Acoustic Trauma — Dealing with Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

[dave288]

Hello everyone,

I'm Dave, a freelancer working as a web developer and graphic designer, as well as a hobby DJ and music producer whose life revolves around music since my childhood. Music is something essential to me, it is who I am at the core of myself.

So let's get to the reason I've decided to join this community...

On March 5th of 2022, a colleague of mine invited me over to his place to chat and drink a coffee, and to check out his new sound system that he bought for birthday parties and other private parties where he's DJing. It was two big bass bins, each 800 Watts of power. He showed me how they sound which all happened in a small garage, and the whole thing didn't last longer than a minute. It was extremely loud. Like, you don't hear (and feel) that amount of bass in any club for sure. I felt like all of my organs are shaking from the bass, including my eardrums tickling but not hurting. That's why I didn't panic when the music was playing, because I felt no pain as it was going on...

Immediately after the music stopped, I felt a dull pain in my right ear, which started getting stronger and stronger. I went home, thinking it will go away in a day or two.

But it didn't...

The next day I started having very bad sound sensitivity, along with ear fullness, neck pain, dizziness, balance issues. Every short and sharp sound would hurt both my ears, and all the low frequency sounds as well. I couldn't stand the sound of my fireplace as the flame was blazing. Longer conversations hurt my ears, and caused me very bad headaches... Now, after almost 3 months, my sound sensitivity is slightly better, and I can get along with everyday sounds.

I also have to say, that 10 days after the accident, I went to an ENT, and she checked my ears with a tympanogram and audiogram. Both were perfect. She told me I was lucky I didn't damage my ears, and that they should heal. She asked me if I have ringing in my ears, and at the time I told her I don't -- except that when I go to bed, the eardrum in my right ear starts fluttering for like half an hour, until it stops. She prescribed me Betaserc and Neurovit, and told me to come back for a check-up in two months. That will be happening in a few days. She's on holiday, so I'm waiting for my appointment. The diagnosis she set is Acoustic Trauma.

Meanwhile I did go to another ENT after a month of the injury, and at that point I developed tinnitus in my left ear, which is still present along with my hyperacusis. It's mostly noticeable in a quiet place, in the form of a whistling sound at around 1200 Hz. I went to see another ENT because of my hyperacusis, as it's a much bigger problem still... When I described her what's going on with my ears, she immediately told me it's called hyperacusis, and will be a long healing process. It's rare, she also added. She told me the prescription of my previous ENT is good (Betaserc 24 mg 2x1, Neurovit x1), and that I should keep taking it for 6 months, which is the timeframe she said my ears will fully heal. "Maybe even less" -- she added, when I asked for reassurance. Plus she mentioned that I shouldn't use earplugs, as it is counter productive. I should only avoid loud noises and it will get better on it's own as time goes on.

So here I am now, almost 3 months since the accident:

My sound sensitivity got better (I never had loudness hyperacusis, but pain hyperacusis and TTTS), ear fullness is less present, Tinnitus is there (in my left ear only) but I hope it will go away eventually. I'm OK with everyday environmental sounds, pretty much including traffic. Dishes do trigger my TTTS but it's not as bad as it used to be. I can use headphones on low levels, and the low frequencies from the car engine and traffic are also fine. Not 100%, but it's OK.

My biggest problem is admittedly the mental side of it. I read so many horrifying stories about hyperacusis and people getting stuck with it for years, it made me spiral into a negative loop of anxiety, stress and worrying if I will heal completely or not. I realize that online communities are biased by unfortunate cases that somehow couldn't heal and thus it's giving off a picture that no one is recovering... All this stress I experience is because I know for a fact that I can't imagine my life without music, and without performing in particular (as a DJ). I'm ok with having to be patient and heal (even though it's extremely hard, especially with the summer in front of us), but I know I must heal from this. My hearing as it is, thankfully sounds the same as before the accident. I can hear just as well.

I really hope this isn't the end of my career... Anyone here who went through a similar situation and is back to performing?

Thanks for reading my story!

 

[AxEars]

I'm with you brother.

I'm two weeks in and I work in basketball gyms. The ref whistles are a no no right now so I'm home and I'm miserable

I feel fortunate that I'm starting to notice it's getting better very slowly already. Im sitting in a room with some ambient noise (the hum of a computer, cars going by intermittently, and someone talking in the other room) and it's a whisper right now but will jump up to an 11 when at will. It's a 16000 Hz ringing. Sleeping has been very hard. The anxiety attacks are severe. I hope you have people you can turn to.

Here's to getting back to our passions, no matter what that new normal may be.

Cheers.

 

[dave288]

Hey @AxEars,

Thanks for tuning in to my thread!

So as far as I can see, you've got tinnitus exclusively, without hyperacusis, right? Do visit an ENT!

 

[AnthonyMcDonald]

Hey @AxEars,

Thanks for tuning in to my thread!

So as far as I can see, you've got tinnitus exclusively, without hyperacusis, right? Do visit an ENT!

Sorry to say but ENTs know next to nothing about tinnitus and hyperacusis and will most likely recommend to continue destroying your ears like nothing has happened.

It's the unfortunate truth but if you want your tinnitus to stay mild and in a quiet room you'll most likely have to give up DJing or being in loud places in general and hope it stays mild. I'm not being "negative", just saying the truth. Cheers and good luck.

 

[kingsfan]

Betaserc 24 mg 2x1, Neurovit x1

What are these medications? I've never heard of them.

 

[dave288]

Sorry to say but ENTs know next to nothing about tinnitus and hyperacusis and will most likely recommend to continue destroying your ears like nothing has happened.

It's the unfortunate truth but if you want your tinnitus to stay mild and in a quiet room you'll most likely have to give up DJing or being in loud places in general and hope it stays mild. I'm not being "negative", just saying the truth. Cheers and good luck.

Thanks for your input! It got me thinking, let me share my thoughts...

I realized I made an initial mistake regarding my question. I didn't specify who I want answers from ideally - as I believe that is also a very important aspect when we ask questions in life. Who do we ask them from. From what people do we take advice regarding certain topics...

I am looking for answers from people who are similarly F-d up weirdos / artistic creatures, whose soul is merged with their passion, and cannot comprehend living a life by throwing out their calling. Most people probably don't fully realize the detrimental impact on ones mental health and wellbeing of being forever away from what give him or her the life energy, the will for mere existence on this planet.

Just to clarify, I am not looking for sole confirmations of what I want to hear, but people who are wired in a similar way, had a similar intensity case... Are there any folks like that hanging around here?

The problem that you made me understand with your response, is that we all start from ourselves and of our own experiences. Of course someone who unfortunately hasn't been able to recover, will not recommend doing anything that has the potential to make things worse... But then what? Do we live a safe but miserable life? Is that really something that's worth living for?

On another hand, I've just talked to someone who had it so bad (with both tinnitus and hyperacusis) that he had to isolate his room windows for over a year, who's now fully back into his band playing piano, without any issues whatsoever. Had that guy listened to an (unfortunately) lost case's opinion, he'd be probably forever stuck in his misery. There's IMO a very big lesson to extract from that.

