Sudden Onset of External Sounds Being Too Loud — I Guess This Is Hyperacusis?

Hi All

Without going into details I’ve had tinnitus for 10 years or so but very mild. About 6 months ago it got a lot worse but I had been feeling much better recently.

The past few days I have been noticing that I’m sensitive to noise and today it’s been hell; every noise seems so loud and my ears are sore.

I am guessing this is hyperacusis? What advice is there for people to deal with this on first onset?

Any hope or tips would be so appreciated. I have no idea why this is started and really am at the end of my wits'.

 

Hi @Zigs being sensitive to sound and every noise seeming loud sounds like hyperacuisis. I would suggest you try to make yourself comfortable by trying to avoid sounds that are loud. I listened to my body and when there was pain I tried to stop that noise or lower that noise that was causing it. I also felt that a Low noise , Low stress environment helped me a lot. I protected my ears a lot, maybe many would think I was overdoing it but if it caused my ears pain and soreness, I immediately stopped it, put on some noise dampening materials( I found cotton wool helped me)in my ears or leave, then the next thing I suggest is to give them time to heal. It will take time. I also would suggest you avoid using headphones or earbuds. They may make it worse. Your ears are quite fragile now but later on when you have confidence that you can tolerate sounds a little better, try to expose yourself to more sounds very slowly. It helps to play some nature sounds at a Low volume sometimes to desensitise your ears a bit BUT do it very slowly and at no point should it cause you pain or loudness. This is so far what I learnt, hope it is of some help to you.

 

Thank you for replying x