Tinnitus After Some Noise (4-Stroke Engine, Compressor, Throwing Garbage Into Container)

Hi everyone!

I'm 21 and it seems I got to join this club too...

Last Saturday I was out doing some work: starting a 4 stroke engine and have it run for some minutes, ran a compressor for some time and throwing some garbage into a container. No unusual sounds. In the evening, I began experiencing hearing sensitivity with some "reactive tinnitus" and when I woke up on Sunday I had a clear tone in my right ear. It also seems like I had got hyperacusis since ordinary sounds were very uncomfortable to listen to.

Now, 6 days have passed and the tone in my right ear is pretty consistent. I feel like the hyperacusis is a bit better today, but I'm not completely sure. At first my anxiety ramped up, bit I got huge emotional support from my family, so right now I feel pretty alright.

After reading some posts, 'Prednisone' seems to be very important in circumstances like this. I called the national health consultant hotline in Sweden called '1177', and they said that such treatment is only effective within a very short time window of only a few hours. Since I thought the tinnitus would subside on its own, I never thought of getting this earlier.

The tone is constant, and I would consider it mild in the sense that I mostly don't pay attention to it during daytime activities, but at night when it's totally quiet I hear it fairly loudly.

I know that this has been asked thousands of times before, but any tips on which steps to take from here?

This week I've been very cautious, wearing ear protection in some cases and not using any headphones.

I know that this is extremely individual, but what could be the outlook? I'm currently mentally preparing myself that this is a permanent condition.

If one's very cautious in the future, can one survive the following decades?

Sincerely,
A brother in the lord
Stacken77

 

Your question is an unknown. Did you have an audiogram for a baseline? Unfortunately damage to our hearing is cumulative. Always protect against medications and exposure to loud noise. That means any event that has loud noise. Wedding, company event, etc. G-d bless.

 

Protect your current hearing, eat healthy, and exercise. That's really all you can do until a cure comes, which may not be too far away.

 

I would recommend chelated magnesium and nicotinamide riboside - there is some evidence these can help recovery/inhibit further damage. The first is also cheap, while the second can be a bit pricier. You can search for either of those terms on here and you'll find a wealth of information.

 

Thanks for all responses. I'll be taking some time off from this forum. This is an extremely useful and great source of information. Unfortunately, I think my extensive reading have given me severe anxiety and panic so I'll try to get some professional help for that. Again, my tinnitus is very mild, and I have slept well in the previous days, but the recent anxiety have made me totally sleep deprived.

Thank you all for being here, maybe we'll get in touch in the future.
God bless.

 

Soon one year has passed, and sadly the tinnitus has not improved, but rather worsened quite significantly since earlier this year.

I thought I'd share my 8 kHz audiogram, taken as of today;



O = Right ear, X = Left ear.

Anybody can comment anything? They all say my hearing is great, but I don't know... I think this audiogram is a bit worse than my previous which was taken 4 months ago, but I went in with a spike today, so that may have had an impact.

One thing is pretty clear; my left ear seems worse than my right, and that has not changed since my last audiogram. I can hear my fridge humming clearly in my right ear, but am unable to hear it in my left. That tells me that there's definitely some damage, and that was the reason for my ENT to request another audiogram.

We'll see what happens...

Till next time,
Stacken

 

Comparing audiograms to our tinnitus doesn't make sense.

Everyone starts losing hearing after birth. If you do an extended audiogram you will have hearing loss, you have it, I have it, and everyone has it at those higher frequencies.

What causes tinnitus has to be something else.

 

I agree that tinnitus severity isn't necessarily 1:1 correlated to the amount of hearing loss you have, I've had some permanent spikes from pretty low level noise, and I think that has more to do with sensitivity in the brain than hard damage done to the inner ear. Some gets tinnitus while others don't, hence why I believe it's a central issue in the brain, but with a peripheral cause, e.g. hearing loss. Some people simply have a greater predisposition than other to develop tinnitus, as tinnitus runs 3 generations back in my family.

