I do in ear hearing aids or maybe over the year.

I have a BTE hearing aid, and people do not notice it.

I sometimes wear glasses when working on the computer and watching TV and don't know how having the battery behind the ear would interfere with the glasses frame stems.

It does interfere, but it depends on how thick your stems are. For my sunglasses, there is more impact because of the thickness, but my reading glasses do not cause any trouble.

 

[Contrast]

Is the inverse possible? Could a hearing test tell you it's bad when it's not?

yeah bro, there's earlets out there that think hearing is suppose to cutoff at 10k and think it's normal for music to sound like a wall of incoherent noise.

 

[Fabrikat]

One thing I learned is the bigger the unit...like behind the ear, the better the battery life.

Most of the big hearing aid manufacturers make models now that are rechargeable. No fiddling with batteries at all. And no bigger than their regular units that do use batteries.

 

[John Mahan]

I have a BTE hearing aid, and people do not notice it.



It does interfere, but it depends on how thick your stems are. For my sunglasses, there is more impact because of the thickness, but my reading glasses do not cause any trouble.

Thanks a lot Greg. Just what I needed to know.

 

[John Mahan]

Most of the big hearing aid manufacturers make models now that are rechargeable. No fiddling with batteries at all. And no bigger than their regular units that do use batteries.

Thanks Fabrikat.

 

[Lynny]

Well this was the worst experience of my life. I don' t even know where to begin. I'm on the train back home but I was so devastated I can't even feel anything. It's like I'm numb (perhaps my mind is in shock protecting me from my anxiety or something). The sounds in my ears were like a whole orchestra (from hell); so many sounds. It was almost impossible to separate my tinnitus sounds from the soundcheck sounds. I was crying and we had to stop halfway. Luckily the doctor was understanding and got me some water.

And they told me what I'd expected. I never thought I'd be so so sad to hear the words 'there's nothing wrong with you'. There was only a slight dip in my hearing, it was near perfect they said.

I considered jumping in front of the train just now, that's how scared I am to keep living.

Sorry for the depressing post. I'm at my wit's end.

Hope others are doing better

L

 

[John Mahan]

Well this was the worst experience of my life. I don' t even know where to begin. I'm on the train back home but I was so devastated I can't even feel anything. It's like I'm numb (perhaps my mind is in shock protecting me from my anxiety or something). The sounds in my ears were like a whole orchestra (from hell); so many sounds. It was almost impossible to separate my tinnitus sounds from the soundcheck sounds. I was crying and we had to stop halfway. Luckily the doctor was understanding and got me some water.

And they told me what I'd expected. I never thought I'd be so so sad to hear the words 'there's nothing wrong with you'. There was only a slight dip in my hearing, it was near perfect they said.

I considered jumping in front of the train just now, that's how scared I am to keep living.

Sorry for the depressing post. I'm at my wit's end.

Hope others are doing better

L

As reflected in your other post Lynny, there is a cry for help based upon your depression.
Depression or anxiety are the absolute worst. Good news is, there is help. Countless struggle with it for different reasons.

My personal belief is...you need medication. You need to very quickly find a mental health care professional to work with to find the happiness you deserve which will likely lower your tinnitus as well.
Please know you CAN break this repetitious cycle you are in which contributes to your despair.

 

[John Mahan]

yeah bro, there's earlets out there that think hearing is suppose to cutoff at 10k and think it's normal for music to sound like a wall of incoherent noise.

Contrast can you explain further? What's an earlet? What do you mean about cutoff of 10K hz and wall of incoherent noise?

 

[GregCA]

And they told me what I'd expected. I never thought I'd be so so sad to hear the words 'there's nothing wrong with you'. There was only a slight dip in my hearing, it was near perfect they said.

I considered jumping in front of the train just now, that's how scared I am to keep living.

Sorry for the depressing post. I'm at my wit's end.

Take this flowchart to your doc and start working through it: https://www.tinnitusresearch.net/index.php/for-clinicians/diagnostic-flowchart

You need to try and root cause your T.

 

[Contrast]

Contrast can you explain further? What's an earlet? What do you mean about cutoff of 10K hz and wall of incoherent noise?

1: earlet is a crude slang term I invented for someone with poor hearing, it's based on memes about manlets https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/manlet

2: 10khz cutoff means onces hearing cuts off at 10000hz

3: Someone has trouble processing music or speech in a noisy bar, it sounds like mush or a wall of incoherent noise.

 

[Lynny]

Take this flowchart to your doc and start working through it: https://www.tinnitusresearch.net/index.php/for-clinicians/diagnostic-flowchart

You need to try and root cause your T.

Thank you Greg. That is actually very helpful. They already think its due to psychiatric issues though, which I personally doubt but they're sure of it. CBT did nothing for me. Still I should try getting some of those things done before I make any rash decisions. Thanks again.

 

[Lynny]

I find it calming; ymmv.

just avoid/ refuse evoked emissions tests.

How do you find it calming?

 

[John Mahan]

1: earlet is a crude slang term I invented for someone with poor hearing, it's based on memes about manlets https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/manlet

2: 10khz cutoff means onces hearing cuts off at 10000hz

3: Someone has trouble processing music or speech in a noisy bar, it sounds like mush or a wall of incoherent noise.

I see. You are adding some hipster parochial smack talk slang to tinnitus lexicon.
I wonder if it will catch on because how many can hear you?
Didn't know about the manlet reference because I'm 6'1". Of course taller guys like me know the world is alive and well with short man's complex.

 

[GregCA]

They already think its due to psychiatric issues though, which I personally doubt but they're sure of it.

Why would they think it's psy?