Hi All!
I got T in February 2016 from an ear infection. freaked out and to be honest I still struggle (though it has gotten better) with that but let's focus on the positive today
Probably a month after getting T I got H or hearing sensitivity. I could hear my husbands computer from all the way across the house, the fridge buzzing pounded in my head from across the house. My daughters voice bothered me. Any high pitch noise felt like nails on a chalkboard. Things would sound glassy and EVERYTHING sounded insanely louder. At one point I could hear my feet on the carpet. To get away from my T I would (and still) go out to malls and out and about to do things. I get some exercise and walk around and when I had H I could hear the open and closing of the automatic doors screeching, I could hear the escalator squeaking. It was crazy. My ears were working like they were super powered. I was terrified. I took a week off work and was afraid to go out of the house. to cover my T I depended on music on my car yet I know exactly what level I could tolerate. I would go to Target and from across the store I would hear the BEEP of the price checkers and it would make me jump. It was around this time that we all had to get these PIN debit cards in the USA so all the registers would ask for these pins and it would make a loud beep and it just made me nuts.
The ear doctor that I went to said it was happening because I was so hyper aware of sound. He said that T often comes with H. Billy on here said H was a "paper dragon" and not to worry. I am an anxious person and I was so scared. Any high pitch noise hurt my ears and any noise that had any high pitch in it that I had never noticed before all of a sudden blasted that high pitch part to it (does that make sense?)
So this dr said that exposure was absolutely necessary. I went out and bought a big thing of ear plugs so that I had it just in case we went out and there was a band or something loud. He saw the big orange tub sticking out of my purse when I went to him and he said "AH!!! You are wearing ear plugs DO NOT DO THAT!!" I said no I couldn't tolerate them because of the T but I have them just in case and that was the truth. He pressed me to make sure to keep going out, not to avoid noise and that if the level on my car that I could tolerate was an 8, make it a 9..as long as none of these things would be dangerous for the average person. I forced myself to do it...and it worked. I didn't believe it would work but it did.
H is not something that bothers me anymore. I do notice that I hear things a teeny tiny bit louder than most after all this. I do still have a little more sensitivity to something very high pitch. But I do not notice the screeching of escalators, my daughters voice does not bother me, I don't hear my husbands computer from across the house.
I can absolutely get an increase of H when I am crazy focusing on my T. I follow the original directions from the doctor and it always goes away within a couple days.
I can't say that this always works for everyone. I know that H from a medical/physical condition is different from H stemming from psychological issues. However I have been told that H from an actual medical/physical condition is MUCH more rare. It did fascinate me in a way that we can actually train our brains to do this. It made me wonder what else we could do.
So if you just got T and you are struggling with H, chances are H will get better with time and NOT over protecting. Some on here disagree with that but it worked for me and other patients.
I got T in February 2016 from an ear infection. freaked out and to be honest I still struggle (though it has gotten better) with that but let's focus on the positive today
Probably a month after getting T I got H or hearing sensitivity. I could hear my husbands computer from all the way across the house, the fridge buzzing pounded in my head from across the house. My daughters voice bothered me. Any high pitch noise felt like nails on a chalkboard. Things would sound glassy and EVERYTHING sounded insanely louder. At one point I could hear my feet on the carpet. To get away from my T I would (and still) go out to malls and out and about to do things. I get some exercise and walk around and when I had H I could hear the open and closing of the automatic doors screeching, I could hear the escalator squeaking. It was crazy. My ears were working like they were super powered. I was terrified. I took a week off work and was afraid to go out of the house. to cover my T I depended on music on my car yet I know exactly what level I could tolerate. I would go to Target and from across the store I would hear the BEEP of the price checkers and it would make me jump. It was around this time that we all had to get these PIN debit cards in the USA so all the registers would ask for these pins and it would make a loud beep and it just made me nuts.
The ear doctor that I went to said it was happening because I was so hyper aware of sound. He said that T often comes with H. Billy on here said H was a "paper dragon" and not to worry. I am an anxious person and I was so scared. Any high pitch noise hurt my ears and any noise that had any high pitch in it that I had never noticed before all of a sudden blasted that high pitch part to it (does that make sense?)
So this dr said that exposure was absolutely necessary. I went out and bought a big thing of ear plugs so that I had it just in case we went out and there was a band or something loud. He saw the big orange tub sticking out of my purse when I went to him and he said "AH!!! You are wearing ear plugs DO NOT DO THAT!!" I said no I couldn't tolerate them because of the T but I have them just in case and that was the truth. He pressed me to make sure to keep going out, not to avoid noise and that if the level on my car that I could tolerate was an 8, make it a 9..as long as none of these things would be dangerous for the average person. I forced myself to do it...and it worked. I didn't believe it would work but it did.
H is not something that bothers me anymore. I do notice that I hear things a teeny tiny bit louder than most after all this. I do still have a little more sensitivity to something very high pitch. But I do not notice the screeching of escalators, my daughters voice does not bother me, I don't hear my husbands computer from across the house.
I can absolutely get an increase of H when I am crazy focusing on my T. I follow the original directions from the doctor and it always goes away within a couple days.
I can't say that this always works for everyone. I know that H from a medical/physical condition is different from H stemming from psychological issues. However I have been told that H from an actual medical/physical condition is MUCH more rare. It did fascinate me in a way that we can actually train our brains to do this. It made me wonder what else we could do.
So if you just got T and you are struggling with H, chances are H will get better with time and NOT over protecting. Some on here disagree with that but it worked for me and other patients.
) and I use a sound machine throughout the day and night. I was wondering if that was enough to help desensitize my ears?
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