What Should a Hyperacusis/Tinnitus Sufferer Do After Being Exposed to a Loud Noise?

Hi to all,

I suffer from both hyperacusis & tinnitus, and this morning I forgot my ear plugs and had to go to a building site... suddenly a super loud drill perforated my brain and I couldn't escape because a colleague needed my support. A couple of minutes that lasted hours for me.

Now I feel weird , slight ear pain, strong tinnitus, but I'm worried about next days. Usually after these traumas the worst comes after some days.

What do you suggest to do to at least appease this little drama? Some headache painkiller? To stay in the total silence? To listen to sound enrichment/waterfalls?

Thanks in advance... Obviously now I hate myself so much for forgetting the plugs, and I'm worried this forgetfulness worsened my condition, after months where I have been very careful.

 

Rest my ears and drink vodka.

 

Hi Alessandro Rossi. It's important to take anti-inflammatory medicine if you're worried about a possible spike after noise trauma. You can think of curcumine (other word is curcuma), N-Acetylcysteine (NAC), l-Arganine and magnesium. I had a new tone a few weeks ago after an audiogram test, took some of these pills and gone was the new tone.

 

Thank you for your feedback. I just stopped at a drugstore and took curcuma, ginkgo and magnesium supplements,as well as ibuprofen based painkiller. Quite sure it will take months to recover a bit of noise disconfort level, anyway.

 

Silence or music at low volume and a few weeks of resting your ears.

If you want to try meds, try Deflazacort. For me it makes symptoms related to hyperacusis a bit better.

 

If you want to adjust your diet try salads, smoked salmon with lemon, and add raw garlic to meals. These things somehow help with hearing distress. If you search for diets focused on hearing health, it is basically vegetables and salads, fish, antioxidants and anti inflammatory foods (curcumin root, ginger root...) It makes a difference, especially if hearing problems are recent.

 

I am curious, because I know in the past you have said prednisone did nothing for you. How was your experience with Deflazacort different?

 

For some reason Deflazacort does something. It takes the edge off hyperacusis and I think to a certain extent must be beneficial, in my particular case. An ENT who also had hearing problems recommended it. It does not solve hyperacusis but for me it helps. I have one pill per day, 30mg, for a week or 10 days, after really bad noise accidents. It seems to solve the inflammation / pressure quite fast.

In theory Deflazacort 30 mg is less strong than an equal dose of prednisone, but for me prednisone does nothing to help with hyperacusis and Deflazacort works a bit.

I think with meds one sometimes has to experiment, try one, try another, until finding the right one. Doctors say this happens a lot with anti inflammatories, for instance.