Is This Hyperacusis or Tensor Tympani Syndrome? How Do You Calm the Ear?

[shasta0863]

Or both? I've had tinnitus for many years, but ever since my worsening from a brief noise exposure 2 years ago, I'm getting an issue with my left ear with certain sounds.

A very idiotic store manager decided recently to jack up all the self check out scanners. The high pitch beep was so loud, the first one actually faintly caused pain in my left ear. I thought I was just being sensitive, but by 7th one my left ear was aching. My right ear was bothered but not as bad. I know I can be sensitive to glass hitting, plates hitting each other ect., but I've never been hurt quite like this. I don't go outside and hear traffic and have a problem. But this has caused a severe problem.

It's been almost a week, and I still have

1) Deep ache inside ear
2) Odd tight feeling inside the ear
3) Normal tinnitus is higher pitch and more noticeable (objectively tested).

I don't understand how I'm fine for 2 months, I've had some noises that were semi-loud, no issue. But this pitch of the scanner, this higher freq. and at a loud level, has killed my left ear. How is it, after almost a week, I feel as bad as day 1? This seems awfully serious for something to not recover after an entire week. I'm actually concerned this level was maxed out and could of been at an extremely irresponsible volume.

Is it normal with damaged ears to take more than a week for these symptoms to abate? Is it normal that if this is more a hyperacusis/TTTS issue that it could affect my normal T to be different/louder? Is there anything you can do to calm the ear, because it feels as if it's in a knot.

 

[Pomme]

@shasta0863 I am afraid it's one of the many mysteries that surround damaged ears. Everyone who suffers from T/H will have different thresholds of tolerance. If you are suffering from "fluttering" in your ear then TTTS will be a factor. Recently, I went to a bakery and the alarm went off on one of their ovens. It sounded abnormally loud and slightly distorted and I have some discomfort in my left ear today. I quickly put my finger in my left ear at the time but it's concerning that in the space of two days my ear is now showing signs of pain. It's very confusing and odd hence making it difficult to work out exactly what has caused the truama.

 

[shasta0863]

@shasta0863 I am afraid it's one of the many mysteries that surround damaged ears. Everyone who suffers from T/H will have different thresholds of tolerance. If you are suffering from "fluttering" in your ear then TTTS will be a factor. Recently, I went to a bakery and the alarm went off on one of their ovens. It sounded abnormally loud and slightly distorted and I have some discomfort in my left ear today. I quickly put my finger in my left ear at the time but it's concerning that in the space of two days my ear is now showing signs of pain. It's very confusing and odd hence making it difficult to work out exactly what has caused the truama.

Do you get those symptoms often and then fade away in time? I've had Tinnitus since I was 18, but only since last 2 years after noise exposure hurt my ears again (something minor mind you) have I been really noticing a H issue. I'm 28 now. I don't typically have a problem it's certain pitches. I've never had it THIS bad though. I've had issues with high pitch things before, caused little soreness for a day or less. But I've never had something stick coming up to almost 2 week mark .This scanner at the store was probably maxed out, and I fear my assumption that it couldn't possibly be too loud to actually hurt my ears, has in fact caused some damage. They've already lowered it, since I guess they probably had issues with other customers. Surprise, surprise. I'm pissed off, as they have a responsibility to make sure their customers are safe and the person I asked to reduce the sound barely did it. Complete lack of care and blowing off of my issue that I made clear.

I just don't understand what I'm even going through or if this is permanent. It's not only made ear sore, sort of tight and my tinnitus high, but I feel even MORE sensitive in the ear. Noises that didn't bother me before now do. My own voice if too high hurts my left ear. If this damaged me and this is permanent, I'm screwed. I don't know what to do or take to try to help alleviate this issue.

 

[Juan]

Or both? I've had tinnitus for many years, but ever since my worsening from a brief noise exposure 2 years ago, I'm getting an issue with my left ear with certain sounds.

A very idiotic store manager decided recently to jack up all the self check out scanners. The high pitch beep was so loud, the first one actually faintly caused pain in my left ear. I thought I was just being sensitive, but by 7th one my left ear was aching. My right ear was bothered but not as bad. I know I can be sensitive to glass hitting, plates hitting each other ect., but I've never been hurt quite like this. I don't go outside and hear traffic and have a problem. But this has caused a severe problem.

It's been almost a week, and I still have

1) Deep ache inside ear
2) Odd tight feeling inside the ear
3) Normal tinnitus is higher pitch and more noticeable (objectively tested).