The problem is that very bad cases are the ones in majority staying on these boards, and the responses are biased. We don't have those who have recovered onboard -- There should be a big bold disclaimer about this on the top of every page on such sites. Of course the opposite is also true: Very mild cases telling others that it's easy-peasy to recover...

You made me realize that my question actually doesn't have much sense, simply because we can't accurately provide adequate advice based on what a stranger has typed. There are so many other variables that would determine the outcome of one's future in regards of his health issues...

Another very big aspect is the mind itself. Many people don't realize that ultimately what we seek we find. I had a different health issue (a quite big one) years ago, which I almost lost my life to. The doctor told me that it can happen anytime again, and I should be aware of that... That one thought he planted in my mind made a hell out of my life. Until one doctor told me that it cannot come back, and all my symptoms that I had brought into my experience just by being scared, suddenly never ever came back. It's been 10 years since then.

I'm not sure if this was worth sharing, but whatever.

TL;DR: Thanks to this response, I realized all the flaws of asking such type of questions, and this board may be useful but on completely different aspects (like discussing what helped for a particular thing, etc).

Thank you once again, and I hope you recover friend!

 

[AnthonyMcDonald]

Thanks for your input! It got me thinking, let me share my thoughts...

I realized I made an initial mistake regarding my question. I didn't specify who I want answers from ideally - as I believe that is also a very important aspect when we ask questions in life. Who do we ask them from. From what people do we take advice regarding certain topics...

I am looking for answers from people who are similarly F-d up weirdos / artistic creatures, whose soul is merged with their passion, and cannot comprehend living a life by throwing out their calling. Most people probably don't fully realize the detrimental impact on ones mental health and wellbeing of being forever away from what give him or her the life energy, the will for mere existence on this planet.

Just to clarify, I am not looking for sole confirmations of what I want to hear, but people who are wired in a similar way, had a similar intensity case... Are there any folks like that hanging around here?

The problem that you made me understand with your response, is that we all start from ourselves and of our own experiences. Of course someone who unfortunately hasn't been able to recover, will not recommend doing anything that has the potential to make things worse... But then what? Do we live a safe but miserable life? Is that really something that's worth living for?

On another hand, I've just talked to someone who had it so bad (with both tinnitus and hyperacusis) that he had to isolate his room windows for over a year, who's now fully back into his band playing piano, without any issues whatsoever. Had that guy listened to an (unfortunately) lost case's opinion, he'd be probably forever stuck in his misery. There's IMO a very big lesson to extract from that.

The problem is that very bad cases are the ones in majority staying on these boards, and the responses are biased. We don't have those who have recovered onboard -- There should be a big bold disclaimer about this on the top of every page on such sites. Of course the opposite is also true: Very mild cases telling others that it's easy-peasy to recover...

You made me realize that my question actually doesn't have much sense, simply because we can't accurately provide adequate advice based on what a stranger has typed. There are so many other variables that would determine the outcome of one's future in regards of his health issues...

Another very big aspect is the mind itself. Many people don't realize that ultimately what we seek we find. I had a different health issue (a quite big one) years ago, which I almost lost my life to. The doctor told me that it can happen anytime again, and I should be aware of that... That one thought he planted in my mind made a hell out of my life. Until one doctor told me that it cannot come back, and all my symptoms that I had brought into my experience just by being scared, suddenly never ever came back. It's been 10 years since then.

I'm not sure if this was worth sharing, but whatever.

TL;DR: Thanks to this response, I realized all the flaws of asking such type of questions, and this board may be useful but on completely different aspects (like discussing what helped for a particular thing, etc).

Thank you once again, and I hope you recover friend!

For every case that gets better there's 10 cases that get worse or don't get better.

Trust me, I've been in this community long enough to know that going back to clubs and concerts after these conditions is a very, very bad idea.

Has nothing to do with being negative or "shutting ourselves out". If you are sure enough of yourself to go do loud activities, go ahead, just keep in mind that there's always a risk. Our ears will never be the same as a healthy person's.

Just take a look at Brian's thread:

Warning for People with Noxacusis: For the Love of God, Protect Your Ears!

 

[dave288]

For every case that gets better there's 10 cases that get worse or don't get better.

Trust me, I've been in this community long enough to know that going back to clubs and concerts after these conditions is a very, very bad idea.

Has nothing to do with being negative or "shutting ourselves out". If you are sure enough of yourself to go do loud activities, go ahead, just keep in mind that there's always a risk. Our ears will never be the same as a healthy person's.

Just take a look at Brian's thread:

Warning for People with Noxacusis: For the Love of God, Protect Your Ears!

I get you.

Your perception of a situation will ultimately dictate it's outcome. Choose wisely.

Here's an opposite example:

Second Recovery Hyperacusis/Tinnitus!

They way you look at your life will have a 1:1 impact on your experiences. Our subconscious mind is a powerful master.

 

[Juan]

Hello everyone,

I'm Dave, a freelancer working as a web developer and graphic designer, as well as a hobby DJ and music producer whose life revolves around music since my childhood. Music is something essential to me, it is who I am at the core of myself.

So let's get to the reason I've decided to join this community...

On March 5th of 2022, a colleague of mine invited me over to his place to chat and drink a coffee, and to check out his new sound system that he bought for birthday parties and other private parties where he's DJing. It was two big bass bins, each 800 Watts of power. He showed me how they sound which all happened in a small garage, and the whole thing didn't last longer than a minute. It was extremely loud. Like, you don't hear (and feel) that amount of bass in any club for sure. I felt like all of my organs are shaking from the bass, including my eardrums tickling but not hurting. That's why I didn't panic when the music was playing, because I felt no pain as it was going on...

Immediately after the music stopped, I felt a dull pain in my right ear, which started getting stronger and stronger. I went home, thinking it will go away in a day or two.

But it didn't...

The next day I started having very bad sound sensitivity, along with ear fullness, neck pain, dizziness, balance issues. Every short and sharp sound would hurt both my ears, and all the low frequency sounds as well. I couldn't stand the sound of my fireplace as the flame was blazing. Longer conversations hurt my ears, and caused me very bad headaches... Now, after almost 3 months, my sound sensitivity is slightly better, and I can get along with everyday sounds.

I also have to say, that 10 days after the accident, I went to an ENT, and she checked my ears with a tympanogram and audiogram. Both were perfect. She told me I was lucky I didn't damage my ears, and that they should heal. She asked me if I have ringing in my ears, and at the time I told her I don't -- except that when I go to bed, the eardrum in my right ear starts fluttering for like half an hour, until it stops. She prescribed me Betaserc and Neurovit, and told me to come back for a check-up in two months. That will be happening in a few days. She's on holiday, so I'm waiting for my appointment. The diagnosis she set is Acoustic Trauma.

Meanwhile I did go to another ENT after a month of the injury, and at that point I developed tinnitus in my left ear, which is still present along with my hyperacusis. It's mostly noticeable in a quiet place, in the form of a whistling sound at around 1200 Hz. I went to see another ENT because of my hyperacusis, as it's a much bigger problem still... When I described her what's going on with my ears, she immediately told me it's called hyperacusis, and will be a long healing process. It's rare, she also added. She told me the prescription of my previous ENT is good (Betaserc 24 mg 2x1, Neurovit x1), and that I should keep taking it for 6 months, which is the timeframe she said my ears will fully heal. "Maybe even less" -- she added, when I asked for reassurance. Plus she mentioned that I shouldn't use earplugs, as it is counter productive. I should only avoid loud noises and it will get better on it's own as time goes on.