The tones in my left ear is probably twice as loud as my right, and coincidentally so I have greater hearing loss in my left ear. So I think there's a correlation, but it isn't necessarily 1:1.

Stacken

 

That's how my very first audiogram was, over a decade ago. It's clinically a totally normal audiogram. All frequencies above normal levels.

The most important thing to say is that an audiogram is useless unless there is something very obvious there, a very sharp drop for example, which is not the case with your audiogram.

An audiogram is useless because it onle measures hearing input but not the quality of hearing perceived or how you process hearing (speech recognition).

Many people notice a worsened quality of hearing perceived in their daily lives before it shows on any test, or despite it does not show clearly in any test, specially on an audiogram.

Other issues include:

- With an audiogram like yours, in case of having a cold that blocks ears etc the perceived quality of sound is worse but it does not show on the audiogram.

- Likewise, some people get a -20 dB reading on an audiogram and over time that "loss" can be reversed because it was due to congestion or a cold etc etc.. it is a bit random. So maybe the next audiogram is slightly better, but there is no significant difference in clinical terms. It is not clinically relevant.

 

Absolutely. I have low frequency hearing loss from Ménière’s and had mild tinnitus. The Pfizer vaccine increased my tinnitus to suicide levels in February, with no appreciable change in hearing. How do you explain that? The audiogram isn’t the greatest tool for measuring hearing. Either that or tinnitus can be caused by inflammation only.

 

I don't know if @Stacken77 did it, but when I did my audiogram in addition to measuring frequencies, I also measured speech recognition in noisy environments. Which gave me 100% on the speech recognition test, and I still have tinnitus.

 

I'm awfully sorry to hear that Brian! That sure is strange. Inflammation doesn't seem too far fetched.

 

Yes, that's a more complete test. They can test that with noise on both ears, noise on one ear and speech on the other, with headphones, speakers etc etc etc... there are several ways to conduct those tests of speech recognition.

 

You can have dead synapses in higher frequencies, like me. Speech recognition 100%, perfect HF audiogram, but multiple tinnitus sounds and high frequency notes in music sound tinny.

 

I've made some discoveries regarding my sensitivity to sound which I thought could be interesting to share in case anyone else is finding themselves in a similar situation.

Those who has followed my postings know that I had a relapse in my hyperacusis, and began to spike to low level sound, in February. This may have been caused by Hydoxyzine, but I'm leaning towards 24/7 sound deprivation. In March, I got hit with a semi-loud noise, but it was a week later where I had 2 hour conversation where my reactivity and sound sensitivity went total haywire. Because of the spiking, I couldn't be without hearing protection any time of the day, and this has been going on for 10 months soon.

Right now I have, first and foremost, a severe sensitivity to sound. I could only describe this as increased perceived volume across a set of frequencies, especially in the higher range. If that is true "loudness hyperacusis", I do not know, but it sure sounds louder. One interesting observation I've made is that this sensitivity seems to be purely a centralized issue in the auditory system because; I can do a lot more things with one ear plug. It seems, as two ears is double the stimulus of one, the auditory system gets overwhelmed, and I think this backs up the speculation that over-protection might be the culprit.

I have TTTS too, i.e. having the tensor tympani spasm hard to low-moderate sounds. This is unilateral though and affects only my right ear, whereas the sensitivity mentioned above is bilateral. What I've also observed here is that it too seems to be related to a centralized sensitivity since I can have an ear plug in my left ear and do more things without having my right ear spasm. It seems the stimulus from two ears is far more prone to cause my right ear to spasm, as the stimulus of one single ear.

I have also observed consistent improvements in my TTTS symptoms following sound enrichment. I'm also currently seeing improvements in my general sensitivity to sound following sound enrichment. My hope is that gentle and gradual exposure to sound may resolve my sensitivity in time, and hopefully the spiking which seems to correlate with the sensitivity.

