How Loud Is Too Loud? 14-Year-Old New to Tinnitus

[TuneOut]

Also, is it to nosey to ask what the series of noise traumas were that reignited your T?

Not at all. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what led to the change in my tinnitus. Damage is cumulative and one event can be the fatal final blow. I was involved in a car crash with air bag implosion. I attended several classical concerts without ear protection. A loud movie. Too much stress ...

But during the years when my tinnitus was better I had exposed myself to many excessive sounds here and there. I became too complacent about the whole thing and now I'm paying for it.

There needs to be awareness of the potential harm of loud noise without fear and anxiety being invoked. You don't want a deep fear of sound to be ingrained into your son's psyche. But he's young and I have a feeling he'll get better and snap out of this state soon, regardless of whether his tinnitus improves.

 

[JohnAdams]

Try giving your son high doses of CBD oil everyday.

 

[TuneOut]

now I know not to do smiley faces when I totally agree with someone.

It can be misleading because it is a smiley face but means funny. It should be a face that is laughing.

 

[JasonP]

Hello,
I am writing on behalf of my 14 year old son who has had tinnitus and hyperacusis for 5 weeks following a firecracker exploding about 2 feet from his left ear. He is going through regret, depression, hopelessness and desperation and believes that since it has been 5 weeks, it will never go away. I know this is a possibility and there is no way to know. I want to work towards helping him have positive thinking and to habituate (even if his T does resolve, there is no harm in starting the habituation process now), however, he like so many of you, freaks out at the thought of trying to habituate to this... he is desperate for it to go away, not accept that it might not.

As part of this process, I am trying to get him to enjoy his normal life doing things like getting out of the house and riding his bike, but when he rides his bike, he always hears loud squeaky breaks of a truck, or the roar of a loud engine, the shouts of his friends and then he panics. "It was getting quieter and then that noise happened and now it is worse than ever! It's never going to go away now!", is something he will typically panic about after he hears a noise. He has terrible panic and anxiety that any noise above a normal in-home level will cause further damage to his ears that could make the difference between a full recovery and no recovery. School starts next week and I am concerned about the bells ringing at school, fire drills at school, etc. Will these things potentially cause "more damage" that could prevent a full recovery?

We have asked the doctors he has seen how we should assess what noises are to be avoided, what noises could cause further actual damage (vs. a temporary T or H spike). We give examples about doors slamming, horns honking, etc. and the doctors just give vague "I don't think so" type of answers. And, "sure, that's a good idea to wear ear plugs to protect your ears". I feel like they really don't know the answers.

Does anyone have any words of advice about what noises you'd hear in the course of your life that seem loud to you but are not damaging? Has anyone had a doctor give them a helpful guideline?

I am so sorry to hear your son has tinnitus and hyperacusis. As far as the hyperacusis part goes, I don't know much about treatment of that but I would suggest posting this question also in the hyperacusis support section so they can help you with that part of your son's condition. I hope he gets better asap.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/forums/support.55/

 

[Rinz]

Dear Claudia,

First of all, I am sorry to hear that your son got Tinnitus and Hyperacusis. Everybody makes mistakes (I played with fireworks too as a child) but it's not fair to get it at such a young age and it can be very unsettling for him.

I am not sure what is the best remedy, but I think what you should do is to first get a couple of good earplugs for him. I recommend custom mold earplugs meaning that they fit his ears perfectly and they are super easy to put in. Also, these plugs do not stand out too much, so he might not be too embarrassed being seen wearing them. I personally use Elacin earplugs, but I am sure other brands will do just as fine. You have special filters which can attenuate certain frequencies more than others, so he could for example still hear conversations well while other sounds would be attenuated more. This is simply to protect his hearing so the T and H will not get worse in the future.

Also, I think that he should not avoid getting out, playing with his friends etc. but I would recommend using earplugs in noisy surroundings. I got T when I was 23 (from playing in bands, going out in loud clubs etc) and I immediately got earplugs and was able to keep on playing in bands etc and going out until at least 35. I stopped doing that because I really don't want to damage my hearing any more. T can have a big impact on your social life, that is you don't wanna go out anymore, don't take a bus or train or airplane because it's too noisy etc. I think your son is too young and if possible he should enjoy life as much as he can, but he might need some help to avoid noisy situations.

Also, I think most of the people at this forum have had the experience of habituation. That is, you will get used to this sound although I know how hopeless and anxious and desperate one can get from hearing it all day long. So, it is very likely, although it may take a lot of time, that he will simply get used to it (if it stays the way it is). I personally fell on my head about a month ago, and my T. is also much louder now than it was before, but I think that over time I will get use to this new intensity as well, though I am still bothered by it now.

