Hyperacusis Everyday Do's and Dont's

[patty]

Hi all. I was wondering how to approach H in my everyday life. I know to expose my ears to everyday sounds, but should I completely avoid certain situations. I have had it since the onset of T 5 months ago. My LDL number is 65, but it feels like it has improved since the beginning.

Today I was walking in the mall and was sound sensitive to music blaring from the stores, construction going on, etc. The sounds seem louder of course and my eardrum kind of clenches up. How much should I protect my ears, not go into a store with loud music, don't go to the movie theater even with earplugs, no noisy restaurants? I just wonder how everyone else approaches this. Thanks.

 

[Magpie]

Avoid loud sounds that are distressing or painful but don't wear earplugs all the time or just in case! if you know what I mean. It can take awhile for your ears to desensitise themselves and some sounds might cause you distress for quite a long time. I think you have to be your own coach and if you use common sense you should be OK. There will always be noises that you don't expect and today I went past a tree chipper or whatever they call it and the noise level was unbelievable. I turned my head away and went past as quickly as I could. I was anxious for a little while but I knew it would pass.
You said you felt your LDL's had improved so that's a good sign and indication that you are making progress.

 

[patty]

Thanks for responding Magpie. Should I avoid certain things like movie theaters, etc. until my H improves more. I go to the gym for my stress relief. They play loud music, but I use headphones that cut down the sound by a good third I'd say. The sounds are not distressing there when I use the headphones. If it's slowly getting better, I don't want to have a setback. I appreciate any advice. Thanks.

 

[Street Spirit]

Personally, I would not be going to any movie theatres right now. Protect yourself against loud noises such as that. The decibel readings from movies can get quite high, even for the average person. If it were me, I would not do any of the above things you listed..for now..I assume you are not doing TRT?

 

[Sen]

I find it extremely difficult to make it through the day without using hearing protection. I get dizzy and feel pain and it just doesn't seem possible to do without torturing myself. I keep hearing that it is a bad idea to wear hearing protection in normal sound environments, but I don't see how I could make it through the day otherwise. I don't wear hearing protection for the ENTIRE day, just when I know I will be taking part in painful activity.

I'm sick enough even without noise exposure to deal with.

 

[DebS]

Thanks for responding Magpie. Should I avoid certain things like movie theaters, etc. until my H improves more. I go to the gym for my stress relief. They play loud music, but I use headphones that cut down the sound by a good third I'd say. The sounds are not distressing there when I use the headphones. If it's slowly getting better, I don't want to have a setback. I appreciate any advice. Thanks.

I think you'll be able to tell if a situation is too loud or not. I carry foam earplugs with me, so if a restaurant seems too loud I just pop them in. A few weeks ago, I finally went to my first movie since November. I was nervous about it but it turned out fine. I definitely needed the earplugs for the previews tho...they really crank up the sound for those. But for the movie itself, I took the earplugs out and had no trouble. Just be cautious and take it slow. Good luck.

 

[patty]

I think you'll be able to tell if a situation is too loud or not. I carry foam earplugs with me, so if a restaurant seems too loud I just pop them in. A few weeks ago, I finally went to my first movie since November. I was nervous about it but it turned out fine. I definitely needed the earplugs for the previews tho...they really crank up the sound for those. But for the movie itself, I took the earplugs out and had no trouble. Just be cautious and take it slow. Good luck.

Thanks for responding. So you actually went to the movies with H? I just got back from the gym w/ my headphones and the ladies there look at me funny. I really don't give a hoot though. I went about my day grocery shopping, driving, etc. I have a good idea how to handle T, but I don't really know if I should handle the H differently. Certain sounds I am sensitive to I notice, and when that happens my eardrum just sort of clenches up. I don't feel any pain. I understand H improves with time, and I think mine has so far.

 

[peter1974]

I went to a night club last weekend and did not suffer any issues. T stayed the same the next day. My hypheracusis was pretty bad at Christmas but by forcing my ears into safe normal sound levels and staying relaxed I've got over it. Still have the reactive T. But I have had the odd minute or two once in a while that I hear total silence....