So here I am now, almost 3 months since the accident:

My sound sensitivity got better (I never had loudness hyperacusis, but pain hyperacusis and TTTS), ear fullness is less present, Tinnitus is there (in my left ear only) but I hope it will go away eventually. I'm OK with everyday environmental sounds, pretty much including traffic. Dishes do trigger my TTTS but it's not as bad as it used to be. I can use headphones on low levels, and the low frequencies from the car engine and traffic are also fine. Not 100%, but it's OK.

My biggest problem is admittedly the mental side of it. I read so many horrifying stories about hyperacusis and people getting stuck with it for years, it made me spiral into a negative loop of anxiety, stress and worrying if I will heal completely or not. I realize that online communities are biased by unfortunate cases that somehow couldn't heal and thus it's giving off a picture that no one is recovering... All this stress I experience is because I know for a fact that I can't imagine my life without music, and without performing in particular (as a DJ). I'm ok with having to be patient and heal (even though it's extremely hard, especially with the summer in front of us), but I know I must heal from this. My hearing as it is, thankfully sounds the same as before the accident. I can hear just as well.

I really hope this isn't the end of my career... Anyone here who went through a similar situation and is back to performing?

Thanks for reading my story!

Be careful with sound. Even if your ears seem ok they may be more sensitive to loud noise from now on and it can be easier to get your ears damaged when exposed to high decibels.

There's also the possibility that, due to pressure, muffled hearing, etc you miss the real quality, volume etc of sound... this is, that after a certain time you will not remember how was "normal" sound.

 

[AnthonyMcDonald]

I get you.

Your perception of a situation will ultimately dictate it's outcome. Choose wisely.

Here's an opposite example:

Second Recovery Hyperacusis/Tinnitus!

They way you look at your life will have a 1:1 impact on your experiences. Our subconscious mind is a powerful master.

Gradually exposing myself to loud noise is what made me catastrophically worse, and it had nothing to do with my perception of anything. Glad the guy got better, though.

 

[Stacken77]

Hi @dave288,
Sorry to hear about your recent onset of tinnitus and hyperacusis.

I realized I made an initial mistake regarding my question. I didn't specify who I want answers from ideally - as I believe that is also a very important aspect when we ask questions in life.

I'd urge you to please take every piece of advice into consideration, regardless if it contradicts your passions and plans. I think that @AnthonyMcDonald shared some very sobering but true thoughts, which I'll expand upon a bit. I may not have a passion in the same capacity as you, but I've had to give up fundamental life goals, which still cause me grief to this day.

What you need to understand is that you may have chronic tinnitus (and some degree of hyperacusis), this means that you have a chronic illness. Our health should be of greatest priority, and we should therefore take care of our chronic illness to the best of our ability, even if that means making adjustments. Some needs to make minor sacrifices in their lives, while others need to alter their path completely.

Having these conditions does not mean that music dies; we can still enjoy it, albeit in lower volumes, preferably through speakers. But continuing to subject oneself to damaging levels of sound is to play with fire. Tinnitus and hyperacusis needs to be revered, they're bottomless conditions. It's true that some artists continue in live music despite tinnitus, but many suffers greatly, which strongly impacts quality of life.

Of course someone who unfortunately hasn't been able to recover, will not recommend doing anything that has the potential to make things worse... But then what? Do we live a safe but miserable life? Is that really something that's worth living for?

But if you were to resume life in the same capacity as before, and maybe sustain a setback, which you'd may or may not recover from - couldn't that render your life much more miserable? Living a "safe" (quieter) life does not equal a miserable one; most people live perfectly happy and fulfilling lives below 90 dB.

Here's an opposite example:

Second Recovery Hyperacusis/Tinnitus!

It's always awesome to hear about people recovering, but do keep in mind that said person did suffer a setback from doing the things they loved, it's not something to take lightly, and they were incredibly lucky to do such a great recovery.

Please do take our advice into consideration. Believe me when I say; there's more or less nothing worse than having these conditions get even worse. Take care of those ears, and be well.

~Stacken

 

[kingsfan]

I realized I made an initial mistake regarding my question. I didn't specify who I want answers from ideally - as I believe that is also a very important aspect when we ask questions in life. Who do we ask them from. From what people do we take advice regarding certain topics...

You want to hear from a musician? I gave it up... well I gave up playing live. You can still enjoy studio work as long as you keep the monitors at a reasonable volume. It is, after all, the era of TikTok/YouTube musicians. Many even play shows through live stream in a safe, controlled environment.

I also gave up hockey, and only watch now, in my living room.

You're going to need to slowly test the waters and see what your body can handle from this point forward.

 

[AxEars]

Hey @AxEars,

Thanks for tuning in to my thread!

So as far as I can see, you've got tinnitus exclusively, without hyperacusis, right? Do visit an ENT!

The hyperacusis didn't fully set in because I didn't let it. I told myself that mentally I'm okay and the sounds aren't scary. It's helped for some sounds but not others. Wonder if it had to do with frequency. Magically, plates stopped sounding like they were coming for me. I'm not sure what other sounds will do yet. Still learning as I go. Sleep, diet and attitude are at the core of it all right now. Today was a phenomenal day after a bad spike last night! One day at a time.

 

[dave288]

This community is so much on the defense... Only because of the undeniable: HEALED CASES MOVE ON FROM HERE. And I completely understand them. Whatever health conditions are way too subjective and broad to give any meaningful advice at all... I've been through much more serious health issues and I'm without a scar today. Even doctors told me, it might come back... And I had psychosomatic symptoms up until another doctor told me to relax and that it cannot come back. Since then, not even one symptom reappeared.

I won't go into details yet, but when I recover from this crap, I sure will come back here just to prove my point in a far more detailed way. That piece of content will be very much needed.

 

[Stacken77]

HEALED CASES MOVE ON FROM HERE

Until they come back when they ruined their recovery because they got careless?

I've been through much more serious health issues and I'm without a scar today. Even doctors told me, it might come back... And I had psychosomatic symptoms up until another doctor told me to relax and that it cannot come back.

You cannot compare tinnitus and hyperacusis to other conditions like that. Your tinnitus baseline, and hyperacusis tolerance, are objective - they can increase and drop depending on recovery and setbacks. What affects these conditions are in most cases (yours included) sound, which is impossible to escape in our society. This means that your recovery could be completely ruined by a fire drill, or an ambulance siren. That doesn't necessarily mean it will happen to you, but this forum is staggering repository of such testimonies; doesn't it make sense to learn from the mistakes of others?

I won't go into details yet, but when I recover from this crap, I sure will come back here just to prove my point in a far more detailed way. That piece of content will be very much needed.

All the power to you. I sincerely hope you do make a complete recovery.

You may be able to resume your life in full capacity, doing everything you once did, but you clearly do not understand what's at stake here - and how bad things can get.