Also, one thing I can recommend is to watch his sleep. My personal experience is that if one doesn't sleep the T will get (subjectively) much worse. My strategy is always to get my sleep back to normal (I occasionally take some medicine, but its better without) and from there tackle the T. You can also buy a noise generator and put it in his room to mask the T (I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Fideli...ve-Technology/dp/B002SMJQT4?ref=ast_p_ep&th=1 but I guess others would be fine too, or you could start by using an app on the phone like Sleep Pillow).

In any case, your son is not alone, many people have this condition and learnt to cope with it, and for many the intensity of the T. also went down over time, so this will very likely also happen in his case.

In any case I wish you and him good luck with the situation.

Take care,

Rinz

 

[Julien87]

I'm going to be completely honest with your sons situation, the only hope your son is that science one day can repair the inner ear and or silence parts of the brain that generate tinnitus.

Please support hearing loss and tinnitus research if you want to give your son a second chance.

Maybe she came here to have practical advice on what to do now? Supporting science is important but that's not what she asked.
And telling her that her son's only hope is a potential scientific breakthrough is not true by the way. It happens frequently that tinnitus goes away after several weeks or months and that the sufferer resumes a totally normal life.

 

[threefirefour]

Maybe she came here to have practical advice on what to do now? Supporting science is important but that's not what she asked.
And telling her that her son's only hope is a potential scientific breakthrough is not true by the way. It happens frequently that tinnitus goes away after several weeks or months and that the sufferer resumes a totally normal life.

I hope it goes away for him too. But it's still nice knowing that there will be a fallback.

 

[Julien87]

We all dream about a cure but let's be realistic and pragmatic, it is not what will help her son today.

 

[threefirefour]

We all dream about a cure but let's be realistic and pragmatic, it is not what will help her son today.

You know what else won't? Crappy advice on a tinnitus forum.

A treatment isn't available these days, but knowing there will probably be one soon does more for new sufferers than meme advice ever could. That's why I recommend keeping up with research.

 

[SugarMagnolia]

be careful to wear protection in restaurants, noisy dorms, loud gatherings etc

For a student, isn't that literally everywhere?

 

[ClaudiaT]

@SugarMagnolia yes you are exactly right. Tons of crowd noise, shouting, P.A. announcements, doors slamming, whistles blowing, bells ringing and the dreaded fire drills... you all can probably feel my dread right now. (Although I am not sharing my fear with my son.) We are going to get fit for custom earplugs right now- the audiologist is recommending 16 db reduction... does anyone have an opinion on whether that is a good number? He needs to be able to hear the teachers while filtering out the extra loud sounds. Calgon take me away.

 

[Joe4]

I can empathize with your son. Although I'm slightly older being 18 I'm still a teenager with tinnitus. At 5 weeks in I was just as terrified of the noise and the possible prospect of it never going away so that is perfectly normal. With regard to coping in school, I'd tell him not to worry too much as the noise in corridors etc was never enough to trigger a spike for me but I am well aware it's different tolerances for everyone. If he is going to wear earplugs in social situations I'd recommend buying the foam skin coloured ones and cutting them in half as offer enough protection but not visible from practically all angles. I get enough stick for having tinnitus as an 18 year old and 14 year olds can be very vicious at times. Like I have, if his friends know about about his ears, he will soon find out who his real friends are. If it's any consolation I find that all sports I do or any outdoor activities I do have been unaffected. Wish him all the best from me and if it's improved at all since it happened, it will only continue to get better as he's young.

Best wishes
Joe

 

[coffee_girl]

For a student, isn't that literally everywhere?

Yes unfortunately...plus it is unpredictable what kind of loud noises that might go on in a dorm...i would wear ear protection all the time lol

 

[Bill Bauer]

the dreaded fire drills

He could attempt to get a doctor's note that a fire drill might make his condition worse, and then try to find out the dates the fire drills had been scheduled for...

 

[Lane]

Does anyone have any words of advice

Hi @ClaudiaT,

Bless you for being so diligent in looking for some good answers for your son's situation. I first got tinnitus six months ago, and have done a LOT of research since then. Here's a LINK to a 5-MIN video I wish I would have found the very first day of my tinnitus onset. It has a hopeful message from Julian Cowan Hill, who was able to overcome his own tinnitus with the kind of therapies he refers to in the video.

Also, I think your son should immediately get a high quality pair of ear plugs and use them every time he steps out of the house (for now). The kind I'm currently using is a brand called EAR PEACE. They're extremely comfortable, and perhaps most important for a teenager, almost completely invisible to others. Not only will they protect his ears at a critical time of healing, but I would think make him much less anxious as well.

