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I'm not sure how effective this is for real earwax compaction and I would worry about being too forceful if I did it myself (beyong just pumping water in). Also, the chemical stuff that comes with it that softens the earwax often just makes it worse. To the OP: it doesn't sound worth the risk...

Interesting, tho easier said that done! We live near and use trolleys for public transportation. Unfortunately they often overuse their 145 dB train horn for mundane things like traffic and with little warning. Even from a distance I now have quite a severe anxiety attack from that sound and...

Mg gluconate seems to be the best option. Citrate forms of supplements tend to generally increase tinnitus, whereas I don't seem to have this with gluconate. I can't honestly say if it helps at all, but it can't hurt.

I bought a pair of Peltors but found they were a little too much--the noise reduction was quite a lot and they also felt like they created suction on my eardrums (not to mention lots of occlusion effect from walking, for example). I would love to find a pair of earmuffs like the Sennheiser HD280...

yes, but unless you try to measure the actual output of the phones, it would be hard to know if these were at 80 dB, 90 dB, etc. I'm guessing volume's a bit louder too while running. I'd lose those and don't run with ear muffs on (doesn't sound like you do)--the occlusion effect could be...

After acoustick shock events, I often have the perception that I don't hear as well (maybe a bit more in the high frequency range) but this is relatively temporary (a few days?) What you're describing sounds more serious--what did they do in the hearing exam that caused it (and isn't it vicious...

I have only heard about using NAC for things like acoustic trauma, not reduction of H symptoms, so I'm curious how much NAC either of you take and how often. I take it only after some potential acoustic shock event (or what at least feels like one to an H sufferer) or perhaps before a night...

The restaurant thing is tricky--before going somewhere I could ask if they have any quieter corners and if you can have a seat there. Eating with earplugs is annoying so just use them when not eating. I guess the other option could be some earmuffs, tho that will certainly draw some looks.

This also happened to me recently both using earplugs and also custom fitting musicians earplugs. Both times that happened when we were still reaching our main altitude and it was fairly unpleasant when it happened. I suspect that what was happening is that as the pressure changed inside the...

Isn't calcium supposed to exacerbate T and H? I do anecdotally notice my T spiking a little after I eat a lot of cheese or ice cream, but... some things are worth suffering (temporarily) for :) In any case it seems like cutting cheese out would be an easy way to reduce your ear issues.

The thing with clapping is that it's actually really loud! I read a loud clap can be like 130 dB (presumably right next to hands). And when you combine this with being in the car, where the sound really has no way to escape, it's not surprising it led to pain. In any case, it's good to hear...

I guess the flipside of that is to keep the music running! I went through a period of several months where I just wasn't getting anything done, but thankfully I've managed to flip the switch and get the creative impulses going again. Being pretty motivated to finish music has allowed me to get...

For short calls, I usually use the speaker on mine--it's still tinny but I can at least keep the phone away from my ear. If you expect to have regular long phone calls, I would actually invest in a small speaker that you can plug your phone into, e.g., something like a small PC speaker that will...

I've been taking magnesium supplements daily for a while now (at least 4 months), I take the DRA listed on the bottle (~400 mg), spread out over the day, or in response to some sort of environmental acoustic shock. I can't say that the MG has made things better; in fact I usually notice a light...

Thanks! Yes, I can foresee this being a long process of getting him to understand how his screams hurt dad's ears. I had been using earplugs for a while and then stopped as the screaming calmed down a little, but in the last few months it's picked up again. And it's just SO unpredictable--one...

I just experienced this from a double decker bus--it sounded exceptionally loud, even louder than the usual public transport busses or trucks. If I had to guess it was at least 110 dB (though I know we aren't good at gauging this! but I measure as many sounds as I can with my NIOSH noise app). I...

I'm sure this is quite a traumatic experience, but try and not dwell on it too much for now. As others have mentioned, things should improve with time. I have been in a similar situation where a combination of loud music + train horn (at the same time!) left me feeling like my hearing was...

It seems unlikely that the speakers would be loud enough (or that the sound was long enough) to cause immediate hearing damage, but I would definitely contact your professor (and maybe even head of department) to let them know what happened. It sounds like it was excessively loud even if you...

Funny (well not really) but have experienced same issue with pillows now. Hard to imagine this not being an issue for most of my life! In regard to the physical response--it's a nerve pain issue that we are experiencing, and so whatever muscles are associated with that region are probably...