Wishing you well,
Stacken

 

[AxEars]

This community is so much on the defense... Only because of the undeniable: HEALED CASES MOVE ON FROM HERE. And I completely understand them. Whatever health conditions are way too subjective and broad to give any meaningful advice at all... I've been through much more serious health issues and I'm without a scar today. Even doctors told me, it might come back... And I had psychosomatic symptoms up until another doctor told me to relax and that it cannot come back. Since then, not even one symptom reappeared.

I won't go into details yet, but when I recover from this crap, I sure will come back here just to prove my point in a far more detailed way. That piece of content will be very much needed.

This is my mindset. I've been stung once, and that's all I need to never be careless again. In another thread, the advice of having earplugs everywhere is good idea. I have a plan for recovery and continuing passions, even in a somewhat reduced level. Whenever that can happen, I'll be waiting. I've had plenty of experiences in life. I'm in my 30s; if it's about serenity from here on out - well, shit - I've been looking for that my whole life. My personal life is a lot of pain, trauma, abuse, and sadness and I was on the receiving end of all of it. And then I hurt my ears from being depressed and trying to just escape for an hour or two. Turns out the escape was being kind to myself and others, opening my heart and telling people I love them and I want to spend more time with them. My luck isn't universal, so I know that I need to be thankful for what I have in this world. I hope my experience can help someone out there.

 

[AxEars]

Until they come back when they ruined their recovery because they got careless?

You cannot compare tinnitus and hyperacusis to other conditions like that. Your tinnitus baseline, and hyperacusis tolerance, are objective - they can increase and drop depending on recovery and setbacks. What affects these conditions are in most cases (yours included) sound, which is impossible to escape in our society. This means that your recovery could be completely ruined by a fire drill, or an ambulance siren. That doesn't necessarily mean it will happen to you, but this forum is staggering repository of such testimonies; doesn't it make sense to learn from the mistakes of others?

All the power to you. I sincerely hope you do make a complete recovery.

You may be able to resume your life in full capacity, doing everything you once did, but you clearly do not understand what's at stake here - and how bad things can get.

Wishing you well,
Stacken

You make a good point. Tinnitus is like a fingerprint. If I make a recovery I'll stay here to help others and give them the mental positivity they need to keep going. Tinnitus is a very lonely condition. We all need to pull together.

 

[CC_16]

This community is so much on the defense... Only because of the undeniable: HEALED CASES MOVE ON FROM HERE. And I completely understand them. Whatever health conditions are way too subjective and broad to give any meaningful advice at all... I've been through much more serious health issues and I'm without a scar today. Even doctors told me, it might come back... And I had psychosomatic symptoms up until another doctor told me to relax and that it cannot come back. Since then, not even one symptom reappeared.

I won't go into details yet, but when I recover from this crap, I sure will come back here just to prove my point in a far more detailed way. That piece of content will be very much needed.

My TV accidentally had the volume up for 3 seconds, should I get worried?

It was very short, in my living room.

Should I worry about a potential spike?

 

[Brian Newman]

The hyperacusis didn't fully set in because I didn't let it. I told myself that mentally I'm okay and the sounds aren't scary. It's helped for some sounds but not others. Wonder if it had to do with frequency. Magically, plates stopped sounding like they were coming for me. I'm not sure what other sounds will do yet. Still learning as I go. Sleep, diet and attitude are at the core of it all right now. Today was a phenomenal day after a bad spike last night! One day at a time.

I'm going t say this and I want anybody reading this thread to read this very carefully.

First of all, you have loudness hyperacusis, not pain.

I'm glad you found a way to mentally tell yourself it's ok and it goes away. You are a mild case if you are able to do that. With severe pain hyperacusis I have tried exactly what you said, you know what happened? Every time I said no, this noise is not loud enough, it can't hurt me, it's impossible for noises under 70 dB to hurt me, I went from a moderate case to probably one of the worst ones of all time because I listened to that crap. First of all, everybody is different, every single case is different. True pain hyperacusis is activation of the Type 2 nerves, so for severe cases like mine and others on here, reactivating the pain does not take much, it is nerve damage. Ever read about trigeminal neuralgia? Some cases are so bad all they need to to is touch their face and it triggers the nerve pain, pain hyperacusis is the same thing. When noise goes into the cochlea, it can trigger the Type 2 nerves to fire from ATP leakage from the outer hair cells. That is why certain cases like mine aggressively worsen with noise, I'm not damaging hair cells from 50 dB, no way, it's absolutely impossible, but it irritates the nerves.

It will be a mystery why some people recover and some don't. I do know this for sure, any person who has true pain hyperacusis, and if it's catastrophic, will most likely never recover. I have been studying this intensively for over a year. Most bad cases that said they got better and went back to normal life were not severe. I could tell by the way they were talking and writing posts. They were in full panic mode. Panic mode amplifies all ear issues. Anxiety can make things much worse. People are not always truthful. I mean some people go on forums and panic omg omg my tinnitus is so loud, I can almost hear it over the AC coming out of the vent. I've been dealing with tinnitus for 6 years. It's not as loud as air coming out of a vent lol. Loudness and pain hyperacusis are very different mechanisms and ear diseases because I have suffered from both.

My loudness hyperacusis was not as easy as thinking it away but slow gradual low noise helped calm it down. Now it's much better and still is much better. The pain hyperacusis gradually worsened from sound therapy, and believe me with what I got there's no pretending it isn't there, that noise can't hurt me, it's all in my head. I have tried that many times with pain h and every time I set the pain off it gets worse. Got to the point to where my left ear felt like an open wound 24/7 for 7 months. Any noise felt like a damn buzzsaw was going through my head. It got so bad I would throw up, and would sleep 2 hours a night for half a year because I was in so much pain. To sleep 2 hours, I had to wear double hearing protection. To leave my house at night and I would walk 5 hours barefoot until my feet would bleed. I was in so much pain I walked underneath a bees' nest, threw a rock at it and got stung by dozens and dozens of bees. I sat there laughed and went back inside like nothing happened. Lol I stuck a knife all the way through my hand and sat there and laughed. I punched through solid drywall and head butted it until my entire body was covered in blood. I mean I have been through a lot of pain in my life, I tore my pec muscle for shit's sake, broke my ankle, got hit in the nuts so hard I peed blood, broke my molar teeth in half, had teeth pulled with no numbing, there's so many more. But nothing compares to the inner ear pain I'm dealing with, absolutely nothing I have ever experienced. I stuck a knife through my hand and laughed, lol that's how high my pain tolerance is now.

This is so long so I'll get to the point, I am not a man of negativity, I am a positive guy going through some messed up shit. I elieve the brain is powerful and we can do many things we put our minds to. I was most of you guys reading this 16 months ago. I had moderate tinnitus and hyperacusis that I would "wish away". I read noxacusis stories and watched poor Tom's YouTube video, I thought it was all crap and those people needed mental help, I didn't know it could actually get that bad. That's coming from somebody who had ear issues! I am living proof of a person who recovered from acoustic trauma and loudness hyperacusis, and successfully dealt with my tinnitus for half a decade, that if you fuck with it, you can and will end up like me. Mine was an accident I never could have controlled or else I would have never gotten this bad. Read anything I post, I'm not going to sit here and tell people who have mild ear issues to wear earplugs and never leave their homes lol. That's stupid. The odds of getting what myself and a few others on this forum got is next to impossible. I got friends with bad tinnitus and they club and shoot guns every day. Never get worse. It is luck of the draw. But the problem is the small chance you can end up this bad, you will be screwed because there are no treatments out yet.