All the best to you and your son and you traverse this unchartered territory!

P.S. -- Something to keep in mind is that your son is currently experiencing a form of PTSD (I believe that to be the case anyway). His neurological system and CNS are striving to reclaim an equilibrium that's been significantly disrupted. This would extend to the normal energy flows that go through his body, and the natural polarities that exist in all of us.

I believe Julian Cowan Hill is on the right track with his recommendations for trying to restore these natural harmonies. I myself do a LOT of different things to try to accomplish the same thing. What's probably helped me the most was doing HBOT therapy. It was so helpful, I'm now in the prpocess of buying a home unit, so I can do it on a regular basis. I believe HBOT will continue to be a major factor in my ability to either recover, or be able to MUCH better cope with tinnitus. It has that profound of an effect on my entire nervous system.

 

[Bill Bauer]

and believes that since it has been 5 weeks, it will never go away

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-many-recover-3-studies.21441/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

[Farah]

Hi there,

I feel so sorry for your son, poor thing. Tinnitus is no joke and has caused me a lot of anxiety and stress. The first 6 weeks were the hardest but now 3 months in, I've learned to forget about it.
However, I will say I bought some musicians earplugs online at amazon and they're great because they're reusable and don't muffle everything as foam plugs do. I use them at noisy places such as train stations. I've yet to go to the cinema but I would probably use foam ones there. I will say that the musicians earplugs helped me a lot, as even if I left the house without protection, if I found a certain location noisy I'd just put them in and then not worry that my hearing has been damaged more. They offer me a sense of security I guess...
Anyway maybe he'd feel better with a pair of those? For noisy places? Just to keep his mind at ease?
I will say that overprotecting the ears isn't good but in the beginning it does help.
I do think he will get better as he's very young and still growing. Mine even decreased greatly.

Sending him well wishes.

 

[ClaudiaT]

@Lane thank you for your links- I watched a few videos and they were uplifting and encouraging. I need to try to figure out how to get my teenager to embrace something like that, that is not so black and white. It is my speed for sure and makes sense to me.

Regarding Hbot, we have a bunch of clinics near us, but I was reading about the bad things that could happen and got worried about Hbot causing more pain in his ears due to trying to equalize pressure. Because he has hyperacusis, I worry that popping of his ears is going to cause a spike. Was that a problem for you? Were there any bad side effects?

 

[ClaudiaT]

There are so many thoughtful and caring replies to me, and they are all so helpful. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write me and share your insights, hopes and experiences. I very much appreciate you.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I will say that overprotecting the ears isn't good

As is underprotecting. Right?

 

[Bill Bauer]

Regarding Hbot, we have a bunch of clinics near us, but I was reading about the bad things that could happen and got worried about Hbot causing more pain in his ears due to trying to equalize pressure. Because he has hyperacusis, I worry that popping of his ears is going to cause a spike. Was that a problem for you? Were there any bad side effects?

It can get somewhat loud inside of the chamber. Ask the operator to use the lowest "air flow-through rate". Also insist on being allowed to bring ear plugs into the chamber and using them when the chamber gets pressurized.

The conscripts in the first study described on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/
all got HBOT. They had a good rate of recovery...

 

[Alue]

Hi @ClaudiaT,

I'm sorry to hear about your son. I had a coworker that got tinnitus when he was around that age when a firecracker blew up in front of his face. He's almost 60 now and still has tinnitus, but he told me he couldn't hear the sound of his own voice after the incident, so maybe (hopefully) the damage isn't as bad. Given his age and the fact that it was a single incident and not long term noise exposure, the odds of him recovering completely are better than they are for many.

Your son has had a real trauma, only people that have experienced it know how much a sudden onset of tinnitus and hyperacusis can affect you. Things are likely to improve with time, but it may never go away completely.

As for hearing protection, he's going to have to experiment with different earplugs etc. to see what works for him. There is no one size fits all. For loud environments where earplugs alone don't seem to cut it, earmuffs over earplugs work or you might look into noise cancelling headphones to wear over them. The over ear ones do a good job, and they're more socially acceptable than wearing big clunky earmuffs. I have hyperacusis and travel (fly) frequently, and I will often put earplugs in then put my Bose noise cancelling headphones over them.

There was a girl around his age that made the news when she got hyperacusis from an air horn:

Her mother has a youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/ channel/ UC-jt2xnVEh1girLZ9ZsXFFQ
(This site won't let me link a youtube channel without trying to embed it.)
Maybe you could get in contact with the mother.
His hyperacusis may not be as bad as Cindy's, but it's going to take some time to adjust and see what works for him. Does he have pain with the hyperacusis, or is it more that many noises seem too loud?

