Why Is My Tinnitus Reactive If It Isn't Hyperacusis?

Late to the party - how is everyone feeling on this thread?

I’ve had tinnitus my whole life. I recently had an ear infection and now I have reactive tinnitus in that ear.

Have any of you had any progress in relation to the reactiveness of your tinnitus?

 

Hey man, welcome!

We feel like shit!

For me I’ve realised it can only get worse...

 

Hello! I feel like shit too this is a fun club

I’ll throw my two cents in here just to maybe get some insight for you all: I’ve had bilateral “brain” tinnitus for as long as I can remember. Got punched in the head by my brother when we were children just messing around. At first, I remember having such a hard time sleeping when I was a kid. As a child you really aren’t aware of the world around you so I just assumed everyone had this “Eeeeeee” in the back of their head.

After attending many festivals and concerts (using hearing protection) I can honestly say mine tended not to spike or permanently increase in volume. I attended a wedding about 4 years ago with my ex and my right ear tinnitus spiked and developed into a new tone in my right ear. That’s when I was introduced to Tinnitus Talk.

After freaking myself out for 2-3 months post spike, I gave in, stopped reading this forum, and went on with my life with mild-moderate tinnitus. The past 4 years after the event (with plenty of concerts and loud environments), my tinnitus still seemed not to bother me one bit. I know it’s said 1000000x over, but it truly is possible to live a very fun and fulfilling life if you have mild to moderate tinnitus. Hell I’d even say if you have a strong mind (I do not), you can come to terms with your severe tinnitus.

However, this leads me to where I am today. I have not thought about my tinnitus for years leading up to the past 3 weeks. Then, I started noticing a new tone in my right ear, and chalked it up to wearing headphones most days at work and tried to ignore it. Well, come Memorial Day weekend, I was in total shambles. My ear hurt, my friends’ voices sounded loud and unbearable, my own voice was getting on my nerves. So, I decided not to ignore it any longer and went to urgent care. Turns out I had a very bad middle ear infection and was given a strong round of Augmentin.

After a round of antibiotics, and an uneventful ENT visit, I am left with reactive tinnitus/mild hyperacusis in my right ear. Faucets, tearing paper towels, people’s voices to some extent, keys jingling, and other “sharp” noises seem to really trigger and spike my tinnitus in my right ear until the stimulation is gone. Sometimes even scratching that side of my head spikes my tinnitus in that ear. This has been incredibly unnerving and has really thrown my life upside down. I’m really at my wits’ end here trying to just do normal things now that the US has eased restrictions, but now I feel like I’m going to need to isolate again for another year for something completely unrelated to COVID-19.

Not sure of any stories on here of people successfully getting over their reactive tinnitus/mild hyperacusis but I could really use some encouragement

 

Unfortunately I can relate to it. I had all the issues you describe here, and more... Even moving in bed triggered it. Moving barefooted on the floor. You name it. I do believe some of it was anxiety and fear related.

The good news is, yes there is hope of getting better, but patience is normally a keyword. Once you get your head sorted, and you stress levels goes a notch down, there is a good chance this will pass eventually - i.e. go to back to baseline.

After 1.5 years, after all the new tones, reactivity, sensitivity and so on, I do still have bad days (or "less good days" as I would refer to) where reactivity and sound sensitivity is an issue. But less and less bad days for every 3 months the last year. By no means a linear progression measured within these 3 months periods though. There will always be ups and downs. But knowing, and having faith in, that tomorrow, or the day after will be better, makes it easier to look forward and not dwell to much when things might not feel as good.

I can do more of the stuff I used to do now, but I take my precautions of course. Such as for to the gym, listen to music on speakers (low/normal volume), go to a party or restaurant (preferably not to loud) and be able to enjoy it.

When things are at it's darkest, it's hard to stay positive. But for me I had no option but to carry on, and slowly sort of reintroduce myself to everyday life after a while. Try and fail. I did go, and still go, to therapy (CBT etc.) with a skilled audiologist. It has been good to have this support along the way - in combination with sound enrichment.

There are no short answers to this as every case and person is individual, but my point is to try and stay positive, and look forward. It can, and hopefully will, get better.

 

Some people with reactive tinnitus gets better/it stops to react.

I would say that improvement happens to around 50%. I’m in the other half unfortunately. Protect ears from loud noises is all you can do for now. Perhaps pray also if you’re the type

Jason C is a nice motivating story for your night time nerves. Although he didn’t have a history of tinnitus.

Hugs.

 

Hey, I apologize for the late reply on this. I really wanted to give myself time to process what is happening to me without freaking myself over some of the horror stories on this forum.

Just want to give an update if anyone is wondering: I still very much so have reactive tinnitus/mild hyperacusis. Plastic bags, some water faucets, and people’s voices being the biggest triggers. I can deal with the environmental noise triggers, that doesn’t bother me too much, but being a very people oriented person, not being able to enjoy people’s presence has been incredibly anxiety inducing.

The first 3 weeks this started happening, I was wearing ear plugs to walk the neighborhood, go to restaurants, hang out with friends, etc. Then, I didn’t bring ear plugs with me to a get together at my brothers, and I realized after a few hours of being there, I didn’t necessarily need ear plugs for a place that wasn’t exceeding 70 dB. From there, I’ve slowly weaned myself off ear plugs for most day to day activities.

I’ve been trying to just endure the hyper reactivity I have been dealt with. For some reason, my body is telling me to keep exposing myself to sound and eventually this to will pass. It may sounds like I have a very mild case of hyperacusis, but I don’t want to downplay it. I can hear my reactive tinnitus over everything - it’s almost like it tries to compete with whatever sound is around me.

Anyways, there is one aspect that has improved greatly: my mental health and attitude towards this new development. The first few weeks I’d come home from work crying my eyes out due to this new affliction. It sucks, but I can confidentially say that my symptoms, although very stressful, cannot physically hurt me in anyway. I know that’s not the case for some in hear, but that’s my solace when I am in bad times.

Figured I’d give y’all updates so it doesn’t look like I got better and bounced. Still hoping for a great recovery in a few months/years