I Have Kept Making My Hyperacusis Worse for Years — No More!

[Saswata]

I've had mild hyperacusis for a loooong time, but did not know the name for it. It worsened 3 years ago (+ I got tinnitus), but 2 years ago was when it really really got bad & my life as I had known it ended. Reason: 2 people playing loud maraca right next to my ear.

I became a hermit and healed slowly. But every single time I started to feel better, I did something stupid. For example, I used my epilator ->b ad worsening, but healed again. I got rid of the epilator. I healed to about 75% and thought it would be ok to start using my staple gun with double protection. It was not ok, and it took me right back to the start. Full on hermit mode. Tinnitus back full force. March (this year) came, and I started feeling better. Thought it would be ok to use a drill just to make one small hole to the wall with very low speed. Again, it was not ok. I've been back to where even touching a tissue will cause ear pain. And wondering, how stupid can a person be?

I've done other silly things also, causing minor setbacks, but the above are the major ones.

How can I end this? Actually, I'm really determined now. I will never again do anything I'm not 100% sure about. I'm so done with this. I know things can happen, but I will not be an idiot like this anymore.

Today I feel a little better, and would like to do stuff, but I won't. Not until I'm WAY better, and even then, only stuff that I KNOW my ears can handle. No new stuff, no drills, no staple guns.

I wonder, how many times can one heal from these setbacks?

 

[Jupiterman]

Touching tissue gives you ear pain?

I think this is one for @Brian Newman.

 

[Saswata]

Touching tissue gives you ear pain?

Yes, I can go very low, but thankfully the lowest points only last for weeks max, then sloooow recovery...

 

[D'Angelo]

How can I end this? Actually, I'm really determined now. I will never again do anything I'm not 100% sure about. I'm so done with this. I know things can happen, but I will not be an idiot like this anymore.

I've been using dry fasting with some success the last 4 months. Dry fasting is incredibly challenging but rewarding if you can go at least 5-7 days, which actually isn't that hard once you get good at it. My longest dry fast is 6 days, twice.

It sounds crazy but dry fasting heals a lot of things. Check dryfasting.info for more info...

 

[Guest48603]

I am in the same boat. My current episode started over a year ago with getting kissed right on my ear canal. The loud smack set off a chain of events that resulted in recurring ENT visits to the point of annoying the ENT. After a while it got better, but there would be all these setbacks. Someone dropping a wooden plank next to me at Home Depot. Dropping a plate. Helping someone move and dropping something. Running the vacuum. Getting my ear cleaned with suction (that was the worst!). It keeps happening.

What seems to help me is reassuring myself that it's mostly psychosomatic. Our ears are sturdy enough to withstand everyday noises. If it's not a gunshot or explosion, or something right next to your ear canal, you'll be ok. OSHA doesn't even require hearing protection for brief impulse noise under 140 dB.

I'd say go, live your life and don't give in to the anxiety which causes our brain to overreact. Don't wear hearing protection unless it's needed, like when you use power tools.

I couldn't even have a conversation with someone with a loud voice. Now I can tolerate most everyday sounds, although dropping something still gets me. I am writing this just as my right ear is acting up after knocking over a metal stand in the shed.

 

[chinup]

I am in the same boat. My current episode started over a year ago with getting kissed right on my ear canal. The loud smack set off a chain of events that resulted in recurring ENT visits to the point of annoying the ENT. After a while it got better, but there would be all these setbacks. Someone dropping a wooden plank next to me at Home Depot. Dropping a plate. Helping someone move and dropping something. Running the vacuum. Getting my ear cleaned with suction (that was the worst!). It keeps happening.

What seems to help me is reassuring myself that it's mostly psychosomatic. Our ears are sturdy enough to withstand everyday noises. If it's not a gunshot or explosion, or something right next to your ear canal, you'll be ok. OSHA doesn't even require hearing protection for brief impulse noise under 140 dB.

I'd say go, live your life and don't give in to the anxiety which causes our brain to overreact. Don't wear hearing protection unless it's needed, like when you use power tools.

I couldn't even have a conversation with someone with a loud voice. Now I can tolerate most everyday sounds, although dropping something still gets me. I am writing this just as my right ear is acting up after knocking over a metal stand in the shed.

This is super dangerous advice. When you're acutely experiencing pain hyperacusis or noxacusis, you need to protect your ears for a while and then gradually reintroduce sound. Thinking it's all good and continuing to expose yourself to sound when you're already hurting can be a one-way ticket to years of hell for certain people, myself included. It's exactly why OP has been stuck in a loop and not recovering.