 

[sjtinguy]

I can't imagine having those symptoms at 14.. 6 weeks in I was still in the depths of the worst of it.. it took 3 or more months to really start seeing some improvement, and I couldn't even listen to music for like 6+ months. Regular noises were way too loud for a long time, and anything could set off the ringing. Over time I found I became less sensitive to sounds, and the ringing became more stable, in the sense it wouldn't react to minor things and if it did, it wouldn't go up as long or for as loud. You also just get used to it.

I would recommend wearing hearing protection in loud environments, but being 14 and in school that would be tough. I wear stupid looking ear muffs out in public which are more convenient than ear plugs but I don't have to endure the ridicule of teenagers.

The fact that he is young is good in the sense he can heal much faster.

Does he use masking noises to help ignore the sounds? I like some like these:




When the ringing was real bad I would listen to this one.. I don't know why but it would help bring it back down

 

[Lane]

I was reading about the bad things that could happen and got worried about Hbot causing more pain in his ears due to trying to equalize pressure. Because he has hyperacusis, I worry that popping of his ears is going to cause a spike. Was that a problem for you? Were there any bad side effects?

Hi @ClaudiaT,

I could never really tell if the HBOT was affecting my ears or my tinnitus. Sometimes it felt like the volume increased a bit, but then a day later, could be lower than normal. Same with some relatively minor pain I was experiencing at the time. I did eventually have them drop the pressure down from 2.0 ATA to 1.75 ATA. It felt better for my ears and my body.

The mHBOT unit I'm getting for home use has a maximum of 1.3 ATA, and I should start doing sessions regularly within the next couple weeks or so. I'm interested to see whether it affects my ears, and brings back any recollections of the HBOT sessions I did back in April. My guess is it's going to be a non-factor, because of the lower ATA, plus my ears are in better shape now than they were back then.

I also anticipate being able to sleep better, and relax better. Both of which could improve my tinnitus, or help a person cope with it better. Lack of sleep was a huge factor for me in the beginning. -- Here's a LINK to a good article on barotrauma which you may want to check out.

 

[TomPearson]

Hey Claudia, I was 15 when I got tinnitus following a party, I know exactly how your son is feeling right now.

Part of the problem with tinnitus is the not knowing, is it going to get louder, am I going to go deaf, will it ever stop... etc

The way I got past this point was visiting an ENT clinic that specialized in Tinnitus who reassured me, I would get to the Dr's and ask for a referral as soon as possible (be prepared to fight for it.)

I believe the anxiety tinnitus causes is more damaging than the ringing itself which is why you find people might not stick around on these boards for long (as they don't necessarily help due to the fearmongering)

If you are in the UK I would recommend the Ropewalk Clinic in Nottingham, the lady their changed my life just by being understanding and reassuring.

Your definitely doing the right thing by keeping him busy and getting him out the house.

 

[ClaudiaT]

I continue to thank everyone who is responding to me- literally every single response helps me even if I don't write you a follow up note.

@Lane - I hope you will keep me posted about how your home unit works. Thank you for the details on the Hbot pressure.

@TomPearson it is interesting that the tinnitus clinic reassured you. What did they say? Because my impression is that nobody really knows and providers are reluctant to reassure anyone of anything because it is all a big mystery and so many people do not get better. So far, none of the doctors we have seen have reassured us. We do have a tinnitus clinic that is inconveniently located but doable. We have already seen the pediatric ENT affiliated with the medical school hospital where the tinnitus clinic is. Her advice was to wait 6 months before pursuing it further but my son is FREAKING OUT and in a horrible cycle of anxiety, tinnitus, anxiety, tinnitus... he NEEDS someone to reassure him. I I do have him starting CBT next week with a therapist who has tinnitus himself and treats some veterans who has it. I am hoping he can get my son on the road to breaking this anxiety cycle. I 100 percent agree with you about the anxiety being worse than the tinnitus. I seriously wonder if he had no anxiety, if the tinnitus would quiet down. Would you mind telling me what you were told that reassured you? And also, if you happen to remember the name of the person you saw at that clinic that you said changed your life. I would love to write her a letter or try to call her. I am in the US but I would seriously move mountains to help my son...

 

[ClaudiaT]

@sjtinguy ... that last video I listened to and my hearing is a bit on the sensitive side but those tones really seem like they would irritate the heck out of my son's ear. They almost sound like someone is dropping forks on a tile floor. How loudly do you listen to it and how long? Also, can you have it on but then listen to other music or watch tv while it is on?

