Why Doesn't Everyone Also Have Hyperacusis AND Hearing Loss If They Experience Tinnitus?

Have you ever wondered why some people have tinnitus and hyperacusis but DOESN'T have hearing loss WHILE OTHERS have tinnitus and hearing loss but DOESN'T have hyperacusis?

There are many things that I don't understand about this whole problem but this one is bothering me the most.

I know these conditions are connected but there has to be some nerve in the ear that is responsible for the hearing and other for sound tolerance.

If that one nerve or some cells were responsible for both of these conditions then why everyone doesn't have hyperacusis and hearing loss if they experience tinnitus.

Does anyone have any idea about this?

 

@Marko Nakovski

I have tinnitus with no hyperacusis or hearing loss. I just attribute it to my nerves and nervous system.

 

@M.K. What is the cause of your tinnitus?

 

Yeah, I dont understand it either. I know someone with hearing loss, same age as me, but no tinnitus or hyperacusis. Makes me wonder if someone with tinnitus and hearing loss have more damaged done to the ears.

 

Some people are luckier than others. Not everyone that has a severed limb has phantom limb pain.

I suspect there is some nerve damage component in a lot of a tinnitus / hyperacusis cases as oppose to just lot of cochlear cilia.

 

There is no pure reason as to why we have tinnitus. It's all related to how our brain/signals function. Tinnitus can be a challenging ordeal. If your hearing is good, count that as a blessing. If you don't have hyperacusis, count that as a blessing. Even when it's pure hell, still count your blessings. Tinnitus makes life more of a puzzle, you have to try many parts to see which one will eventually fit and fill the gap.

Life can throw a huge puzzle/obstacle in front of us. Our natural reaction is to question it and sometimes get frozen by it. Once the puzzle/obstacle is accepted and we stop fighting it, then our will power and plan to move forward can possibly spring into action.

I have lived with this venom for over 31 years and even I wake up in the mornings and say "wow, this chit is so loud". I give myself 5 minutes and handle the rest of my days, no matter how ugly and loud this demon is....

Mindset is key to moving forward. Always stand your ground, educate people on what you face. If they accept you and your tinnitus, great. If not, move on and find those that will accept you.

I was with a friend and he was clapping his hands and starting to scratch his nails on a chalk board. I was firm and told him to cut it out. Let people know how you feel. YOU are important and you need to address your tinnitus/hearing concerns. Maybe one day, a cure will come but I live my life and move forward each day, no matter how loud this demon is......

 

they do have hearing loss, it just don't show up on the primitive outdated tonal audiogram.


The pathologies that trigger cochlear noicepion (pain from noise) are in the process of being investigated, so hopefully we figure out why some people get pain hyperacusis and others don't. It seems this condition is brought on by those with histories of extremely loud noise exposure like concerts, very loud headphones and possibly certain scenarios like acoustic shock like standing right in front of a speaker.

 

in all cases of hearing loss I think their's nerve damage, (the synapse ribbons) according to Charlie Liberman's research they are more fragile then hair cells.

 

Do you have a history of loud noise, headphones, loud cars?

Any medications recently before tinnitus?

Any head trauma, TMD, trigeminal nerve issues, cervical issues?

Genetic hearing loss in the family?

 

@Alue What does a lot of cochlear cilia mean? My English isn't very good...

 

@fishbone Yes indeed, I miss the days when I "only had tinnitus and very mild hyperacusis", now I'm in a situation with tinnitus and very severe hyperacusis. Sometimes we ask for more but instead we lose something else... I can habituate to some of my tinnitus but the constant burning pain in my ears is killing me...

Yes I agree, but people doesn't understand our situation. It's not like their belief will change anything but I hate their reaction in the way like this is some small problem that can be addressed very easily...

When I talk about my tinnitus and hyperacusis usually contrary to that someone will say that he is very nervous for a couple of days because he have headaches in the morning, as if our problems are at the same level.. But who cares anyway, let them think that way...