Crying/screaming have been something I've had to deal with since our baby was born last year. Typically I would put earplugs in when I knew we were getting into a stressful situation (e.g., diaper change) or just deal with it. But recently we seem to be on a real screaming binge--he is 15 mo and...

Whatever is comfortable really--some are softer, some are harder. And get acquainted with the right way to insert and remove them--they are actually supposed to go in MUCH further than most people realize to offer the protection level they claim. But the downside to this is that you can create...

I actually don't use them as actual music headphones anymore, only as earmuffs!:) I am honestly tempted to just cut the very long and annoying cable off and use them for that reason only (they are pretty expensive though so would prefer a better "real" earmuff option).

I do music recording in my home studio and I typically keep the dB below 70, usually around 60-65 peak dB(C). But I also use nearfield monitors so it's easy to get pretty clear sound at relatively low volumes. Above 70 definitely starts feeling "loud" from where I am seated. Even then I do find...

Avoiding headphones is ideal. If you end up continuing to use them, I would recommend some over-the-ear "sealed" studio headphones like the Seinnheiser HD280s. These cut quite a lot of external noise and so you can have your in-ear monitoring volume lower. Also, download the NIOSH noise app for...

Since a lot of what we experience is due to inflammation, any natural substance that is anti-inflammatory might be helpful. Things like strong ginger tea with lemon juice are calming and may also help reduce inflammation? Vitamin C (in lemon) is also an antioxidant, which helps against acoustic...

Hearing this stuff about dairy has encouraged me to cut down this last week as well (pretty much to nothing--hard as a cheese lover!) Really trying to reduce sugar intake as well. Can't hurt!

I have no idea. But my guess is that damage would be more likely to be sudden, i.e., you would know it immediately, rather than delayed. My bigger concern would not be with ear bones but eardrum getting slowly damaged over time if you are constantly creating suction on it. And presumably that...

Just got a pair of 3M Peltor X-series and don't think these are going to work for me. Bass from footsteps is really prominent along with pretty much any other movement. But on top of that it feels like these create quite a lot of suction during use and my tinnitus definitely seemed to have...

Just came across this study myself. Always the question of how applicable to humans (plenty of potential other explanations, as have been mentioned), but it would be pretty crushing to have to give up coffee because of T/H (although I realize caffeine in excess is also probably not helping those...

It seems there could be. The suction caused by the vacuum, and the subsequent vibration energy in your eardrum, is supposedly the same as when a gun goes off near your head. It apparently causes the ear bones to move much faster than they are designed to. But you would apparently notice an...

You’ve already got my full details on this :)

After being mainly wary of the clippers at my local salon (which were actually fairly quiet), I was very surprised when I got hit in the ear canal a couple of times with the hair dryer air flow. Like any strong wind, it was like a roar in my ear and from what I can ascertain from hair dryer...

This all sounds pretty typical. The pain is real, but our reactions to these sounds often does feel psychological and so can be controlled a little better. Know that all of the sounds you mentioned, although loud, are probably not going to cause any immediate damage. But it's good to be upfront...

This totally makes sense. A loud lower frequency bus or subway passing me (clocking over 100 dB) doesn't usually do anything significant.. but, wow, my one ear was very much affected by pulling some zip ties the other day! The zip ties WERE loud (like 110 dB peak within a foot or so), but I...

yes, this is my general understanding. I see 120 usually as the threshold for instant hearing damage (sometimes 115), but again, this has to be assuming some degree of continuous exposure (at least a few seconds). NIOSH states 9 seconds for 120 dB, though I know many think those times are...

I'm sure many of us spend a lot of time measuring the sounds around us on on noise meters and I was hoping to get some clarification perhaps from someone well versed on the topic. I have often read that for loud but one-off impulse sounds (i.e., those under 120 dB) we shouldn't really be...

I've had it for over 5 years now and sadly it doesn't seem to be improving. It's actually gotten worse over the last year due to certain unavoidable sound factors (e.g., baby!). But it goes in cycles, there are days where I forget I have it and other days where you just feel baragged by sound. I...

hmm.. not sure where the PM option is?

sure, would you prefer as a PM?

In the same boat here. I can deal with moderately loud traffic, conversation, typical background noise. But a knife dropped on a plate, glass clink, or a baby shriek = brutal! One part this must be the suddenness of the sound itself--we know there will be traffic before we hear it so we are...

To the OP, were you talking a lot while you had your ear protection on? I wonder if what you are experiencing is the result of the occlusion effect rather than the actual environmental noise. Because from what you are describing, you were more than protected against background noise levels. My...