I don't understand how I'm fine for 2 months, I've had some noises that were semi-loud, no issue. But this pitch of the scanner, this higher freq. and at a loud level, has killed my left ear. How is it, after almost a week, I feel as bad as day 1? This seems awfully serious for something to not recover after an entire week. I'm actually concerned this level was maxed out and could of been at an extremely irresponsible volume.

Is it normal with damaged ears to take more than a week for these symptoms to abate? Is it normal that if this is more a hyperacusis/TTTS issue that it could affect my normal T to be different/louder? Is there anything you can do to calm the ear, because it feels as if it's in a knot.

Do you feel pressure inside the ear? If you do, when it calms down you will see if you have sound sensitivity or not. Pressure and the odd tight feeling may mean your hearing is trying to protect itself from further damage. When pressure calms down, see how you feel. If sounds are perceived loud or distorted, there is something wrong there, may be sound sensitivity or hyperacusis. Listen to music with high frequencies, like electric guitar or something like that, to make the test (low volume) if the electric guitar riffs sound very loud and distorted, you have somehow got hearing damage, that may go away in time or not. Doctors dont know much about this sort of hearing problems nowadays.

 

[shasta0863]

Do you feel pressure inside the ear? If you do, when it calms down you will see if you have sound sensitivity or not. Pressure and the odd tight feeling may mean your hearing is trying to protect itself from further damage. When pressure calms down, see how you feel. If sounds are perceived loud or distorted, there is something wrong there, may be sound sensitivity or hyperacusis. Listen to music with high frequencies, like electric guitar or something like that, to make the test (low volume) if the electric guitar riffs sound very loud and distorted, you have somehow got hearing damage, that may go away in time or not. Doctors dont know much about this sort of hearing problems nowadays.

I'd say around 2 and half week mark the "feeling" subsided, but my Tinnitus in that ear is higher pitched. I'm pretty pissed off, as these idiots at the store take responsibility for costumer safety when we enter. Of course, all the machines are lowered now because obviously it was even too loud for normal people.

I put in some plugs on Monday to ride my back and now my ear is screwed up. I'm assuming it's wax now, but the ringing has gone from mildly bothersome to all the time bothersome. My hyperacusis seems worse, as my own voice elevated a bit seems to bother the ear now.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Temporary spikes often last longer than a week. They can last months...

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-do-your-tinnitus-spikes-usually-last.23110/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-was-your-longest-spike.22099/

 

[shasta0863]

Temporary spikes often last longer than a week. They can last months...

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-do-your-tinnitus-spikes-usually-last.23110/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-was-your-longest-spike.22099/

From noise trauma I understand, but I've never had something moderately loud that was high pitch like a scanner beep that hurt my left ear, which then in turn affected my T. If it was just normal loud sound that's one thing, what concerns me and what I don't understand, is if the ear was hurt in terms of the H, can it in turn worsen the tinnitus.

 

[Bill Bauer]

From noise trauma I understand, but I've never had something moderately loud that was high pitch like a scanner beep that hurt my left ear, which then in turn affected my T. If it was just normal loud sound that's one thing, what concerns me and what I don't understand, is if the ear was hurt in terms of the H, can it in turn worsen the tinnitus.

What many of these incidents have in common is that those noises can't hurt healthy ears. There is probably no real damage. The temporary spike is the damage.

 

[Juan]

I'd say around 2 and half week mark the "feeling" subsided, but my Tinnitus in that ear is higher pitched. I'm pretty pissed off, as these idiots at the store take responsibility for costumer safety when we enter. Of course, all the machines are lowered now because obviously it was even too loud for normal people.

I put in some plugs on Monday to ride my back and now my ear is screwed up. I'm assuming it's wax now, but the ringing has gone from mildly bothersome to all the time bothersome. My hyperacusis seems worse, as my own voice elevated a bit seems to bother the ear now.

Do not try to find reasons behind hyperacusis, or to fully undestand it, as no one fully undestands this. I advice you get some couples of weeks of rest, and maybe off work if you can manage to do that. Try to be in nature, parks, beach, places like that calm the ear, the wind on the leaves, small waves etc Do not be around loud digital sound or sound produced by low-quality speakers or cellphones.

2,5 weeks is the average recovery time for a bad setback if you dont have a long history with hyperacusis. For people that have had hyperacusis for a long long time, years, time of recovery can vary a lot but after a bad setback it can be a lot more than 2-3 weeks.

