This Reactive Thing :/

Hey,

my brief history: Tire blew up right next to me about 4 months ago. Symptoms: Hyperacusis, Constant Ringing...you name it + that reactive thingy on the directly affected ear, which basically would be quiet if no external sound would come in and then increase with more incoming sound. Thereby the sounds only start after some time and also only at louder noise levels (ride in the car for longer, talking for longer) + discomfort and pain in the ear.

After about 8 weeks it was all pretty much back to normal (almost) and I was happy and ready to go on with my life.

Then after a long car ride, 7h which obviously should not be a problem as these noise levels (~75dB) do not damage anything, it was back... stronger than ever.

Then after a period of rest and quiet of about 1 week. It was okay again.

Then about 2.5 weeks later, it came back after a busy period at work and longer talking to colleagues. Every time, ear pain... noise overlaying everything when exposed to richer and louder sounds for longer.

I know there can be setbacks with this stuff, but everytime it happens, it sends me to a really.. really.. pretty depressive... dark place. So therefore, do any of you guys experience (or have experienced) the same kind of symptoms? Does it get better? Is this a "normal" symptom of hyperacusis?

thanks!!!
Alex

 

It would not have been a problem for healthy ears. Yours are still damaged from the blast. Even after 14 months after my trauma, i still wear filtered earplugs for longer car rides. You can't rush these things man. I have a colleague who severely damaged his shoulder ligaments. Docs said it could take up to three years for his shoulder to be 'back to normal'. And that's just a 'motoric' injury.
So give yourself time, protect your ears whenever you will be exposed to prolonged noise over 65-70db's just to be on the safe side (approximately, we all have different tolerances) and be mindful of your health in the meanwhile.

 

@Sebastians Yep, I guess I was expecting it to be over and started to bathe myself in feelings of recovery a bit too fast. Did you have similar setbacks along the way? How did you deal with it?

 

My issues with H and sound distortion started to slowly dissipate over time, so i don't have any setbacks like you describe, but my T may still spike (sometimes for no reason at all) and i'll have a couple of days where my T is again more on my mind. I also did not experience reactivity like you did.
But still, i'll make sure i don't expose my ears to louder environments for longer than necessary (i skipped a New years reception at work because of the bad acoustics in the room, all glass and marble. Next day a colleague complained his ears were ringing for hours afterwards..).
You need to let go of the idea that wearing earplugs can somehow worsen your hyperacusis. If anything, noise will worsen your condition. So plug up or take breaks from noise in situations like the long drive/bars/restaurants etc. You can wear filtered earplugs that don't attract any attention. And whenever you will be taking better care of your health this way, you won't go into the 'what if' dark place. Give yourself proper time to heal up and don't take unnecessary risks i'd say.

 

True story ... can't run with a broken leg... and if you run too soon... it will come around and bite you.

 

A car produces low frequencies noise Mostly besides wind noise so perhaps ear muffs will work better and be more comfortable over time - I usually wear my Peltor x5a in cars or commute, noisy public places and so forth .


Also I bought a very quiet car fitter with noise reducing tires so at 100kmh it's about 58db on smooth asphalt. No ear protection needed under 60db

Don't push your ears you may need a few years recovery past a certain age.

 

Indeed I realized that perhaps I was trying to approach things a bit too fast actually. By doing that you may actually make things worse. I may just have to accept that this will take a long time to heal. I am just scared a bit, because this is a very busy time of my life. I am just completing my phd in Neurorehabilitation (how freakin ironic ^^) and am actually supposed to fly around the world in 2 weeks to interview for a new job. This is not the best timing :/ Not sure how to handle all of this.

 

I hope you find a cure for H! Take things easy; H is a slow journey, unfortunately.

 

That's very low noise for driving at 100 km / h. My car is more or less around 70-75 dbs, but I got used to it. H has a lot to do with sudden increases in volume of sound too, dynamic range.. that's hard to handle.

 

Hi @Sebastians. What are filtered earplugs? Are these musician earplugs that are customized for fit?

So far, I've been using the bullet-shaped foam earplugs and pine cone-shaped silicone earplugs.

Thanks!

 

I use these ones for walking besides busy roads, loudish restaurants etc:

 

There are musician earplugs with different types of filter. They can regulate a bit the frequencies of sound that they let in and also help to equalize pressure on ears, as the filter lets air in.