 

Did your tinnitus get worse? If you dont mind me asking do you remember what made it worse?

 

@rdz My tinnitus would spike after going out in nightclubs and staying for hours, sometimes T didn't spiked, sometimes spiked for about 2-3 days and sometimes for 5-6 days. Most of the times the spike lasted for short duration when I was out outdoors, that's why I didn't go out in indoor nightclubs that often.. That was big difference for me ( but even then I still didn't realise that if in any case I decide to shoot I shouldn't do it indoors but I did it anyway INDOOR instead of OUTDOOR, how stupid I was ) .

My tinnitus spiked for about 10 days before my hyperacusis onset.. After the shooting my tinnitus spiked very loud for about 10 days, then soon after that returned to normal level but I developed hyperacusis. Now It seems that my hearing is the same, my tinnitus is the same like that period before but the hyperacusis is unbearable ...

 

I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you get better soon. Is hyperacusis something you recently got?

 

Society does not care. You have to educate people on what you are going through. if people accept it, then gather more of those people in your corner. If they don't care, then avoid them. I have cut off many people like that. The constant pain, pressure, sound and hearing loss can make life very difficult. I always have full ears or ear pressure. Lately in the past few months I been battling colds and it was a mess. There was a period of time when my ears were so clogged up that I could not hear practically anything.

always protect your ears and your self worth. Never let ANYONE treat you different because your ears ring. Educate them and if they show empathy, keep em. I was at my lady friend's house and she was talking to me and out of nowhere, she turned on her blender. I quickly covered my ears. She started to laugh, I just kept covering my ears till the blender was done.

I really like her, so I did not find offense to her laughter. To some degree I do admit that society doesn't have a clue what we go through. We look normal to them, but the pain that tinnitus can bring is horrible. As I always say, try to educate them and let them know what you go through. Always stand up for yourself and your situation. Never let anyone make it seem small and not important.

Tinnitus/hearing loss is a serious matter, it can change people's live and make it difficult. I rely mostly on lip reading these days. My ears are VERY poor and hearing aids have not been a help to me. It is -what it is. I ask people to repeat themselves. It's ok to do this.

I was invited to a party a few weeks ago and the individual knew about my issue. I left a nice message saying that I could not go to the spot they were at, it was too loud. The individual did not care about my ears and what hell I deal with and have dealt with. It's not important to many people, So I avoid this person now and people like that

In the end, you have to be strong and push forward in your life.

 

Hey @Contrast , I'm 23 so I have gone out to clubs quite a few times and I often times listen to loud music in the car and sometimes head phones when I was in middle school and high school. However, after going to the audiologist, she didn't report any damage. She tested me up to the 20k frequencies and both years were within normal range. Also, stereo-cilia hairs in ears were working fine too. My jaw clicks sometimes but no pain so my physiotherapist and dentist ruled TMJ dysfunction out. No head trauma (I mean I fell sometimes as a child but I think that's normal lol). As far as cervical issues, my c1 and c2 are rotated (c2 by 14 degrees) but no change after alignments. I have tense neck muscles but I have been working a lot on that with my physio and no change.

How do I test for trigeminal nerve issues, do you know?[/USER]

 

No idea really. @Marko Nakovski

 

@Contrast

Yes I was destroying my ears from being exposed to loud sounds since I was a kid. In the last 16 years (not counting the last 2 years) I was listening to loud music at home everyday for about 1 or 2 hours. I was also using earphones, not so often but the volume was always set at maximum. I was also going out to nightclubs in the last 15 years almost every weekend. Sometimes I was listening to loud music in my car too, again on pretty loud volume. When I developed tinnitus in April 2017 about 5 days after a concert I realised that my tinnitus is as a result from loud events and music.

However I shouldn't have never ever thought about going to shooting range... My hyperacusis was very mild and even after I developed mild hyperacusis and moderate tinnitus in April 2017 I continued to go out to nightclubs but mostly in summer because outdoors my tinnitus didn't spike so much. But the shooting was terrible mistake...