Just thought I would share it.
Stacken

 

I’m currently stuck in whether to protect or not. Like in the car, shower, etc. My hyperacusis is so bad even the sound of the pillow causes a spike. It has been this way since February and the vaccine. Klonopin made it even worse.

 

I seem to have a copycat case of you @Stacken77, as I severely overprotected after I realized I had noise distortions, I didn’t have an acoustic trauma but I’m sure I had cumulative damage that equated to one. I kept telling myself over and over again that I would slowly reintroduce sounds but things kept giving me anxiety about it, and I never got around to it. Eventually it became around a month that I’ve been overprotecting and as soon as I took off those earmuffs/plugs everything sounded super loud, also I started to develop TTTS too because now sounds like hitting my hand off a plastic bag (the worst noise) made my ear flutter, which didn’t happen when I just had tinnitus and noise distortion.

What ended up happening that helped me start overcoming sensitivity is was the fact that my Peltor earmuffs were starting to lose their suction, it basically tricked myself into introducing sounds and now I notice major improvements. I’m also experimenting with using muffs that have lesser protection and eventually I want to get custom molded earplugs with filters. I used to not be able to sit at home without earmuffs (although the train next to my house and the neighbors LOUD footsteps) is what warranted me to use the muffs at home, I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable, the TTTS also seems to react less. My sound distortions also don’t trigger just to me running my hand across bedsheets.

However, the only odd part is that maybe I did not realize I had reactive tinnitus but that part seems to be getting worse even with protection, I’ll go out to work for a day and it gets a bit louder but it usually subsides, I’m just afraid I’m counting my chickens before they hatch and it’s getting worse but I’ve been vigilant about protection and the such. I did not have reactivity before either but I’m sure it was more mild than before and was bound to happen. Also, I went from pure tonal high pitched bilateral tinnitus to 3-4 sounds in the right and 1-2 in the left.

I was sort of an idiot today and was trying to take my shirt off with earmuffs on and ended up pulling them on and off my ear, eventually having it hit my ear a little, wasn’t loud or hard but I panicked and thought I spiked my tinnitus. It was more so that running around work that spiked it as I just came home, but it subsided within hours.

It’s a catch 22 right? As in I’m improving my hyperacusis, but my tinnitus just seems to want to get feisty with me. It’s a very tricky battle and very hard to navigate, but I hope both of us come to some sort of positive resolution.

 

Yes, it seems we're in a similar boat. I'd advise great caution and continue protecting in the car or while showering. I think we should try to come to a place where sitting in a silent room, moving the bed sheets or walking on a wooded floor can be done without spiking before we attempt anything else. If I could just sit in a "silent" room all day without hearing protection, that would be a big win since the silent room still has sound.

I'm trying to find a way to introduce sound which does not spike the tinnitus, at least not too bad, but it seems very hard. I'm insanely sensitive to high frequencies, so some low volume brown noise (with high fidelity ear plugs) does seem to work, kind of. Other than that, I try to take off the hearing protection a few minutes each hour, walking around the apartment, talking quietly, e.t.c. and I believe I'm seeing things moving in the right direction, but it's not enough.

It's all pure speculation, and may not work for you, me or anyone else, it's just, looking to my own history and progression, it just seems to be a centralized issue and not due to hard damage, and if it is due to the former, I think reintroduction of sound should be the solution, but I do not know for sure.

Wishing you well, @Brian P.

Stacken

 

Thank you so much @Shoon for sharing! It just goes to show that some people can get very sensitive given enough deprivation to sound.

Exactly what happened to me. My TTTS worsened quite a bit in my right ear, as well as everything sounding much louder than it should. Higher frequencies sound especially loud for me, like running water, and to me, it makes sense that it is due to the hearing protection cutting the higher frequencies better than the lower, hence making me more sensitive to those frequencies.