I am only doing a little better because I have been doing a shit ton of acupuncture and running at night. If I am exposed to the wrong noise, even a door squeak, the pain comes right back. I tried so many times to wish it away and try to convince my brain it's not real, to ignore it. You can only ignore so much pain. My loudness hyperacusis I could ignore because sound after the discomfort is gone, but this severe pain lasts for days.

I only get upset when mild cases say oh yeah, I wish it away and I'm better, you should do the same. Imagine. I lost literally everything in my life that's important to me, and no matter how hard I try there's no getting it back. Just getting by day by day and living a quiet life. Two things that make me feel worse, people giving off horrible negativity saying everybody is doomed forever, which is not the case for 99.99 percent of people, and people who undermine this condition. I'm not talking about you, I'm directing this to anybody who says this is a joke because it's not, it really sucks lol. But I can tell everybody here, if I can't get my old life back, fuck it, I don't care anymore. But I will end the suffering and find meaning in this new boring life I have, and find better ways to cope.

And I know you're suffering from tinnitus, we all are, it sucks. Being positive is important I agree. Negativity can make you worse.

 

[AxEars]

I'm going t say this and I want anybody reading this thread to read this very carefully.

First of all, you have loudness hyperacusis, not pain.

I'm glad you found a way to mentally tell yourself it's ok and it goes away. You are a mild case if you are able to do that. With severe pain hyperacusis I have tried exactly what you said, you know what happened? Every time I said no, this noise is not loud enough, it can't hurt me, it's impossible for noises under 70 dB to hurt me, I went from a moderate case to probably one of the worst ones of all time because I listened to that crap. First of all, everybody is different, every single case is different. True pain hyperacusis is activation of the Type 2 nerves, so for severe cases like mine and others on here, reactivating the pain does not take much, it is nerve damage. Ever read about trigeminal neuralgia? Some cases are so bad all they need to to is touch their face and it triggers the nerve pain, pain hyperacusis is the same thing. When noise goes into the cochlea, it can trigger the Type 2 nerves to fire from ATP leakage from the outer hair cells. That is why certain cases like mine aggressively worsen with noise, I'm not damaging hair cells from 50 dB, no way, it's absolutely impossible, but it irritates the nerves.

It will be a mystery why some people recover and some don't. I do know this for sure, any person who has true pain hyperacusis, and if it's catastrophic, will most likely never recover. I have been studying this intensively for over a year. Most bad cases that said they got better and went back to normal life were not severe. I could tell by the way they were talking and writing posts. They were in full panic mode. Panic mode amplifies all ear issues. Anxiety can make things much worse. People are not always truthful. I mean some people go on forums and panic omg omg my tinnitus is so loud, I can almost hear it over the AC coming out of the vent. I've been dealing with tinnitus for 6 years. It's not as loud as air coming out of a vent lol. Loudness and pain hyperacusis are very different mechanisms and ear diseases because I have suffered from both.

My loudness hyperacusis was not as easy as thinking it away but slow gradual low noise helped calm it down. Now it's much better and still is much better. The pain hyperacusis gradually worsened from sound therapy, and believe me with what I got there's no pretending it isn't there, that noise can't hurt me, it's all in my head. I have tried that many times with pain h and every time I set the pain off it gets worse. Got to the point to where my left ear felt like an open wound 24/7 for 7 months. Any noise felt like a damn buzzsaw was going through my head. It got so bad I would throw up, and would sleep 2 hours a night for half a year because I was in so much pain. To sleep 2 hours, I had to wear double hearing protection. To leave my house at night and I would walk 5 hours barefoot until my feet would bleed. I was in so much pain I walked underneath a bees' nest, threw a rock at it and got stung by dozens and dozens of bees. I sat there laughed and went back inside like nothing happened. Lol I stuck a knife all the way through my hand and sat there and laughed. I punched through solid drywall and head butted it until my entire body was covered in blood. I mean I have been through a lot of pain in my life, I tore my pec muscle for shit's sake, broke my ankle, got hit in the nuts so hard I peed blood, broke my molar teeth in half, had teeth pulled with no numbing, there's so many more. But nothing compares to the inner ear pain I'm dealing with, absolutely nothing I have ever experienced. I stuck a knife through my hand and laughed, lol that's how high my pain tolerance is now.

This is so long so I'll get to the point, I am not a man of negativity, I am a positive guy going through some messed up shit. I elieve the brain is powerful and we can do many things we put our minds to. I was most of you guys reading this 16 months ago. I had moderate tinnitus and hyperacusis that I would "wish away". I read noxacusis stories and watched poor Tom's YouTube video, I thought it was all crap and those people needed mental help, I didn't know it could actually get that bad. That's coming from somebody who had ear issues! I am living proof of a person who recovered from acoustic trauma and loudness hyperacusis, and successfully dealt with my tinnitus for half a decade, that if you fuck with it, you can and will end up like me. Mine was an accident I never could have controlled or else I would have never gotten this bad. Read anything I post, I'm not going to sit here and tell people who have mild ear issues to wear earplugs and never leave their homes lol. That's stupid. The odds of getting what myself and a few others on this forum got is next to impossible. I got friends with bad tinnitus and they club and shoot guns every day. Never get worse. It is luck of the draw. But the problem is the small chance you can end up this bad, you will be screwed because there are no treatments out yet.

I am only doing a little better because I have been doing a shit ton of acupuncture and running at night. If I am exposed to the wrong noise, even a door squeak, the pain comes right back. I tried so many times to wish it away and try to convince my brain it's not real, to ignore it. You can only ignore so much pain. My loudness hyperacusis I could ignore because sound after the discomfort is gone, but this severe pain lasts for days.

I only get upset when mild cases say oh yeah, I wish it away and I'm better, you should do the same. Imagine. I lost literally everything in my life that's important to me, and no matter how hard I try there's no getting it back. Just getting by day by day and living a quiet life. Two things that make me feel worse, people giving off horrible negativity saying everybody is doomed forever, which is not the case for 99.99 percent of people, and people who undermine this condition. I'm not talking about you, I'm directing this to anybody who says this is a joke because it's not, it really sucks lol. But I can tell everybody here, if I can't get my old life back, fuck it, I don't care anymore. But I will end the suffering and find meaning in this new boring life I have, and find better ways to cope.

And I know you're suffering from tinnitus, we all are, it sucks. Being positive is important I agree. Negativity can make you worse.