Yes genetics of the ears in our family is the weakest point for sure since my grandfather had hearing loss when he was 55 years old, he had tinnitus too, my father has had it since he turned 50 years old, with tinnitus too, one of my cousins doesn't hear on her left ear at all, but I'm not sure if she has tinnitus.

Where can I test my high frequency hearing? From 8 kHz upwards. Do you know any website where they measure accurately or is the only way to test it on special audiogram?

Did you test your hearing on some special audiogram to see if you have hearing loss on any frequency up to 20 kHz?

 

@fishbone Some of them don't understand, some of them do but even then they will say that I should not worry and that there must be some cure somewhere, I only need to find it ... I don't know which one is worse from these people but anyway it doesn't matter, it's not like their beliefs will change anything and I stopped trying to explain it to them. The only person that understand me completely is my father since he also has tinnitus and my mother...

What is the cause of your tinnitus? Do you also have pain hyperacusis? From what I understand you have pain from some sounds, or do you just feel discomfort? Is your tinnitus your biggest problem?

 

@M.K. For how long and how often were you listening music on your headphones? Usually they are one of the the worst things for tinnitus and sometimes even worse then going out to nightclubs... Was the sound level on maximum volume?

 

do you feel pain on the side of your face? Pain to the touch?

also have you heard of hidden hearing loss, did they test for speech and noise and being able to pick out noise in music?

 

It depends on the day. Average 1-2 hours but never max volume. I think I listened to the loudest music in my car .. @Marko Nakovski

 

are you aware that your cause of tinnitus is almost certainly "hearing loss"


Recent research indicates that hearing test used at most audiology clinics and ENTs aren't testing correctly. Tonal audiogram only check for hearing loss within the human voice range, learn more here about hidden hearing loss and how hearing in noisy environments and music perception is not tested on standard hearing test.

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/






https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378595516302507

 

But my audiogram shows I don't even have hearing loss at 20 khz in either ear.. @Contrast

 

Hearing loss in background noise isn't the same thing as pure tonal audiometry.

You told us you have a history of noise exposure.

Read the research paper.

 

It is hight time that young people become EDUCATED on the risks they are taking with their ears when subjecting themselves to long periods of loud noise. We all know from an early age that staring at the sun will likely result in damage to your eyes, and laying your hands on a hot stove will also leave you with damaged hands. I really think that the public schools could do a lot more to educate youth on the dangers. They could bring in Tinnitus sufferers as guest speakers to share first hand what the dangers are. I think only a T sufferer could do a proper job on that. I would be willing to do that myself. Anyway, there really has to be more education to hopefully saves more ears. Apparently 10% of the population is effected by T to some degree. And this isn't a major topic in health classes in school?

 

@JohnFox When I was a kid I was told so many times that I shouldn't spend so much time in front of the computer, I shouldn't eat too much sweets and cookies because they are bad for the teeth, I shouldn't stay on cold surface because I can get sick and so many other examples...

I have been wondering so many times, why I haven't been warned about listening to loud music? There was one warning sign though when I wanted to set the volume level of the mp3 while listening to music with earbuds yet I ignored that ..

It seems that people don't care about problems that are "invisible" and the awareness of tinnitus is a joke compared to many other diseases and symptoms... If tinnitus was recognised as such I'm quite sure that parents would warn their kids.

I'm not saying that parents are responsible for our problems though, just stating that nobody cares about ear problems in general. This topic is unknown to many people, more then half of them doesn't even know that condition like this exists. I'm sure about this fact because when I've tried to explain tinnitus to some people I've been told that is only in my mind and should forget about it...

 

The nociceptors in the cochlea don't work until it's too late, that's the problem.

 

All the doctors told me I don't have hearing loss.

But now my hyperacusis is a little bit better, my hidden hearing loss is becoming more apparent. So now I have the unholy trinity of tinnitus, hyperacusis and hearing loss.

Not sure if there is any point in going back and asking for another hearing test. (I was only ever given the basic one up to 8khz).