Ear Pressure and Pain After a Restroom Hand Dryer and Child Screaming

[kingsfan]

Hello,

I've been on Tinnitus Talk for several years, but this is my first time venturing into this section of the website.

I have had sound sensitivity since a few weeks after my tinnitus started in 2020. I began wearing earplugs after an audiology exam made my tinnitus worse. Since around November 2020, I have worn them whenever I go outside. I also use them while cooking and doing chores.

For the past two years, I have been wearing them in the bathroom and while showering because my parents' living room is directly above, and there is always the risk of stomping, slamming, or other loud sudden sounds. Because of that, the faucet now sounds loud to me without earplugs.

I have not watched TV in about six months for similar reasons. I think watching TV was helping to keep my mild sound sensitivity from getting worse. Now I mostly sit in silence with just an air purifier running.

About three weeks ago, I was in a public restroom and forgot to check for hand dryers. Someone used one for about four seconds while I was inside. My Apple Watch recorded 94 dBA. Since then, I have had the symptoms below.

Yesterday, while standing in line at Aldi, a child had a temper tantrum a few checkout aisles away from me. I pulled up the NIOSH app on my phone just as the child let out a horrific scream that measured 84 dBA on the app. My body was between the phone and the child so it may have been louder. Since coming home from that incident, my ears have had intense pressure that is painful and has an almost burning sensation.

Here are some quick bullet points since the pressure is making it hard to think clearly.

• I was wearing solid custom molded earplugs during both incidents.
• My ears feel tight with a dull pain like strong pressure. It feels as if my tensor tympani muscles are either squeezing, fatigued, or like something is pressing against my eardrum. It is similar to when earplugs create a tight seal and a vacuum starts building inside the ear canal. Sometimes this makes me feel dizzy and I also feel pressure in my sinuses, especially in my forehead and eyes.
• I am experiencing some TTTS but not as badly as with past ear traumas. Typing on my keyboard slightly triggers it and brings back that pressure sensation.
• I do not feel any discomfort when my earplugs are in. Earlier I wore them while making coffee and no sounds felt uncomfortable. In fact, after removing them, my ear felt better for a few minutes with no pressure or pain, but the symptoms returned when I started typing this.
• Occasionally when the pressure subsides, my ear feels slightly itchy.
• I do not have any muffled hearing.
• My tinnitus has been worse since the hand dryer exposure but has not changed further after the child screaming. It has just remained at the same terrible level.

What can I do? Am I entering the realm of noxacusis? Can I reverse any of these symptoms? Should I have rushed to get Prednisone?

 

[Scruffiey]

There are no definitive answers with this kind of thing, but my inclination is that since even a faucet now sounds loud to you when it did not before, and there have not been any major events that would push your hearing into the noxacusis realm, you may have simply increased your sound sensitivity by stressing and overprotecting. You also have not mentioned any pain, which further suggests this is more about heightened sensitivity rather than true noxacusis.

Those two events were not damagingly loud. You were wearing earplugs, and while a hand dryer or a child's scream is unpleasant, it is not the same as having a hammer strike right by your ear. However, they seem to have triggered your ear's protective mechanism because your brain now perceives those sounds as too loud. On top of that, there is likely some stress tension around your face and jaw, which could be pressing on your ear and causing that dull ache. That is understandable, given your anxiety about these events.

I do not think Prednisone is appropriate. You said yourself that you do not have muffled hearing, and besides, it would likely be difficult to get prescribed. From what I have read, its effectiveness seems like a toss up. Sometimes it helps, but it can also make things worse unless there has been a severe event.

I have mentioned this before, but trying a bit of cotton wool in your ears for mild protection, perhaps while getting back into watching TV, might provide a sense of security and comfort as you work on desensitization.

There is likely a significant mental component to all of this, probably even for people with extreme noxacusis. Unfortunately for them, their underlying pathology keeps retriggering the condition, making it incredibly difficult to break out of that cycle. But it does not sound like you are experiencing the razor sharp pain or burning sensation in the ear canal that they describe.

Not long ago, I was in the same place, afraid of developing noxacusis. But I found that using sensible protection, like earmuffs in the kitchen or while cleaning, earplugs when out and about, and otherwise gradually reducing protection when there was no real risk of damaging noise, has worked well for me. So far, so good, and things have been improving.

If you start experiencing instant or lingering pain from sound, definitely stop and reassess. But do not forget that earplugs and earmuffs themselves can sometimes cause lingering discomfort, so it is important to differentiate. Based on what you have described, it does not sound like you are dealing with that kind of pain.

 

[kingsfan]

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'm experiencing. Lately, I've had a few days of relief from the feeling of fullness and even some relief from the spike in tinnitus, but it seems to be easily triggered. My tolerance also seems to be even lower than it was before.

A couple of examples:

• I watched a few TikTok videos of drummers playing their drum kits with the volume on my iPhone turned up just two clicks, probably around 40 to 42 dBA. The snare hits and cymbal crashes were extremely uncomfortable. Afterward, my ears felt pressured again, along with an aching sensation that resembled an earache.
  
  
• A couple of days ago, I went out to run some errands and then went for a hike. Afterward, my tinnitus was elevated to an extreme level, and I couldn't tolerate music on my car stereo even while wearing earplugs. I've never had an issue with low-volume music in the car while using earplugs. I think what set it off was music playing in one of the stores. It measured no louder than 65 dBA, and I was wearing my highest-rated earplugs, but the high frequencies felt overwhelmingly loud and somewhat painful. The only other potentially loud exposures that day were a door chime when entering and exiting a store, and the car wash. Neither exceeded 70 dBA, and I had both earplugs and earmuffs on during those times.

Now, just crinkling a candy bar wrapper sets off TTTS in both ears and causes aching pain in my right ear and jaw. I wonder if it's my tensor tympani muscle causing the pain.

 

[Scruffiey]

It really sounds like a bit of heightened hyperacusis, which does affect your sound tolerance. Also, the tensor muscle combined with stress could be causing some pain and discomfort.

Short, sudden noise is always harder to handle with hyperacusis, so that explains why the drums felt uncomfortable. Your brain was probably tensing in anticipation of loud sound as well.

This is very similar to how my tinnitus was during the first six months. The improvement was slow and non-linear, but it did gradually get better.

I think the best you can do is try to find the right balance between protection and desensitisation, and give it plenty of time. However, based on your initial post, it sounds to me like you may be overprotecting at home.

 

[ECP]

Now, just crinkling a candy bar wrapper sets off TTTS in both ears and causes aching pain in my right ear and jaw. I wonder if it's my tensor tympani muscle causing the pain.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I remember when you had a similar incident with a restroom hand dryer and a car wash kiosk last year.

It does sound like your tensor tympani might be involved, but possibly also your trigeminal nerve if you're feeling something in your jaw.

I'm not sure there's anything you could be doing differently right now. It might be that you were overprotecting, but we all know that setbacks can happen even when we haven't been. For now, it may be helpful to focus on self-care activities that calm the nervous system and see if that helps your brain reestablish a more normal baseline for sound tolerance, without needing to overthink how much protection to use.

I'm also going through a setback at the moment, so I'm trying different ways to help my brain reset, since everything around me is triggering and I can't seem to find the right balance between overprotecting and underprotecting. Right now, I'm focusing on meridian stretches that release tension in the shoulders, neck, and jaw. I find them deeply relaxing, to the point where I start yawning constantly. My hope is that by releasing these muscles in a quiet or nearly silent room, it will indirectly benefit both the ears and the brain—if not immediately, then hopefully within a few days.

I really hope you find some relief soon.