 

[patty]

Personally, I would not be going to any movie theatres right now. Protect yourself against loud noises such as that. The decibel readings from movies can get quite high, even for the average person. If it were me, I would not do any of the above things you listed..for now..I assume you are not doing TRT?

I went to a night club last weekend and did not suffer any issues. T stayed the same the next day. My hypheracusis was pretty bad at Christmas but by forcing my ears into safe normal sound levels and staying relaxed I've got over it. Still have the reactive T. But I have had the odd minute or two once in a while that I hear total silence....

Thanks. I needed to hear something positive about H. Yea mine was worse at the beginning, and it seems to slowly improve. You are right about staying relaxed, the more chill I am the better T&H is.

 

[Magpie]

Peter1974 wrote:
I went to a night club last weekend and did not suffer any issues. T stayed the same the next day. My hypheracusis was pretty bad at Christmas but by forcing my ears into safe normal sound levels and staying relaxed I've got over it. Still have the reactive T. But I have had the odd minute or two once in a while that I hear total silence....

I don't think you should force your ears into anything when you have hyperacusis and I suspect it could sometimes make them even worse. The idea is to let your ears recover slowly and over time by allowing them to readjust themselves. Using common sense by not using ear protection 24/7 but as needed is the best method. There might be some sounds that still cause distress even when you feel you are better which is what I experience but the initial shock is gone and I can tolerate sounds now that I couldn't before. There are different levels of hyperacusis as there are with tinnitus so we speak of our own experiences of course.

 

[peter1974]

Yes of course I understand your meaning. I still suffer from Tinnitus, but when I was protecting my ears too much they were a lot worse in my case. Now my tinnitus is still reactive but its easier to hide with sounds. Where as before sounds would make my ears ring like hell.

We have to always remember that peoples Tinnitus/hyperacusis is different. One model fits all is simply not the case with this condition. My point was that in my situation my hyperacusis dropped alot when I just tried to live life as a normal hearing person. That generally means not stressing my ears to a level considered to invoke further hearing loss.

 

[Magpie]

We have to always remember that peoples Tinnitus/hyperacusis is different.

agree.

 

[rainman]

Does anyone have longer experience with taking NAC (Nacetylcystein)? I feel like its helping me for not setting me back when my 8 month old daughter screams, maybe its placebo. I only have few weeks of experience so i can't be for sure, maybe its other things i'm swallowing(eg. ALCAR). My dosages are only 250-600mg per day.

 

[patty]

Personally, I would not be going to any movie theatres right now. Protect yourself against loud noises such as that. The decibel readings from movies can get quite high, even for the average person. If it were me, I would not do any of the above things you listed..for now..I assume you are not doing TRT?

I am considering TRT, and I know which audiologist/T Center I will use. I went to an audiologist at a T center and she was excellent, but I want the best, so I will use one of the audiologists recommended on this board.

 

[JayJay]

Hello Everyone,

I'm a H, T and everything else wrong with my ears sufferer. Regarding do's and don'ts; there seems to be too many to count. Actually, I have to literally prepare myself each time I decide to go out (i.e. ear plugs, ear muffs, driving route, time of day, etc). I find myself navigating around my environment, because if I show up somewhere I'm unfamiliar with, the sights and sounds can be dangerous. For example, I go grocery shopping very early or late in the day when there's less people and traffic. And never without ear protection.

Even so, we can't prepare for the unexpected. Not long ago, I had just finished buying some groceries and was stopped at a red light. Just then, a car pulled along-side my right blasting music loudly.... I mean it was LOUD! So much that I struggled to stay conscious. Thankfully, the light turned green and I sped out of there, but it took days for me to reach my baseline again. Situations like that are a cruel reminder of my limitations.

 

[Dr. Nagler]

Hi All -

While you are considering hyperacusis "do's and don't's," I'd like to add two ...

• Don't assume that hyperacusis is the cause of your decreased sound tolerance.
• Do get an accurate diagnosis.