At the same time as all that, I also began spiking to literally everything, and this has been my main tormentor since then. I have a feeling it would spike much less if my tolerances to sound were restored to normal, but it truly is a Catch 22.

I'm trying to find a environment or sound enrichment that does not make my tinnitus worse, it could be a huge breakthrough as that could be the entry point of gradual desensitization, but I have yet to find it.

Wishing you well, @Shoon, and thanks again for sharing.

Stacken

 

I believe reintroduction to sound to some extent is important and necessary to slowly "turn things around". Even when it's difficult at times, and feel distorted, reactive and so forth.

Protecting pretty much 24/7 to any external sound might (and will probably) make the situation even more difficult as the auditory system will get hypersensitive to most types of sound exposure.

The longer you overprotect, the more difficult the "road to recovery", or whatever you may call it, will be imo.

It was exactly like this for me as well for a long time, but at one point I just forced it really. Couldn't find any pleasant sounds, but I found the sounds feeling the least worse, and had volume very low (but audible - not masking). Once you can do this, over time you can also lower your guard gradually, and feel less stressed over the sounds that still feels shrill and so on.

 

My biggest regret was trying to overprotect in a city that never sleeps. Wearing earmuffs all day at home was extreme in my case. In my opinion it made me much more sensitive and as a result I also developed phonophobia. These ear disorders were completely foreign to me, so it’s only natural why one would want to protect their ears at first.

Anyways, reintroduction of sounds has been extremely beneficial for me even if it was discomforting at times.

I’ve embraced a lot of the discomforting sounds, but over time my tolerance improved to the point where sounds that were bothering me like water splashing, crumbling plastic bags, aluminum wrappers, and even silverware clanking have become much more well tolerated. I can eat crunchy foods now to a certain extent. There are times were I feel like the sensitivity creeps back up, but it’s not as bad as it was 2 and half months ago.

I’m very comfortable in the kitchen now. I used @MindOverMatter’s technique where he recommends to put positive sounds(comforting music in my case) while working in the kitchen. I’m able to tolerate kitchen noise way better this way. It’s weird how the brain works at times…

I’m actually shocked with how much I’ve progressed since reintroducing sounds again. Even my family members have notice how much I’ve changed for the better since my onset with hyperacusis. Desensitizing is working for me.

You don’t need to rush though, just take it nice and slowly. If you feel like you may have overdid it with sound therapy, just take a break from it. I would lie in my bed and relax for a bit. The way I started was to have the water faucet running in my bathroom while I’m in my bedroom listening to it and doing some other tasks. I started at 5 minutes and increased it every minute or 2 every 2 days until I reached up to 30 minutes. By then I became way more comfortable with the water running. It doesn’t even bother me anymore. I’m now seriously considering if I should try taking a shower without plugs.

I’m at a point where I can leave the windows open throughout the day. Before I was terrified with having just one window open because outside sounds felt much more louder to me, but over time, I eventually have gotten more use to it. It doesn’t scare me as much anymore. One interesting thing I’ve noticed, when I had all my windows closed, I would always pluck my ears every time a ambulance siren or plane passes by. Now if all the windows are closed and an ambulance sirens come nearby, I barely plug my ears now.

There are times where I still hear strange distortions or reactivity in some of the sounds I listen to. This distresses me, but I try not to dwell on it anymore and just let it pass.

Now my tinnitus is loud and fluctuates in volume + tones and it’s really hard to tell what triggers this. It could be overexposure to sounds, but that might not also be the case because I sometimes spike when I barely take in sounds during the day. One thing I do notice is that tinnitus usually “resets” by morning after waking up.

I’m confident you will get there eventually... it’s ultimately just a matter of time. Everyone is different and some just need more time than others.

 

@ZFire, seems like you've made big steps when it comes down to sound sensitivity. Great to hear about your progression!

Hopefully the amount of these moments will reduce month by month. It is distressing, especially when you've had a few good days in a row, but keep reminding yourself that you are not back to square one (though it may feel so when these episodes appear).