If your H improves then your recovery times may shorten, but this is hard to attain, as it takes a lot of rest, listening to medium sounds, and avoiding very loud sounds for a long time, and the progress can be erased in a matter of seconds. That's why H sometimes becomes a Catch-22 situation.

 

[shasta0863]

Do not try to find reasons behind hyperacusis, or to fully undestand it, as no one fully undestands this. I advice you get some couples of weeks of rest, and maybe off work if you can manage to do that. Try to be in nature, parks, beach, places like that calm the ear, the wind on the leaves, small waves etc Do not be around loud digital sound or sound produced by low-quality speakers or cellphones.

2,5 weeks is the average recovery time for a bad setback if you dont have a long history with hyperacusis. For people that have had hyperacusis for a long long time, years, time of recovery can vary a lot but after a bad setback it can be a lot more than 2-3 weeks.

If your H improves then your recovery times may shorten, but this is hard to attain, as it takes a lot of rest, listening to medium sounds, and avoiding very loud sounds for a long time, and the progress can be erased in a matter of seconds. That's why H sometimes becomes a Catch-22 situation.

Thanks for the reply. What is odd to me is that it seems tone related. I'm sure another equally sound noise but lower pitch perhaps, wouldn't of done this.

Right now though, I've noticed my left ear gets triggered from a loud noise. For example, the plastic cap on my ice tray cracked, it was loud, like 100db loud. So, my left ear tensed up and became a full/tight feeling again. It seems to trigger these muscles for what ever reason.

What really is causing the most duress is losing my tinnitus progress. It's now louder. Though, I did feel it was slightly improving and on this past Monday I worse ear plugs deep in ear which somehow changed my T pitch and level. Odd that earplugs would do that, but perhaps wax was pushed back? Or just delayed damage from scanner, I don't know.

I'm struggling so bad right now with the T I can't even function, I'm back 2 years it feels like. I could sleep at night without sound sometimes and now the pitch is unbearable.

 

[Juan]

The plastic cap of the ice tray cannot be 100 db loud. That would be too much, but you are having a reaction to impulse noise that many people with H have. Sometimes is the dynamic range (the sudden increase in volume of a sound) what makes your ear react and get triggered, get tense.

There are all sort of reactions related to the use of earplugs. Sometimes they give me pain, or change the pressure I feel in my ears, etc They can probably slightly alter your T or pressure. Earplugs at night are no good.. I never used them at night. I imagine at night you can mask your T with soft music or a sound machine instead.

 

[shasta0863]

The plastic cap of the ice tray cannot be 100 db loud. That would be too much, but you are having a reaction to impulse noise that many people with H have. Sometimes is the dynamic range (the sudden increase in volume of a sound) what makes your ear react and get triggered, get tense.

There are all sort of reactions related to the use of earplugs. Sometimes they give me pain, or change the pressure I feel in my ears, etc They can probably slightly alter your T or pressure. Earplugs at night are no good.. I never used them at night. I imagine at night you can mask your T with soft music or a sound machine instead.

Well, I brought out the other icetray and pushed the cap out (both were frozen over with little bits of ice) and recorded it with db meter, because I was in such duress over my ears right now.

Both my T tones are louder and more chaotic and I don't understand what's going on. I can't mask at night because noises compete with the T and increase it. That's why only progress and a stable T at a pitch I could tolerate was getting me by. Now, I cannot even function. Ever since monday putting plugs into my ear deep and going by construction (which did not appear loud at all with plugs in) and then getting very upset and loud on Wednesday, my ears have been so different it's unreal. I've gone back over 2 years in progress right now and I have no clue why.

Also oddly, right when I wake up, my ear tightness and T sound, are less. And it just gradually ramps up after about 30min being up.

 

[shasta0863]

I'm now having a worse symptom that started on sat. I have got a very odd reactive issue with t. It is now an electrical misfiring sound so theres no constant normal sound, and its hyper sensitive to sounds and competes with them. It is a sharp sound that goes over rain or anything else that would without a doubt mask it before. Its like its aggrevating the t to spike up.

Im doomed ive lost all progress and i dont know why. All i did was put plugs in on monday which has somehow caused this, unless this is delayed damage from the loud store scanner a month ago that caused pain in.my one ear and made it.a bit full.

I don't know.what to.do now, my peace i had before is gone.