Seven Months After Acoustic Trauma: Tangled Between Progress and Fear

[Scruffiey]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, brother, for the excellent advice. I am hoping for your full recovery soon, and I am wishing the same for everyone else who is suffering. May each day lift you a little more and lighten your burden until you reach complete recovery.

I am pretty sure I have recovered as much as I am going to at this point, but I appreciate the sentiment.

We all went through what you are experiencing now, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that you get complete remission, or at least close to it. Hopefully, you will be in the success stories section in a year or two. I have a feeling you will.

 

[hubast]

Well, thank you so much, @Scruffiey, for your reply. I appreciate you. It is great to share information here with people who have this in common, because no one else truly understands what we're going through. It certainly helps to talk with others and to pray for each other for endurance and recovery. Thank you.

With this dilemma, do you think it is better to stay at home or brave the world with earplugs in your holster? I've had to put them in while driving because the road noise was too much.

 

[Badger55]

I have been on the tinnitus bus for 33 years, so I know a few things.

If you do not have any pain, muffling, sound distortion, or fullness in the ear, do not bother with an MRI or CT scan. They are pushing it because that is how they make their money. I learned that the hard way, since a completely useless test permanently exacerbated my tinnitus.

As for Mirtazapine, be very careful with it. A lot of people on this forum have had serious problems with it. I took it for a while and it caused tachycardia, and it also exacerbated my tinnitus when I tried to taper off 7.5 mg. I prefer Dayvigo.

As for driving, get yourself a pair of 3M XSA Peltors and wear them consistently, and good luck.

As @Sonia554 suggests, your chances of significant improvement are good, but you must protect your ears and avoid noisy environments, likely for the rest of your life.

 

[Scruffiey]

Well, thank you so much, @Scruffiey, for your reply. I appreciate you. It is great to share information here with people who have this in common, because no one else truly understands what we're going through. It certainly helps to talk with others and to pray for each other for endurance and recovery. Thank you.

With this dilemma, do you think it is better to stay at home or brave the world with earplugs in your holster? I've had to put them in while driving because the road noise was too much.

That I cannot answer for you. You will have to make your own judgments and learn your own limits. My ears are not your ears, my tolerances are not your tolerances, my damage is not your damage, and nothing in life is guaranteed or completely safe in any situation.

Would I suggest a life of complete solitude? No, you would lose your mind. Would I recommend walking down noisy streets or visiting busy shops without protection? Again, no.

Hopefully you have some nature nearby. Go fishing, hiking, photographing, or whatever feels like a good time to you. It is usually a good place to start when you are trying to find your bearings and understand what you can tolerate. With any luck, the sounds of nature will be enough to mostly cover and distract you from the tinnitus for a few hours. If nothing else, it will support your mental health, which is the main hurdle during the first six months and beyond.

As the months go by, you will probably be able and willing to push things a bit further. You might get a small setback for a week or two here and there, but as long as you are not sitting in busy restaurants without protection, you are likely relatively safe.

My limit is a quiet pub or a cafe garden. A few beers take the edge off and temporarily raise my sound tolerance, although that is a personal choice and not medical advice. I can handle a conversation with a few people, although I pay for it with a bit of extra discomfort for a day or two afterward. My ears were in constant, raw, burning pain for six months. I could barely tolerate a running tap, and over a year later they often still feel cramped or irritated. Things do not sound overly loud anymore, but my tolerance is still reduced.

From what you have described, it sounds like you mainly have loudness hyperacusis rather than the painful type. In that case, you will likely recover better than I have, and you may have more freedom once time has done its work, based on the experiences of others. It is entirely possible that you will make a full recovery and only need to take precautions rather than constant mitigation going forward. You would not be the first.

 

[hubast]

That I cannot answer for you. You will have to make your own judgments and learn your own limits. My ears are not your ears, my tolerances are not your tolerances, my damage is not your damage, and nothing in life is guaranteed or completely safe in any situation.

Would I suggest a life of complete solitude? No, you would lose your mind. Would I recommend walking down noisy streets or visiting busy shops without protection? Again, no.

Hopefully you have some nature nearby. Go fishing, hiking, photographing, or whatever feels like a good time to you. It is usually a good place to start when you are trying to find your bearings and understand what you can tolerate. With any luck, the sounds of nature will be enough to mostly cover and distract you from the tinnitus for a few hours. If nothing else, it will support your mental health, which is the main hurdle during the first six months and beyond.

As the months go by, you will probably be able and willing to push things a bit further. You might get a small setback for a week or two here and there, but as long as you are not sitting in busy restaurants without protection, you are likely relatively safe.

My limit is a quiet pub or a cafe garden. A few beers take the edge off and temporarily raise my sound tolerance, although that is a personal choice and not medical advice. I can handle a conversation with a few people, although I pay for it with a bit of extra discomfort for a day or two afterward. My ears were in constant, raw, burning pain for six months. I could barely tolerate a running tap, and over a year later they often still feel cramped or irritated. Things do not sound overly loud anymore, but my tolerance is still reduced.

From what you have described, it sounds like you mainly have loudness hyperacusis rather than the painful type. In that case, you will likely recover better than I have, and you may have more freedom once time has done its work, based on the experiences of others. It is entirely possible that you will make a full recovery and only need to take precautions rather than constant mitigation going forward. You would not be the first.

Thank you kindly for your reply, @Scruffiey. I really appreciate your honesty and valuable advice about this. It is great to have friends like you, and during the tough times it does not feel so lonely when you know you have brothers out there fighting the same fight with you. Thank you.

Today I traveled about 3 hours on the road in my Toyota Highlander. On some of the rougher roads I had to protect, but on the smoother ones I did not, around 62 dB. I also bought an assorted fruit bowl for the ride.

After work, when I was in my driveway and the Toyota was parked but still running, the sound was the perfect pitch to give the tinnitus quite a cancel. I loved it. I sat in the driveway for about 15 minutes just enjoying the peace.