Brian,

I'd like to thank you for writing this. I read it with the intention of understanding you better. I think I do. Sorry you're a major case. Someone here recently said tinnitus is a bottomless condition. I agree. I'm new here, so veterans of the condition should be listened to and their words taken into consideration. Each case is like a fingerprint, and it's difficult to know the underlying cause. I'm certain mine is from bruxism and TMJ. There are threads here that offer me hope as I can strengthen my neck/jaw muscles over the course of the year and hopefully reduce or reverse the symptoms. Shit, it might just go away on its own in 6 months without any help. Who knows?! But like you said - the damage is done, and to be careless at any point going forward is foolish. It would be downright stupid.

Yes. I have a mild case. I can hear the "someone left the TV on in the other room" pitch in my head. It's been at a volume of 1-4 for the past 4 days, with one spike on 5/26 late night and another for 10 minutes last night. It's probably because I ate 3 salty meals back to back to back on 5/26. Lesson learned - the noise lessens with grilled food. Low salt forever! On 5/25 I had 10 minutes of silence before I went to a social event. At the social event it returned but no hyperacusis happened at any point, thankfully. I was at a podium with a microphone and spoke for 10 minutes. I was okay. If there is one thing I'm learning, it's how truly fortunate I am compared to some here.

Plates and bells do hurt a little bit, so maybe you're right. I need to be more careful. And now I will. I'll monitor the symptoms and if they get better, very very slowly, then I'll see how much of a normal life I can live.

I root for you to find a treatment that can help you someday. For all of us.

You offer great perspective on how bad it can really get. Acupuncture and running improves symptoms, huh? Good to know. Cardio it is then. For some reason I have a mental block on the acupuncture. I'll stop being a baby and try it soon.

Cheers, Brian. Keep going. You're a tough SOB.

 

[Brian Newman]

Brian,

I'd like to thank you for writing this. I read it with the intention of understanding you better. I think I do. Sorry you're a major case. Someone here recently said tinnitus is a bottomless condition. I agree. I'm new here, so veterans of the condition should be listened to and their words taken into consideration. Each case is like a fingerprint, and it's difficult to know the underlying cause. I'm certain mine is from bruxism and TMJ. There are threads here that offer me hope as I can strengthen my neck/jaw muscles over the course of the year and hopefully reduce or reverse the symptoms. Shit, it might just go away on its own in 6 months without any help. Who knows?! But like you said - the damage is done, and to be careless at any point going forward is foolish. It would be downright stupid.

Yes. I have a mild case. I can hear the "someone left the TV on in the other room" pitch in my head. It's been at a volume of 1-4 for the past 4 days, with one spike on 5/26 late night and another for 10 minutes last night. It's probably because I ate 3 salty meals back to back to back on 5/26. Lesson learned - the noise lessens with grilled food. Low salt forever! On 5/25 I had 10 minutes of silence before I went to a social event. At the social event it returned but no hyperacusis happened at any point, thankfully. I was at a podium with a microphone and spoke for 10 minutes. I was okay. If there is one thing I'm learning, it's how truly fortunate I am compared to some here.

Plates and bells do hurt a little bit, so maybe you're right. I need to be more careful. And now I will. I'll monitor the symptoms and if they get better, very very slowly, then I'll see how much of a normal life I can live.

I root for you to find a treatment that can help you someday. For all of us.

You offer great perspective on how bad it can really get. Acupuncture and running improves symptoms, huh? Good to know. Cardio it is then. For some reason I have a mental block on the acupuncture. I'll stop being a baby and try it soon.

Cheers, Brian. Keep going. You're a tough SOB.

Thanks for your kind words man, and hey remember, there's different causes to ear problems and if you got yours from TMJ and bruxism, I do think you can handle your case differently than people with noise damage. If you were to get noise damage on top of it then I would be like seriously careful. From what I know bruxism and TMJ can irritate the inner ear and cause so many issues. I don't think it causes permanent damage which is good. In noise damage cases the damage is forever but it can improve over time, but noise is a dangerous thing for some of us. Noise doesn't scare me, I just can't risk it getting even more painful. Since yours I don't think is permanent damage I definitely think you're all ok and just make sure you treat those conditions. Because I heard a few stories of people who had it bad and ended up improving after 4 years of being housebound. Once the tension and pressure is taken off, your middle and inner ear should start to fully heal. That's good low sodium helps you, I don't notice too much of a difference, stress and noise seems to greatly affect my tinnitus.

I actually thought acupuncture was crap until I tried it. I put it off for 8 months. I'm glad I tried finally. I hate needles too but if you read how much pain I was in I would have cut one of my arms off to make it stop lol. I was nervous about getting injections into my eardrum but it wasn't too bad. Some of the acupuncture points she puts the needles in are kinda painful, but whatever she does, it helps. It's expensive but can't put a price on health. Yeah I don't think you have to worry about noise too much tbh, just wear earplugs if you go to a club or shooting and you will be good.

The key to this is not hitting a man when he's down lol. My ears got hit with all kinds of crap when they were kinda off. That's why this happened. But the acupuncture, man it can help your TMJ heal and take pressure off the ears. It helps all my symptoms tbh.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

I'm going t say this and I want anybody reading this thread to read this very carefully.

First of all, you have loudness hyperacusis, not pain.

I'm glad you found a way to mentally tell yourself it's ok and it goes away. You are a mild case if you are able to do that. With severe pain hyperacusis I have tried exactly what you said, you know what happened? Every time I said no, this noise is not loud enough, it can't hurt me, it's impossible for noises under 70 dB to hurt me, I went from a moderate case to probably one of the worst ones of all time because I listened to that crap. First of all, everybody is different, every single case is different. True pain hyperacusis is activation of the Type 2 nerves, so for severe cases like mine and others on here, reactivating the pain does not take much, it is nerve damage. Ever read about trigeminal neuralgia? Some cases are so bad all they need to to is touch their face and it triggers the nerve pain, pain hyperacusis is the same thing. When noise goes into the cochlea, it can trigger the Type 2 nerves to fire from ATP leakage from the outer hair cells. That is why certain cases like mine aggressively worsen with noise, I'm not damaging hair cells from 50 dB, no way, it's absolutely impossible, but it irritates the nerves.

It will be a mystery why some people recover and some don't. I do know this for sure, any person who has true pain hyperacusis, and if it's catastrophic, will most likely never recover. I have been studying this intensively for over a year. Most bad cases that said they got better and went back to normal life were not severe. I could tell by the way they were talking and writing posts. They were in full panic mode. Panic mode amplifies all ear issues. Anxiety can make things much worse. People are not always truthful. I mean some people go on forums and panic omg omg my tinnitus is so loud, I can almost hear it over the AC coming out of the vent. I've been dealing with tinnitus for 6 years. It's not as loud as air coming out of a vent lol. Loudness and pain hyperacusis are very different mechanisms and ear diseases because I have suffered from both.