 

[threefirefour]

I continue to thank everyone who is responding to me- literally every single response helps me even if I don't write you a follow up note.

@Lane - I hope you will keep me posted about how your home unit works. Thank you for the details on the Hbot pressure.

@TomPearson it is interesting that the tinnitus clinic reassured you. What did they say? Because my impression is that nobody really knows and providers are reluctant to reassure anyone of anything because it is all a big mystery and so many people do not get better. So far, none of the doctors we have seen have reassured us. We do have a tinnitus clinic that is inconveniently located but doable. We have already seen the pediatric ENT affiliated with the medical school hospital where the tinnitus clinic is. Her advice was to wait 6 months before pursuing it further but my son is FREAKING OUT and in a horrible cycle of anxiety, tinnitus, anxiety, tinnitus... he NEEDS someone to reassure him. I I do have him starting CBT next week with a therapist who has tinnitus himself and treats some veterans who has it. I am hoping he can get my son on the road to breaking this anxiety cycle. I 100 percent agree with you about the anxiety being worse than the tinnitus. I seriously wonder if he had no anxiety, if the tinnitus would quiet down. Would you mind telling me what you were told that reassured you? And also, if you happen to remember the name of the person you saw at that clinic that you said changed your life. I would love to write her a letter or try to call her. I am in the US but I would seriously move mountains to help my son...

This is why I didn't tell my parents I have tinnitus.

 

[Rinz]

Dear Claudia,

I think doing CBT is a good idea. For me personally, when I am not anxious about my T it becomes much milder, though "physically" it might still be there. Currently, I am going through a rough bout of T (spike) as I fell down on my head about a month ago, and I notice when I am not focusing on it, it slightly "goes away" in the sense that the brain stops focusing on it. Even though your son may or may not carry his T in some form for a long time, it is very well possible to get habituated to it. It just takes (a long) time and compassion from the people around him. Its also possible that it will go away or fades once he is more relaxed about it (stress is never good for anything) but nobody knows that, only time will tell. There are many stories of people who's T got less over time.

I have T for about 18 years now, and others on this forum even longer (and louder) and most of us can deal with it at some point. So, please reassure him that his life will return to normal. Its true that he may need to protect his hearing more carefully in the future but that's what everybody should do (in my opinion) as we live in a loud society.

In any case you seem like a very kind and compassionate mother and he is lucky to have you. I wish you and your son the best and you are always welcome to post anything you want on this forum.

Kind regards,

Rinz

 

[TomPearson]

I continue to thank everyone who is responding to me- literally every single response helps me even if I don't write you a follow up note.

@Lane - I hope you will keep me posted about how your home unit works. Thank you for the details on the Hbot pressure.

@TomPearson it is interesting that the tinnitus clinic reassured you. What did they say? Because my impression is that nobody really knows and providers are reluctant to reassure anyone of anything because it is all a big mystery and so many people do not get better. So far, none of the doctors we have seen have reassured us. We do have a tinnitus clinic that is inconveniently located but doable. We have already seen the pediatric ENT affiliated with the medical school hospital where the tinnitus clinic is. Her advice was to wait 6 months before pursuing it further but my son is FREAKING OUT and in a horrible cycle of anxiety, tinnitus, anxiety, tinnitus... he NEEDS someone to reassure him. I I do have him starting CBT next week with a therapist who has tinnitus himself and treats some veterans who has it. I am hoping he can get my son on the road to breaking this anxiety cycle. I 100 percent agree with you about the anxiety being worse than the tinnitus. I seriously wonder if he had no anxiety, if the tinnitus would quiet down. Would you mind telling me what you were told that reassured you? And also, if you happen to remember the name of the person you saw at that clinic that you said changed your life. I would love to write her a letter or try to call her. I am in the US but I would seriously move mountains to help my son...

Hey, unfortunately I don't remember her name, but they just re-assured me that I wasn't going to go deaf (that was my biggest fear) they said that it's normal and asked me to speak to everyone I know and ask them if they have had it/have it, when I asked everyone around me it turns out that lots of people had tinnitus and most people don't suffer with it with it their brains just think differently.

I am convinced that anxiety is the cause for it being so difficult to manage, I suffer from health anxiety and i'm confident a lot of the people on here have it to and they are just undiagnosed.

There are probably millions of people worldwide with tinnitus who just get on with it and enjoy their life it's just the people like us that come to online forums for help (which in turn makes us more depressed, anxious and sad about the whole thing)

I would volunteer to speak to your son on the telephone but i'm not sure what I can offer, however if you want to speak to me about it then send me a private message and we can call on Skype.