Yeah, that's how I got better (sans the white noise)
Sometimes this condition reminds me of games like Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy or Jump King, except without the pit or the bog — there is no bottom.
IMO, there is no such thing as overprotection. Plenty of sound gets through whether you let it or not.
I developed hyperacusis with symptoms nearly identical to those described by the original poster in December 2021. Fortunately, it improved within about a month. However, it returned in June...
An uneasy cease-fire. I almost never experience pain, and rarely experience loudness symptoms. I can tolerate (though it still bothers me) more or less anything with ear protection. But I know I'm under constant threat of getting worse again. I haven't dared get back into music.
He puts his name as "Neil Bauman, Ph.D". He has a Master's degree in Theology and two PhDs, one in Forestry and the other in Ancient Astronomy. A little bit dishonest if you ask me.
That experience applies the vast majority of hyperacusics, we call it a 'setback'.
You went too fast. You should push your limits ever so slowly and gently, painfully slowly. Eventually, (and that's the key word) you'll be able to tolerate normal noise that you never could now.
I'd wager you were able to stop protecting so much because your tolerance improved, not the other way around. That said, it's of course great news you're feeling better.
So my problems are probably middle-ear related. I have an appointment with Myriam Westcott on the 15th of July and she's an expert on TTTS/acoustic shock. Sorry if I come off rude but this was a very enlightening post.
I think it's good they want to be completely sure what they come up with is probably effective, considering how tinnitus is such a magnet for scam treatments.
Hell yes it can. One of many examples: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/extreme-hyperacusis-and-tinnitus-have-improved-over-the-past-2-5-years.29268/
Foam earplugs? You're supposed to twizzle them up, slip them in and let them expand. Take them out slowly, letting the air escape from behind. Do not yank them out - I hurt my eardrums that way a bunch of times with them before T+H.