My loudness hyperacusis was not as easy as thinking it away but slow gradual low noise helped calm it down. Now it's much better and still is much better. The pain hyperacusis gradually worsened from sound therapy, and believe me with what I got there's no pretending it isn't there, that noise can't hurt me, it's all in my head. I have tried that many times with pain h and every time I set the pain off it gets worse. Got to the point to where my left ear felt like an open wound 24/7 for 7 months. Any noise felt like a damn buzzsaw was going through my head. It got so bad I would throw up, and would sleep 2 hours a night for half a year because I was in so much pain. To sleep 2 hours, I had to wear double hearing protection. To leave my house at night and I would walk 5 hours barefoot until my feet would bleed. I was in so much pain I walked underneath a bees' nest, threw a rock at it and got stung by dozens and dozens of bees. I sat there laughed and went back inside like nothing happened. Lol I stuck a knife all the way through my hand and sat there and laughed. I punched through solid drywall and head butted it until my entire body was covered in blood. I mean I have been through a lot of pain in my life, I tore my pec muscle for shit's sake, broke my ankle, got hit in the nuts so hard I peed blood, broke my molar teeth in half, had teeth pulled with no numbing, there's so many more. But nothing compares to the inner ear pain I'm dealing with, absolutely nothing I have ever experienced. I stuck a knife through my hand and laughed, lol that's how high my pain tolerance is now.

This is so long so I'll get to the point, I am not a man of negativity, I am a positive guy going through some messed up shit. I elieve the brain is powerful and we can do many things we put our minds to. I was most of you guys reading this 16 months ago. I had moderate tinnitus and hyperacusis that I would "wish away". I read noxacusis stories and watched poor Tom's YouTube video, I thought it was all crap and those people needed mental help, I didn't know it could actually get that bad. That's coming from somebody who had ear issues! I am living proof of a person who recovered from acoustic trauma and loudness hyperacusis, and successfully dealt with my tinnitus for half a decade, that if you fuck with it, you can and will end up like me. Mine was an accident I never could have controlled or else I would have never gotten this bad. Read anything I post, I'm not going to sit here and tell people who have mild ear issues to wear earplugs and never leave their homes lol. That's stupid. The odds of getting what myself and a few others on this forum got is next to impossible. I got friends with bad tinnitus and they club and shoot guns every day. Never get worse. It is luck of the draw. But the problem is the small chance you can end up this bad, you will be screwed because there are no treatments out yet.

I am only doing a little better because I have been doing a shit ton of acupuncture and running at night. If I am exposed to the wrong noise, even a door squeak, the pain comes right back. I tried so many times to wish it away and try to convince my brain it's not real, to ignore it. You can only ignore so much pain. My loudness hyperacusis I could ignore because sound after the discomfort is gone, but this severe pain lasts for days.

I only get upset when mild cases say oh yeah, I wish it away and I'm better, you should do the same. Imagine. I lost literally everything in my life that's important to me, and no matter how hard I try there's no getting it back. Just getting by day by day and living a quiet life. Two things that make me feel worse, people giving off horrible negativity saying everybody is doomed forever, which is not the case for 99.99 percent of people, and people who undermine this condition. I'm not talking about you, I'm directing this to anybody who says this is a joke because it's not, it really sucks lol. But I can tell everybody here, if I can't get my old life back, fuck it, I don't care anymore. But I will end the suffering and find meaning in this new boring life I have, and find better ways to cope.

And I know you're suffering from tinnitus, we all are, it sucks. Being positive is important I agree. Negativity can make you worse.

Geeze man reading this makes me realize maybe I'm just a wuss. Holy hell you've been through a lot

 

[AxEars]

Thanks for your kind words man, and hey remember, there's different causes to ear problems and if you got yours from TMJ and bruxism, I do think you can handle your case differently than people with noise damage. If you were to get noise damage on top of it then I would be like seriously careful. From what I know bruxism and TMJ can irritate the inner ear and cause so many issues. I don't think it causes permanent damage which is good. In noise damage cases the damage is forever but it can improve over time, but noise is a dangerous thing for some of us. Noise doesn't scare me, I just can't risk it getting even more painful. Since yours I don't think is permanent damage I definitely think you're all ok and just make sure you treat those conditions. Because I heard a few stories of people who had it bad and ended up improving after 4 years of being housebound. Once the tension and pressure is taken off, your middle and inner ear should start to fully heal. That's good low sodium helps you, I don't notice too much of a difference, stress and noise seems to greatly affect my tinnitus.

I actually thought acupuncture was crap until I tried it. I put it off for 8 months. I'm glad I tried finally. I hate needles too but if you read how much pain I was in I would have cut one of my arms off to make it stop lol. I was nervous about getting injections into my eardrum but it wasn't too bad. Some of the acupuncture points she puts the needles in are kinda painful, but whatever she does, it helps. It's expensive but can't put a price on health. Yeah I don't think you have to worry about noise too much tbh, just wear earplugs if you go to a club or shooting and you will be good.

The key to this is not hitting a man when he's down lol. My ears got hit with all kinds of crap when they were kinda off. That's why this happened. But the acupuncture, man it can help your TMJ heal and take pressure off the ears. It helps all my symptoms tbh.

You're welcome Brian! Yeah I'm seemingly all jaw related from stress. I can move my head and change the pitch/severity. I can massage my neck muscles in my hairline and calm the severity down. Been dealing with tinnitus volume levels from 1 to 5 for the past 5 days. I've already seen improvements on day 20, albeit small.

This morning I was scrolling through Twitter in bed and I could only hear the fan in my room. Four times I had to look up and ask "is all I'm hearing the fan?" and then the TV pitch started back up at a level 1 or 1.5 each time. It chills at a 2-4 throughout the day. I chuckled at it this morning. I've had a couple spikes today but nothing beyond a 5. Some ear pain but I have no clue from what symptoms - TMJ or hyperacusis. Time will tell. I've seen TMJ is a 13-19 week healing time for the majority of cases, so I'm mentally preparing to be disciplined throughout the year and hoping in 2023 it's either gone or one of those treatments will be available. I am telling myself that my tinnitus is permanent to never get my hopes up. If it goes away, good. If not, I'm here anyway so what's the difference? Went for a walk with earplugs today thinking about your story. Thanks for that. There were fireworks last night in my area and I had my plugs in and it was like they were a mile away and not 5 blocks away.

I've got Physical Therapy on Thursday and I'll ask them about Acupuncture. They offer it.

Cheers brother. Here's to a better future.

 

[LilCC]

I'm going t say this and I want anybody reading this thread to read this very carefully.

First of all, you have loudness hyperacusis, not pain.

I'm glad you found a way to mentally tell yourself it's ok and it goes away. You are a mild case if you are able to do that. With severe pain hyperacusis I have tried exactly what you said, you know what happened? Every time I said no, this noise is not loud enough, it can't hurt me, it's impossible for noises under 70 dB to hurt me, I went from a moderate case to probably one of the worst ones of all time because I listened to that crap. First of all, everybody is different, every single case is different. True pain hyperacusis is activation of the Type 2 nerves, so for severe cases like mine and others on here, reactivating the pain does not take much, it is nerve damage. Ever read about trigeminal neuralgia? Some cases are so bad all they need to to is touch their face and it triggers the nerve pain, pain hyperacusis is the same thing. When noise goes into the cochlea, it can trigger the Type 2 nerves to fire from ATP leakage from the outer hair cells. That is why certain cases like mine aggressively worsen with noise, I'm not damaging hair cells from 50 dB, no way, it's absolutely impossible, but it irritates the nerves.

