Wrestling Back Control

Hi all,

This post seems pertinent, given the nature of some of the recent conversations.

Today, given a long and fairly difficult road with tinnitus and now hyperacusis and misophonia, I am looking to take back some control.

Context: I have had tinnitus for 13 years, caused by acoustic trauma (loud concert) and compounded by sudden bereavement (death of father). This spun me into depression and anxiety and hell for several years. Earlier this year, I was going through a particularly stressful time (house move and wedding) and tinnitus spiked again to new baseline level. All the old feelings resurfaced.

To deal with this, I have leapt into (what I now see) as possibly excessive protection: earplugs and earmuffs when visiting cafes and restaurants, walking along busy roads, when driving to and from work and even when out walking the dogs (to protect from wind noise and incase there are people shooting in the nearby woods).

This overprotection and awareness has brought me mostly misery, however. I am constantly on edge, unable to concentrate on anything other than hearing and noise and tinnitus monitoring; and my everyday is getting through it without making the hissing and ringing worse. This means that I do not participate in the days and largely procrastinate and distract myself from the stress of it all (zoning out on box sets, etc). Today, I am going to try and tackle this anxiety and this overdependence by lessening my reliance on dual protection in places where I should not have to use it. The earmuffs will stay at home and the earplugs will be worn no doubt too frequently to begin with, but with the intention of ultimately only using these.

One level of protection should surely be enough. And even that shouldnt be required 100% of the time.

Here's hoping for improvements, at least not in T, but in my mental health and current reactions to and triggering of it!

 

Hi @Elfin

You have written a poignant post and I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties that you have been having. I hope with time things improve for you on all fronts. I cannot stipulate enough, that the overuse of hearing protection often causes more harm than good, as you and others have mentioned in this forum. When earplugs and other forms of hearing protection are used correctly they can be beneficial.

Michael

 

Hi @Michael Leigh. As with many things, initially the hearing protection really helps as it lessens your anxiety and gets you out going to places and out of the house. The longer term problems however, are that as soon as you may have to do something without this extreme protection, the anxiety is awful. For me, that has included sitting in group work meetings, sitting in close proximity to printers and washing machines (essentially routine office noise). As well as when people come over to visit and want to watch tv etc: these raised noises and compromises cause significant anxiety and ruminating that just cycles and cycles and cycles. This dependency isnt healthy and the mental effects and resulting turmoil cause significant suffering.

It is important to mention that the suffering it perhaps not as great as a huge increase in T might be, however, and it is this fear that feeds this unhealthy behaviour and keep it going. It does lead to misery and depression though and a much reduced quality of life.

I agree with @Ed209 in the sense that a balance needs to be sought.

I have behaved more like @Bill Bauer though, with the way I have dealt with things.

I guess I am now trying to find my own path and a healthy middle ground and out of my own misery!

 

It is my understanding that the second level of protection reduces the noise only by about 5 dB.

 

I have heard the same, but then not sure if I can believe that. With plugs, can still hear people and talk to people and things can still seem loud, but combine these with the peltor muffs and I can barely hear anything. Can’t even hear taps running, barely hear people talking, so not sure how to account for this. Muffs off first and then less dependence on plugs. Happy to take the step to that extra 5db...

 

I am still able to hear people talk when I wear double protection.

I am planning to do that when I am 18-24 months in.

 

Well written @Elfin. What you highlighted is exactly why Tinnitus is so hard to come to terms with. Our emotions are wrapped up in amongst it all which makes it a complicated issue.

As far as earplugs go - this has been discussed before, many times - you should get the full protection if they meet the relevant ANSI/EN standards, and are correctly used and not removed throughout the duration of the exposure. Some people have unusually shaped ear canals which can make inserting foam or stork ear plugs much harder. It’s all about inserting to the correct depth and getting a good seal. Custom earplugs pretty much guarantee a correct fit, so you can go by the stated specs of the filters, which are usually averaged down.

All protection devices are based on decibels, which are logarithmic, so adding ear muffs over the top does not add another 30db, but more like an extra 5db. Bone conduction is often touted to be around 40db.

It sounds like you’ve had a tough time, and I’m sorry to hear about your father. Keep up the fight and stay strong. A positive mind can go a long way, but getting there can be difficult. Good luck!

 

Hey buddy,

you are going to be ok

Yes, overprotecting is never a good thing. It just trains your mind to be scared. I do understand the HELL you are facing. I have faced it a million times in my life and still do. Don't ever blame yourself for it, it happens. You can live a good life, it's all about finding a strategy that works for you. My PMs are always open to you and anyone that suffers.

I hope your 2018 is a bright one and this board is always here to support you