 

[Guest48603]

This is super dangerous advice. When you're acutely experiencing pain hyperacusis or noxacusis, you need to protect your ears for a while and then gradually reintroduce sound. Thinking it's all good and continuing to expose yourself to sound when you're already hurting can be a one-way ticket to years of hell for certain people, myself included. It's exactly why OP has been stuck in a loop and not recovering.

You have to protect your ears from harmful noise, especially after recent exposure, yes. The point is, everyday sounds are generally not harmful. Thinking they are is how you get stuck in never-ending loops, myself included. There is nothing to heal from physically because ordinary sounds do not cause physical damage. To produce damage, a sound would have to be extremely loud, near the ear, or of a certain duration.

I was driving myself crazy worrying about every loud noise (and still can't entirely avoid it) but that is the consensus of every doctor I spoke to, and whatever literature I could find.

Accepting that has been a huge help as the episodes are much shorter now and pain is only very intermittent. Now I protect my ears from loud noise, but I don't actively try to shield them from all noise. I was specifically told not to overprotect my ears. So, I'll wear earmuffs when using a power drill or mow the lawn, but will not use them to do the dishes. Does it always work? No. But I used to think my life was pretty much over because every loud noise hurt. Not anymore.

 

[Jupiterman]

Our ears are sturdy enough to withstand everyday noises.

I'd say go, live your life and don't give in to the anxiety which causes our brain to overreact.

There is nothing to heal from physically because ordinary sounds do not cause physical damage. To produce damage, a sound would have to be extremely loud, near the ear, or of a certain duration.

@Guest48603, this all reads very positive but many will disagree. It sounds like it has come straight from the audiologist/ENT handbook.

 

[xyz]

You have to protect your ears from harmful noise, especially after recent exposure, yes. The point is, everyday sounds are generally not harmful. Thinking they are is how you get stuck in never-ending loops, myself included.

This is maybe correct for someone with healthy ears. But for someone who already has tinnitus and hyperacusis, this is bad advice. One should not neglect the pain signals that the body is sending. Maybe some also improve by ignoring the pain, but you are then playing with fire as you could end up much worse. There are enough reports of people on this forum who did not protect enough.

There is nothing to heal from physically because ordinary sounds do not cause physical damage. To produce damage, a sound would have to be extremely loud, near the ear, or of a certain duration.

I was driving myself crazy worrying about every loud noise (and still can't entirely avoid it) but that is the consensus of every doctor I spoke to, and whatever literature I could find.

How do you know that ordinary sounds cannot produce damage for some? Tinnitus and hyperacusis are badly understood and it is 100 times more important to listen to people's experiences than on your doctor's advice.

 

[Guest48603]

This is maybe correct for someone with healthy ears. But for someone who already has tinnitus and hyperacusis, this is bad advice. One should not neglect the pain signals that the body is sending. Maybe some also improve by ignoring the pain, but you are then playing with fire as you could end up much worse. There are enough reports of people on this forum who did not protect enough.

How do you know that ordinary sounds cannot produce damage for some? Tinnitus and hyperacusis are badly understood and it is 100 times more important to listen to people's experiences than on your doctor's advice.

I do both. I've been very skeptical of the numerous doctors I have seen and considered other people's experiences. The point is, even on this forum, people don't succumb to the occasional dropped plate. It's gunshots, fireworks, industrial noise, concerts. There are lots of stories about dropped plates and other random events, but the outcomes of those are generally positive.

If you read the success stories, they show how important it is not to let the condition run your life. It gets worse. I've been there and I am still struggling. If you panic after every loud noise and rush to get a Prednisone prescription (guilty!), you'll drive yourself crazy. By all means, protect your ears in noisy environments. I even wear my earmuffs while vacuuming or emptying the recycling bin. But you can't do it all the time and you simply can't avoid every random loud noise out there. And you have to learn that that's ok. I'm still in that process as my subconscious still freaks out. But that is the way.

 

[xyz]

I do both. I've been very skeptical of the numerous doctors I have seen and considered other people's experiences. The point is, even on this forum, people don't succumb to the occasional dropped plate. It's gunshots, fireworks, industrial noise, concerts. There are lots of stories about dropped plates and other random events, but the outcomes of those are generally positive.

If you read the success stories, they show how important it is not to let the condition run your life. It gets worse. I've been there and I am still struggling. If you panic after every loud noise and rush to get a Prednisone prescription (guilty!), you'll drive yourself crazy. By all means, protect your ears in noisy environments. I even wear my earmuffs while vacuuming or emptying the recycling bin. But you can't do it all the time and you simply can't avoid every random loud noise out there. And you have to learn that that's ok. I'm still in that process as my subconscious still freaks out. But that is the way.

