What Things Possibly Made My Hyperacusis Worse?

[chaLLas]

Dear all,

I have had mild hyperacusis for the last 3.5 months since onset of my tinnitus (noise trauma). Within this period of time, my hyperacusis went up and down, sometimes ear spasms, sometimes TTTS, sometims feeling of fullness. But it did not bother me much and only caused a little discomfort, as symptoms came rare, short and "harmless".

The last 2 days, my Hyperacusis got much worse. (Semi) Loud speech, dish clenching, plastic bottles popping, (energetic) keyboard typing - especially when those sounds are occurring suddenly, trigger ear spasms, TTTS, ear fullness and discomfort. Intermittently, there is also a mild burning pain. The pain and ear fullness vary from side to side, but the ear spasms and TTTS only appear mostly in the left ear.

Now I am thinking about what might have caused this.

9 Days before the worsening, I have been to a birthday party with music and a lot of guests. I brought -30 dB musician ear plugs (strongest filter, but still be able to understand speech quite good) and went out of the party room often, to go outside or in quieter places.

After that party I did not feel any major change to my tinnitus or hyperacusis, maybe slightly worse because anxiety is still a problem with me, thinking that I might have made things worse = me focussing more on them.

4 Days before the worsening, I got a cold that made my nose running 24/7, it has been really extreme.
But this has kinda worn off just the day before hyperacusis got worse.

1 Day before the worsening, I was teaching a movie with my girlfriend on the TV with just the TV speakers. Like always, speech was very quiet in the movie, but the effects were kinda loud. It did not cause discomfort (yet, I had mild hyperacusis in this moment, so if it would have been THAT loud, I guess it would have caused some discomfort?) and I cannot imagine it was loud enough to damage any hearing ... but could this still worsen hyperacusis?

So, has anyone noticed his hyperacusis being worsened by any of this? And do you think hyperacusis can react delayed (like ... multiple days or weeks?) to a worsening "event", or do you think it would rather happen short after?

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At least my mind is now focussing on my hyperacusis because it bothers me a lot ... maybe getting my mind off tinnitus will at least help me to get better with tinnitus -_-

Of course, I already read a lot about hyperacusis. I will skip any events with loud people and music for a long long time (that's what I learned the hard way...), will not use headphones (just for white/pink/whatever doesn't spike my tinnitus noise sound therapy), will expose myself to the sounds that cause discomfort and will only use ear protection if it get's unexpectedly loud.

If you have any further suggestions, I would be grateful.

 

[Red]

I recently went through the same. I think it was noise. Most people say cold isn't a cause but haven't been able to find anything certain.

For me, onset was delayed and sensitivity didn't show up until several days later.

 

[Marc22]

Hi:

I feel for your misfortune. It all happened to me 23 years ago.

In Oct 1995, I drove a car without a muffler for 3 hours and that did it. I started getting tinnitus only , not too bad, but worrying. Then h. started around Christmas time. I started noticing discomfort in movie houses because they are , of course, loud, but nowhere else. But that was enough to go see an ear doctor who told me I had hyperacusis. I had never heard about it. He told me to protect my ears from all loud sounds. My condition then steadily deteriorated anyways, until it levelled off 2-3 months later. In the meantime I was scared as hell, since I did not know where it would level off. I worried so much , I lost 30 pounds, and rarely ate, my guts were so twisted up. Surprisingly the tinnitus diminished to a tolerable level, and it has never been a problem since. And looking back. I did not have a bad case of h., but I did get setbacks to teach me how bad it could get. So I have always been careful. Ah to go back to the times where I could ride in a car without earmuffs and take a bus. No longer. I have to have muffs in a car, and buses are verboten.

Since you are in a transition period I cannot tell you where you will level off, but you will. Who knows , at this point, what caused your worsening ? I did not. In the meantime, the only way to maximise your chances of a tolerable future h. is to keep away from all noisy situations above a quiet apartment, a quiet street, a library level. Forget any big parties, bars, busy streets, loud music etcc. I would not even listen to TV sounds, even low, since you have already been adversely affected by that ( Try closed captioning) . You may, like me and others here, be susceptible to the tinny sounds from cheap speakers from some TVs, radios, computer speakers, smartphones, which , even low, can blow some ears away.

If you level off at a tolerable level, you will live a more limited life, but there still will be a lot of things you can still do. And you may, like me, be so happy that you are not continually tormented , that you will enjoy whatever you can. Like getting together with 3-4 friends without their voices bothering you. Walking by a lake without the water sounds and leaf rustling bothering you etc...talking on the phone for an hour...listening to music on a GOOD (only!) sound system etc..


Good luck! AND BE CAREFUL.

Marco

 

[Lex]

Delayed pain is common. You feel fine at the moment but you pay the price hours or days later, and if you're unlucky, you'll be paying for it for weeks or months.

 

[uae96]

Since you wore ear plugs to the event I doubt it's from that.

It could be from the cold and flu that you got. Your ears fill up with fluid and you're saying it's 1 day before hyperacusis got worse so it's probably that.

My suggestion would be to go to an ENT and check if you have an ear infection.

Best of luck.

 

[Juan]

9 Days before the worsening, I have been to a birthday party with music and a lot of guests. I brought -30 dB musician ear plugs (strongest filter, but still be able to understand speech quite good) and went out of the party room often, to go outside or in quieter places.

My guess is this was the primary cause. Maybe the cold etc and worries added to it.