Why Are Hyperacusis Sufferers Such a Small Minority?

It is a great example of achievement!

What does your niece do? What's her job?

 

Did you read Bao's Arizona study by any chance? When they injected TNF alpha directly into the auditory cortex then it caused much less neuroinflammation than when there wasn't cochlear damage.

I.e: it was the cochlear damage itself perpetuating the neuroinflammation not damage "unleashing damage upon an abnormal brain."

And what I mean by susceptibility is this: some people are more prone to tinnitus than others because of having certain brain characteristics. Just like some people are more prone to Alzheimer's. That tendency isn't an "abnormal brain" until disease sets it.

And again, even without this tendency if you are exposed to enough insults you would get tinnitus, too it's just less likely in some brains just like anyone can get Alzheimer's even without a family history.

 

With respect, I think you have. The article (which had a broken link to the actual study) said the study concluded there is a genetic component, not just a genetic cause. Affected people still have to have an environmental insult.

 

@dan, I can actually illustrate my point with a personal anecdote.

This is a photo of me and my identical twin (with Slash and as teenagers--sorry about the quality, I took a photo of my analog photo). Full disclosure, we are among the smaller percentage of "mirror twins" resulting from a particular kind of egg division so we differ in left/right handedness (and as a result, personalities and abilities a lot more than most twins) *but* we have the same set of genes and she works in the music industry--never wears ear plugs, either--and lives in an extremely noisy apartment in a very large city and has zero tinnitus. She is literally constantly exposed to loud noise.

I never had tinnitus either until I took ototoxic meds. If all tinnitus was due to genetic predisposition for a damaged brain, there is no way my sister wouldn't also have it.

 

Slash almost looks like a cardboard cutout in that photo LOL.

I saw GnR live in 91. First ever concert.

 

I know, it photographed super weird.

Additional proof below!

 

No additional proof needed, I believe you

 

It is my personal opinion that not being able to hear would be better than being in severe pain from something you can’t avoid unless you stay at home. I’m sure everyone differs on this.

To me - hearing is of no use to me if noise causes me distress. I would rather be able to enjoy the world and communicate via sign language than have to worry about sound causing me pain and anxiety and isolating me even more.

It’s like having taste buds and having everything you eat taste terrible. Yeah you can still eat, but if it causes you distress it isn’t an enjoyable experience.

 

I wonder how many more people actually have hyperacusis that don’t seek help online, especially younger ones who turn to the internet for everything.

 

They never did their homework. They never bothered to understand the unspoken meta.

They are just exercising self guilt and wondering why TRT isn't working for them.

 

1.) That is so awesome that you are a twin!!

2.) I LOVE Slash! Wonder what kind of noises he has in his head lol

 

There is no history of tinnitus or any hearing problems in my family both paternally and maternally. My hearing was excellent for my age, then took ototoxic med got tinnitus.

 

Same. I’ve had two surgeries recently, one summer 2018 and another 2019, both which required prescription pain killers for a couple weeks. While my main damage is from concerts I’m sure this added to it.

 

I just bear the pain...

For that you need to know other people who use sign language, it's not that common.

 

It makes me wonder if ingesting ototoxic antibiotics can make folks who are exposed to loud sounds such as concerts more susceptible to tinnitus. I also wonder can a HC be damaged but not to the point of causing tinnitus? If yes, the person is walking around with damaged hair cells, then gets exposed to loud noise and wham tinnitus. Heck I do not know. LOL. This whole tinnitus, brain ear connection thing is baffling. I pray that FX-322 hits the market sooner than expected.

 

Like I said, we all differ on our opinions.
To me, pain is worse, to others, it might not be.

 

So logic dictates that loud music does not trigger tinnitus in your brains, but ototoxic meds will.
Hence, I will bet your twin sister with exact genetic makeup as yourself, would get tinnitus if exposed to the same med that you took.
Ok, "genetic predisposition" to acquire tinnitus... that is in itself a genetic defect. Kapish?
A perfect human brain should not have ANY predispositions to any disease.

 

I never said they didn't. BTW, ototoxic meds count as an environmental insult.
So I make easy for you to understand what new research has found:

Genetic predisposition + Environmental insult = tinnitus/hyperacusis.

 

I agree with your equation but not your brain damage ascertain. I think the only thing you can say is tinnitus can (but not always, as your own link even said explicitly) have a genetic predisposition to occur after environmental insult. This is absolutely not because the brain is damaged to start with.

And what's with the tone, dude. Geez.

 

There are also many studies showing people with tinnitus have less gray matter than normies... is that not brain damage?

Ok let's call it brain fuck-up.

Ah who gives a shit... I'm just a pathetic loser with severe tinnitus hanging on tinnitus forum.

 

I'm really not trying to argue semantics but I would say the changes you describe are neuroplastic changes. I guess it would be fair to say "damaged" in that sense at least but this would likely be reversible if an underlying cause was addressed (would love to see a study where the people who resolve their tinnitus after TMJ treatment or CI use in some cases get repeat imaging) and doesn't imply an underlying damaged brain. The last part is where I disagreed with you.

To be clearer about my point, I think of it type 2 diabetes, some people get it at 250lbs, some people 500lbs. Some people never get it no matter how obese they get. There was nothing inherently functionally wrong with the insulin receptors in any of these group until the body couldn't handle the physiologic changes.

I believe though fixing the underlying damage would reverse the neuroplasticity otherwise no one would ever get rid of their tinnitus and people do.

 

So essentially we were doomed anyways, is what I’m getting.

 

I agree it most likely is reversible if hearing is regenerated.

 

Until they can regenerate hearing....

 

Can that fix the “brain damage” part of it though, is the real question.

Each day I wonder if me getting electrocuted slightly as a kid, or accidentally banging my head on cement did more damage that I thought.

Or perhaps that night when I got water in my it ear and did all this crazy head maneuvers to get it out, I damaged something in the process as well.

 

Just wondering, why don’t you use earplugs? I think you can do all the normal humane things with good earplugs. Like you would use sign language to accommodate for your hearing loss, why not use earplugs to accommodate for your hyperacusis?

 

What makes you think I don’t use ear plugs?

 

Depending on the severity of pain-hyperacusis, even earplugs and earmuffs won't offer enough hearing protection to prevent setbacks.

Many people with pain-hyperacusis can't work or do other normal everyday activities even with hearing protection because they'd experience (severe) setbacks. Also, depending on how loud someone's tinnitus is or how severe their hearing loss is, they aren't able to understand other people while wearing earplugs and/or earmuffs.

 

I understand your argument, but look at any repetitive motion injury to see that when the body is used not a intended (for example working an assembly line or listening to very loud sounds) it will degrade in an abnormal way. The ear was not designed to be damaged, and the brain was not meant to receive incomplete signals.

 

Neuroplasticity isn't "stuck" in one direction. Personally, I wouldn't look at it like classical brain damage. If the ear damage can be reversed, maladaptive neuroplasticity should reverse.

An example of maladaptive neuroplasticity reversing: phantom limb pain being treated with "mirror therapy".