I had burning ear pain in 2019-2020 from 1.5 h commuting with my car. And I was lucky that COVID-19 came and I could sit in my apartment 24/7 with earmuffs and recover as I could work from home. Probably otherwise I would have completely destroyed my ears before quitting my job. I can assure you people like @Brian Newman, @Lesky and many others are unfortunately not telling fairy tales on here.

 

[Saswata]

@Guest48603, unfortunately, I could not disagree more - in my case.

It's exactly that kind of thinking that got me to my situation. I want to highlight that when I was doing the things that made me worse, I had zero anxiety while doing them and was thinking, "surely this is not going to harm me". But my ears are just broken. 10 seconds of drilling with double protection, being positive it was gonna be ok, sent me back to hell for weeks. When it gets bad enough, that's how it goes. But when I was still a mild case, I could do as you said - only protect from loud noises, not from everyday noises.

Protect your ears people.

 

[chinup]

@Guest48603, unfortunately, I could not disagree more - in my case.

It's exactly that kind of thinking that got me to my situation. I want to highlight that when I was doing the things that made me worse, I had zero anxiety while doing them and was thinking, "surely this is not going to harm me". But my ears are just broken. 10 seconds of drilling with double protection, being positive it was gonna be ok, sent me back to hell for weeks. When it gets bad enough, that's how it goes. But when I was still a mild case, I could do as you said - only protect from loud noises, not from everyday noises.

Protect your ears people.

I fully agree with this. This is how I got my last truly major setback, back in November 2021. I was convinced that since the sound I was listening to was objectively safe, it wouldn't hurt me. So I kept right on exposing myself to digital sounds thru phone and laptop speakers. My ears started burning like crazy and regular sounds got super loud and painful again, and like a fucking fool I ignored it and tried to "push through." Within literally 2-3 days I went from 80% recovered down to 30%. And I stayed there in hell for 3-4 straight months until I slowly started to recover again. That was the very last time I ignored what my ears were trying to signal to me. It took me until basically March 2023 to fully get back to 80% again. At this point I'd say I'm at 85% and can basically live a normal life aside from playing live music or listening to loud tv shows. Cars don't bother me anymore, lawnmowers, planes, dogs barking, etc.

Now my goal is to protect my progress and not overexert my ears. This is very hard to do! I want to be listening to music 24/7 and going out to concerts. But the risk/reward isn't worth it. The idea of getting even more recovery is way better to me than seeing another concert anytime soon.

 

[orenge01]

This is maybe correct for someone with healthy ears. But for someone who already has tinnitus and hyperacusis, this is bad advice. One should not neglect the pain signals that the body is sending. Maybe some also improve by ignoring the pain, but you are then playing with fire as you could end up much worse. There are enough reports of people on this forum who did not protect enough.

How do you know that ordinary sounds cannot produce damage for some? Tinnitus and hyperacusis are badly understood and it is 100 times more important to listen to people's experiences than on your doctor's advice.

I know this is true but fuck me. I really do not want to live like a hermit for the rest of my life. I want to actually live my life for once, I want this shit to be behind me. I want it to be over. I just want my life that I once had back.

 

[Dansco8]

@Guest48603, unfortunately, I could not disagree more - in my case.

It's exactly that kind of thinking that got me to my situation. I want to highlight that when I was doing the things that made me worse, I had zero anxiety while doing them and was thinking, "surely this is not going to harm me". But my ears are just broken. 10 seconds of drilling with double protection, being positive it was gonna be ok, sent me back to hell for weeks. When it gets bad enough, that's how it goes. But when I was still a mild case, I could do as you said - only protect from loud noises, not from everyday noises.

Protect your ears people.

Ya this whole tricking your mind that that sounds aren't hurtful doesn't make sense to me, because when I first got hyperacusis, resting my ears made the pain go away. The only reason why it's gotten so severe is because everytime it would go away I would go back to living my life like everything was okay, because I didn't know what the condition was or what was happening. I feel like people would not get worse if tricking your brain to not be scared of sounds worked because most people expose themselves to sound when symptoms are mild and that's how their cases become severe.

 

[xyz]

I know this is true but fuck me. I really do not want to live like a hermit for the rest of my life. I want to actually live my life for once, I want this shit to be behind me. I want it to be over. I just want my life that I once had back.

It's likely not for the rest of your life. Maybe only 3 - 5 years.

 

[chinup]

It's likely not for the rest of your life. Maybe only 3 - 5 years.

I dunno, every time I try to resume my life I inevitably get a setback and am in agony for 6 months. There seems to be a level that you just can't bounce back from no matter what. Been severe since 2019, a rollercoaster of setbacks.