For concerts, I would probably invest in some Etymotic musicians plugs and go for the highest 25 dB rating. For karaoke, I think standard foam earplugs are fine. Just don't keep them in when singing--this could lead to the occlusion effect which is probably worse than just listening to the music...

This exact thing happened to me over a week ago and sadly it seems to have brought back strong T that was largely under control and almost non-existent at times after several years. My understanding is that the vacuum created by pushing in the tragus (hard) creates suction on the eardrum after...

Presumably this won't be an issue unless you're planning on vacuuming for hours on end (I know there is some argument/hypothesis about H sufferers being more prone to damage from lower dB levels, but I would like to see some concrete data). For the record, my vacuum peaks at about 78 dB. Still...

Interesting, thanks for the suggestion. My right ear does indeed seem to have a smaller canal than the left, and that is actually the ear that the earplug got stuck in the other day and which generally has more H issues. Typically this has not been an issue, but it certainly felt like a cause...

I have watched numerous "how to" videos on earplugs and also read enough to know that a good fit means that the earplug is literally sealed into your ear canal with no wrinkling around the edges. If proper fitting meant no suction, there would no need for warnings about pulling them out too...

What are the industrial earplugs you are referring to? I would be interested in learning more about those. And yes, < 5 dB is correct for low frequency range ( under 2 Khz) on the vented Doc's. They really only attenuate high frequency content. I have custom silicon musicians Etymotics for...

In the past few years, I became a habitual earplug user to manage hyperacusis, wearing them for almost everything, including vacuuming, public transport, doing dishes, and more. However, I only recently learned how to insert them properly. That is also when I likely started increasing the risk...

Check out Doc's Proplugs, the vented type. These are very easy to put in/take out quickly and have no suction. The downside is that they only offer about 5 dB protection in the vocal range (they are designed to make voices audible), but they offer like 20 dB in the upper frequency range. I have...

Just had a similar experience with the hair clippers at a training salon (which means everything took that much longer!) I was mainly concerned about H as she got going with clippers, but realized that this could also exacerbate T too. There definitely were some extended moments where the thing...

Yes, this jives with my own experience and what I have read. But ear pain (which goes away) is not synonymous with hearing loss (which doesn't). And actually, reading that article more closely, it sounds (again) like they are not directly related: "As research has shown reduction in cochlear...

Agreed, it was not funny to me at the time. This is my second experience with an ENT who did not really know what H was, and it made me realize how uncommon it actually is. They ran a full hearing test--all speech related tests were fine. I am also a musician, so acutely aware of things like...

Well yes, but I requested that they go up to 16 Khz, and my hearing was actually pretty decent in these higher frequencies (one ear is worse than the other). Actually, it was ironically funny because the ENT, who clearly was not super familiar with H suggested that sounds were so loud to me...

Hi all, dealing with hyperacusis for years now and have recently made it (as well as mild tinnitus) worse over last few months by working in a noisy market/kitchen environment (pans clanging/dropping, carts rolling by, general conversation/environmental noise). Background noise levels are only...

I think the general idea is that the more you dampen regular, non-harmful outside noises, the more sensitive your ears will actually become. So earplugs could increase your hyperacusis in this way if you wear them all the time. You probably want to read about "habituation" elsewhere on the...

I don't think there is any "maximum" time for wearing earplugs--people wear them while sleeping (~ 8 hrs) with no problem. The issue here is how long is "safe" to use while talking (because of occlusion effect). Apparently the deeper the earplugs are inserted, the less occlusion there is, but I...

Glynis, could you possibly comment on your experience with the Proplugs and the occlusion effect (or lack thereof)? I finally got mine today and notice a little bit of occlusion with them. I have a fairly deep voice and what I am wondering is if this boost in my voice will be damaging if I am...

Were you talking to people while wearing the earplugs? The noise level doesn't really sound bad with earplugs in so I a wondering if perhaps your subsequent pain is the result of the occlusion effect, which may have made your voice louder than the actual restaurant noise. In any case sounds like...

yes, see OP. I heard people fine, just more quietly. The interesting thing is that I never found my own voice to be annoying or loud, so I'm guessing that either a) I quickly acclimated to it or b) occlusion effect was probably relatively small. In either case, the actual effect on my ears was...

Similar issue here. My guess is that because the "better" ear is more sensitive, it is now reacts more. Those simply aren't practical for me (and I'm guessing for most workplaces where people interact, particularly with customers).