Hello,
Disclaimer: When I say expose ears... I mean everyday normal sounds.
Went grocery shopping for the first time since onset. My husband has been going since the corona virus lock down because I have asthma.
Didn't have hearing protection because I have read posts that state the worst thing you can do is to overprotect.
But the noise in the grocery store was almost unbearable! The music and the loudspeaker announcements.
I didn't get everything on the list because I wanted to get out of there FAST! My tinnitus spiked after that.
I have read that TRT and having sound at night is good for building up sound tolerance if you have hyperacusis but what should you do in the meantime in the early stages when you are out?
If you do use protection does it hinder the timeline to sound tolerance?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi hon, sounds like we're in the same boat so I'll tell you just how I've learned not to rock it too hard.
Yes you need to be exposing yourself to everyday noise! My family went out of town for a week and I had complete and utter silence that whole time and when they got back I was dying! Oh it hurt so bad, but thankfully is coming back down. The brain works by comparisons, giving it such a quiet environment just amps up the sensitivity.
And with exposing yourself to noise, I've found that setting boundaries is critical. With willingly putting yourself in pain there's going to be a lot of times where you say what the hell and just want to reclude into the silence of hearing protection. For me there's things that I absolutely have to protect against and wear my giant Peltor -31 dB ear muffs.
Right now, Walmart is one of them just because of the intercoms and freaking screaming children that I know don't deserve to be slapped but I really want to. Driving, when my dad is home in the mornings and evenings (bless his heart he's so loud), and cooking are also examples. But, there's things like running water out of the faucet and the creek behind my house that just absolutely kill me, but they are something I have chosen to expose myself to.
Keep in mind though that later in the evenings you may feel the worst just from the abuse of the day adding up, so with me running water is categorized under a protected sound after about 5PM.
I made these boundaries because I have a very cyclical personality and sometimes I get a tad manic and insist that it's just all in my head. "
Maybe if I was just stronger I could handle the pain. Maybe I could live normally." Every time without fail that I'm exposed to one of the protected noises without wearing protection I end up in so much pain I can't function for the rest of the day and just have to go lay in bed and wallow. I find this just protects me from myself and my crazy mood swings, as well as just sets boundaries for other people as to what you are and are not willing to do. I absolutely refuse to do the dishes, it is just not worth the hours of residual pain that I will have to go through no matter how much protection I wear. This isn't selfish, it's self respect.
Also know that there is nothing wrong with your noise exposure being under ear protection for the time being. If you have to wear ear muffs to Walmart, that is much better than never leaving the house and staying in the quiet. It's better to get some noise through the muffs than nothing, so it's better to show up protected than not at all. My hyperacusis specialist said the absolute worst thing we can do is adopt avoidant behaviors. It's not good in regards to our psychological health or our hyperacusis.
Hope some of that helps, I know it kills having to chose between pain and whatever. For me everyday it's a decision of either spending time with my family and putting myself through horrible pain, or just surrendering to it and avoiding everyone. I'm pretty proud to be able to say I chose my family.
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