Stephen Nagler

 

[MikeA]

Two weeks ago I was sitting at the bar of a restaurant, on a date, and it started to get noisy. I was turned to the side facing the lovely woman. A young man steps up and yelled a sentence to the barmaid in requesting a drink. His mouth must have been 10 inches from my ear. I shot him a look, he apologized, but boy was that annoying.

 

[Magpie]

Jay Jay wrote:
I'm a H, T and everything else wrong with my ears sufferer. Regarding do's and don'ts; there seems to be too many to count. Actually, I have to literally prepare myself each time I decide to go out (i.e. ear plugs, ear muffs, driving route, time of day, etc). I find myself navigating around my environment, because if I show up somewhere I'm unfamiliar with, the sights and sounds can be dangerous. For example, I go grocery shopping very early or late in the day when there's less people and traffic. And never without ear protection.
Even so, we can't prepare for the unexpected. Not long ago, I had just finished buying some groceries and was stopped at a red light. Just then, a car pulled along-side my right blasting music loudly.... I mean it was LOUD! So much that I struggled to stay conscious. Thankfully, the light turned green and I sped out of there, but it took days for me to reach my baseline again. Situations like that are a cruel reminder of my limitations.

I don't prepare myself for anything, I just go about my business regardless of tinnitus or hyperacusis. Using common sense such as having hearing protection when you know the music will be loud or you need to protect yourself against harmful noise is the best prevention. I would hate to let tinnitus control my very existence. You can never be prepared for every event but the likelihood of those events happening that might cause you distress are few and far between so why be a victim of your own tinnitus!

 

[rainman]

Does anyone have longer experience with taking NAC (Nacetylcystein)? I feel like its helping me for not setting me back when my 8 month old daughter screams, maybe its placebo. I only have few weeks of experience so i can't be for sure, maybe its other things i'm swallowing(eg. ALCAR). My dosages are only 250-600mg per day.

to kevin.http://otologicpharmaceutics.com/pipeline/
Nac being tested for hearing health, it might have strong benefits and im feeling them too on my H, that being funny- how?

 

[TedWbr]

I live in Los Angeles, its kinda noisy here, there is no way to avoid all noises, I had ONLY Tinnitus for 15 years, I went to shooting range a couple of times with double hearing protection, ear muff and earplugs, I also went off road motorcycle riding, and a few other noisy things, with no problems except gun range was bad idea, elevated my tinnitus for a week or so. So not I do some work around the house with a hammer and chisel 5 months ago, and learn all about Hyperacusis, was so stressful, so sensitive, ear plugs made it worse, to months to get to point of doing things simi normal, well I even ride my bike with earplugs to this day, and drive with ear plugs, so anyway, I get a job in manufacture plant, wear double hearing protection and now my tinnitus is louder and I hope its not going to go back to hyperacusis. I make an effort to protect my ears, if you in a loud situation and your embarrassed to leave like I was, ask to use the restroom, take earplugs wherever you go and make sure they go into the actual ear canal and not just outside, you have to roll them up really tight and lift the top of your ear then stick it up the ear canal. Man I hope I can say something to help people with Tinnitus, use hearing protection around anything loud and if your not sure, then skip the event. I promise its not worth it. I have had more emotional termoil this year then any other time in my life. I am still working at factory but mgr aggreed not to have me work in noisy area, so lets see how this works.

 

[TedWbr]

I went to a night club last weekend and did not suffer any issues. T stayed the same the next day. My hypheracusis was pretty bad at Christmas but by forcing my ears into safe normal sound levels and staying relaxed I've got over it. Still have the reactive T. But I have had the odd minute or two once in a while that I hear total silence....

how is your reactive T now? I still have it after 5 months, though I was recently exposed to some more sound. My hyperacusis is a little better regardless of my exposure

 

[Telis]

Does anyone have sore ears even when NOT being exposed to sound?? Mine feel painful and swollen most the time. My ears are very sensitive to noise, but like I say, they seem to be sore constantly (even after very quiet days) I have had my ears checked by an ENT after the onset of my T 9 months ago, apparently they looked fine.