It will be a mystery why some people recover and some don't. I do know this for sure, any person who has true pain hyperacusis, and if it's catastrophic, will most likely never recover. I have been studying this intensively for over a year. Most bad cases that said they got better and went back to normal life were not severe. I could tell by the way they were talking and writing posts. They were in full panic mode. Panic mode amplifies all ear issues. Anxiety can make things much worse. People are not always truthful. I mean some people go on forums and panic omg omg my tinnitus is so loud, I can almost hear it over the AC coming out of the vent. I've been dealing with tinnitus for 6 years. It's not as loud as air coming out of a vent lol. Loudness and pain hyperacusis are very different mechanisms and ear diseases because I have suffered from both.

My loudness hyperacusis was not as easy as thinking it away but slow gradual low noise helped calm it down. Now it's much better and still is much better. The pain hyperacusis gradually worsened from sound therapy, and believe me with what I got there's no pretending it isn't there, that noise can't hurt me, it's all in my head. I have tried that many times with pain h and every time I set the pain off it gets worse. Got to the point to where my left ear felt like an open wound 24/7 for 7 months. Any noise felt like a damn buzzsaw was going through my head. It got so bad I would throw up, and would sleep 2 hours a night for half a year because I was in so much pain. To sleep 2 hours, I had to wear double hearing protection. To leave my house at night and I would walk 5 hours barefoot until my feet would bleed. I was in so much pain I walked underneath a bees' nest, threw a rock at it and got stung by dozens and dozens of bees. I sat there laughed and went back inside like nothing happened. Lol I stuck a knife all the way through my hand and sat there and laughed. I punched through solid drywall and head butted it until my entire body was covered in blood. I mean I have been through a lot of pain in my life, I tore my pec muscle for shit's sake, broke my ankle, got hit in the nuts so hard I peed blood, broke my molar teeth in half, had teeth pulled with no numbing, there's so many more. But nothing compares to the inner ear pain I'm dealing with, absolutely nothing I have ever experienced. I stuck a knife through my hand and laughed, lol that's how high my pain tolerance is now.

This is so long so I'll get to the point, I am not a man of negativity, I am a positive guy going through some messed up shit. I elieve the brain is powerful and we can do many things we put our minds to. I was most of you guys reading this 16 months ago. I had moderate tinnitus and hyperacusis that I would "wish away". I read noxacusis stories and watched poor Tom's YouTube video, I thought it was all crap and those people needed mental help, I didn't know it could actually get that bad. That's coming from somebody who had ear issues! I am living proof of a person who recovered from acoustic trauma and loudness hyperacusis, and successfully dealt with my tinnitus for half a decade, that if you fuck with it, you can and will end up like me. Mine was an accident I never could have controlled or else I would have never gotten this bad. Read anything I post, I'm not going to sit here and tell people who have mild ear issues to wear earplugs and never leave their homes lol. That's stupid. The odds of getting what myself and a few others on this forum got is next to impossible. I got friends with bad tinnitus and they club and shoot guns every day. Never get worse. It is luck of the draw. But the problem is the small chance you can end up this bad, you will be screwed because there are no treatments out yet.

I am only doing a little better because I have been doing a shit ton of acupuncture and running at night. If I am exposed to the wrong noise, even a door squeak, the pain comes right back. I tried so many times to wish it away and try to convince my brain it's not real, to ignore it. You can only ignore so much pain. My loudness hyperacusis I could ignore because sound after the discomfort is gone, but this severe pain lasts for days.

I only get upset when mild cases say oh yeah, I wish it away and I'm better, you should do the same. Imagine. I lost literally everything in my life that's important to me, and no matter how hard I try there's no getting it back. Just getting by day by day and living a quiet life. Two things that make me feel worse, people giving off horrible negativity saying everybody is doomed forever, which is not the case for 99.99 percent of people, and people who undermine this condition. I'm not talking about you, I'm directing this to anybody who says this is a joke because it's not, it really sucks lol. But I can tell everybody here, if I can't get my old life back, fuck it, I don't care anymore. But I will end the suffering and find meaning in this new boring life I have, and find better ways to cope.

And I know you're suffering from tinnitus, we all are, it sucks. Being positive is important I agree. Negativity can make you worse.

I second this. My experience is similar to that of Brian's, though I'm not as positive as he is. Noxacusis is truly a hell, I so wished I could get back to the mild hyperacusis I used to have, I didn't know how good I had it.

 

[Brian Newman]

Geeze man reading this makes me realize maybe I'm just a wuss. Holy hell you've been through a lot

Yeah man, I have a really bad case, I can handle pain but this is something else. Having this at all sucks and can ruin your life. I wish I was lying about the past 8 months lol.

You're welcome Brian! Yeah I'm seemingly all jaw related from stress. I can move my head and change the pitch/severity. I can massage my neck muscles in my hairline and calm the severity down. Been dealing with tinnitus volume levels from 1 to 5 for the past 5 days. I've already seen improvements on day 20, albeit small.

This morning I was scrolling through Twitter in bed and I could only hear the fan in my room. Four times I had to look up and ask "is all I'm hearing the fan?" and then the TV pitch started back up at a level 1 or 1.5 each time. It chills at a 2-4 throughout the day. I chuckled at it this morning. I've had a couple spikes today but nothing beyond a 5. Some ear pain but I have no clue from what symptoms - TMJ or hyperacusis. Time will tell. I've seen TMJ is a 13-19 week healing time for the majority of cases, so I'm mentally preparing to be disciplined throughout the year and hoping in 2023 it's either gone or one of those treatments will be available. I am telling myself that my tinnitus is permanent to never get my hopes up. If it goes away, good. If not, I'm here anyway so what's the difference? Went for a walk with earplugs today thinking about your story. Thanks for that. There were fireworks last night in my area and I had my plugs in and it was like they were a mile away and not 5 blocks away.

I've got Physical Therapy on Thursday and I'll ask them about Acupuncture. They offer it.

Cheers brother. Here's to a better future.

Good to be positive man. I hope you recover and never have to come back here. Good way to think about the tinnitus. Try to accept it. If it goes away, great, if not, you're ready. Yeah man of course you don't gotta be like some of us not leaving the house ever lol idk how you are around normal noise, as long as it's not painful you should be all good. My first time recovering from moderate ear damage I had earplugs on my keys just in case and that worked very well.

I second this. My experience is similar to that of Brian's, though I'm not as positive as he is. Noxacusis is truly a hell, I so wished I could get back to the mild hyperacusis I used to have, I didn't know how good I had it.

Well thanks man. I'm glad people don't see me as a negative doom and gloom noxacusis sufferer. I posted my story because I wanted to explain how bad it could get, not that it could happen to most people anyways. Just wanted to prove that I'm not somebody with a little ear sensitivity or pain that this has gotta be taken seriously.

I was horribly negative for over a year. I have been working on it very hard. It usually correlates with how much pain I'm in. I still sit here and I'm like wholly hell, I was strong as crap, good job, good money, so many friends, beat tinnitus and moderate loudness hyperacusis once, built such a good life for myself, only for all to be taken away by the ear stuff again. Really hurts, I'm sure many people with this feel the same way like yourself. Doesn't feel real.