 

[Danza]

@Telis During the summer i always had "some kind of feeling" in my ears. (I have some heavy migrains so to call it really painful can be too much - sertainly annoing). At some point I stated to take Panadol 500 mg for it on regular basics. Now my ears are less sore. Like you- I have noticed that with T comes a lot of other things too - like pain in the ears. Jippiaijee . If somebody would have told me 8 monts ago that he/she has fear of loud noices. I would have probably thought that "jep - and I don't like cold winters "

Danza

 

[cullenbohannon]

I seem to be in the same camp as you. I think its from my TTTS but i cant be 100 percent sure. I had it for many months at onset really bad. Sore ears, face, down to my neck. I wonder do you have any swollen lymph nodes. It seems to get worse when i go out and talk a lot or move my jaw, also from some noises but i again i think its my ttts not hyperacusis for me. I get mad headaches as well. Last week or two has been up and down. It seems what helps me a little bit is resting , il stay home sleep and try not to sleep on the ears because that makes the pain worse. I suppose it could also be H so i will be trying my own sound therapy at home. Have you found anything in particular that sets it off or relaxes you?

Does anyone have sore ears even when NOT being exposed to sound?? Mine feel painful and swollen most the time. My ears are very sensitive to noise, but like I say, they seem to be sore constantly (even after very quiet days) I have had my ears checked by an ENT after the onset of my T 9 months ago, apparently they looked fine.

 

[Telis]

I seem to be in the same camp as you. I think its from my TTTS but i cant be 100 percent sure. I had it for many months at onset really bad. Sore ears, face, down to my neck. I wonder do you have any swollen lymph nodes. It seems to get worse when i go out and talk a lot or move my jaw, also from some noises but i again i think its my ttts not hyperacusis for me. I get mad headaches as well. Last week or two has been up and down. It seems what helps me a little bit is resting , il stay home sleep and try not to sleep on the ears because that makes the pain worse. I suppose it could also be H so i will be trying my own sound therapy at home. Have you found anything in particular that sets it off or relaxes you?

I can't link anything to the pain...just seems totally random. Unless it is something like a loud noise (which seems to be happening lately) smoke detector false, blown bike tire etc...this maybe sends my ear muscles into shock for weeks...I don't know! The other thing I thought was weather changes (pressure). I will have to monitor mine better. I am so concerned with the noise of my tinnitus that even though the pain is bothersome it has kind of been overshadowed by my tinnitus.

 

[cullenbohannon]

Have you had the pain since onset?

 

[Telis]

Have you had the pain since onset?

Yeah it has been there since the start of T. My ear muscle on the right side spasms for sometimes minutes at a time as well...usually after I stretch or yawn. My ears are just fucked basically. I thought the pain and fullness would go away. Every time I have had pain in my life prior, means things are getting better. I'm starting to think I'm stuck with this for life like my T.

 

[aylp]

Hi all,

Since I got H I have some very odd pain in my pinna (outer ear). I can describe it perfectly: it sets in a couple of times throughout the day. Imagine the pinna where it connects to the outer ear canal, press your finger just to that connection (it is basically the deepest region of the pinna). Has anyone got this? It does not scare me considering D,F,H, and T that I have but it is odd!

 

[JC1859]

Does anyone have sore ears even when NOT being exposed to sound?? Mine feel painful and swollen most the time. My ears are very sensitive to noise, but like I say, they seem to be sore constantly (even after very quiet days) I have had my ears checked by an ENT after the onset of my T 9 months ago, apparently they looked fine.

This may be a stupid suggestion, but when I first got Hyperacusis I inhaled steam which helped a lot with my pain. By inhaling it I mean run a bowl of hot water (I boiled it as I found it worked better when the steam is as hot as I can stand, to the point where any hotter and you can't breathe ) putting a towel over your head and just letting the steam go up your nose for ten minutes. I don't think you need to sniff the steam up, just breathe normally. But my ear problems are related to my nose, I believe, so maybe that's just me.

 

[DutchGuy]

I understand H improves with time, and I think mine has so far.

My hypheracusis was pretty bad at Christmas but by forcing my ears into safe normal sound levels and staying relaxed I've got over it.

I pray this will also happen to me. Everyday I wake up with severe anxiety.