Noise-Induced Hyperacusis and "Reactive" / Sound-Sensitive Tinnitus 80% Gone

[Manny]

I think the brain is telling the tensor typani to be hypersensitive to prevent further hearing damage.

Phantom limb syndrome is accompanied by muscle spasms in the immediate area around the lost limb, TTTS is also a muscle spasm. That's another clue.

These seem to be two separate hypotheses, as muscles spasms in the case of missing limbs doesn't seem a defense mechanism.

 

[Contrast]

These seem to be two separate hypotheses, as muscles spasms in the case of missing limbs doesn't seem a defense mechanism.

I was thinking the same exact thing, maybe a peripheral defense mechanism becomes central over time?

How would tensing muscles help a recent amputee, prevent blood loss?

not sure...

 

[Manny]

I think the brain is telling the tensor typani to be hypersensitive to prevent further hearing damage.

@Contrast Also, another thing, IF this hypothesis is true it would be interesting to think about why TTTS occurs more often in people who already have aural damage, really. Is it simply because the brain is now more aware that loud noise can damage? Or, is it perhaps an indication that people with damage are more susceptible to further damage than normal people are to damage of an equal quantity? Interesting to think about and try to examine using Occam's Razor.

 

[Contrast]

@Contrast Also, another thing, IF this hypothesis is true it would be interesting to think about why TTTS occurs more often in people who already have aural damage, really. Is it simply because the brain is now more aware that loud noise can damage? Or, is it perhaps an indication that people with damage are more susceptible to further damage than normal people are to damage of an equal quantity? Interesting to think about and try to examine using Occam's Razor.

My ENT told me it's all in my head bruh....

 

[Manny]

My ENT told me it's all in my head bruh....

I get that you're being sarcastic or whatever but literally you need to just ignore ENTs when they say idiotic sh!t like that, they're literally clueless arrogant bastards with degrees, is all, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

 

[Ace]

It took me a while to find a suitable form of pink noise (i.e. one that did not make my symptoms worse, and one that addressed the entire frequency spectrum) and a suitable headphone (as I could no longer tolerate most headphones/earbuds). I started out with a low level of pink noise each day, slowly increasing the length and volume over a period of months, and tweaking the frequencies to address my specific challenges. It took many months before I noticed a little bit of improvement, but I decided to stick with it as I was convinced that an overly sensitive auditory system needs to be desensitized, rather than kept in quiet.

@Coffeebean I've found this thread helpful in the past when I was experiencing hearing distortion, and that issue subsided.
However I have overprotected my hearing a little too much in the past month and now I seem to have a flaring up of hyperacusis in my right ear, that is sensitive to many mid range frequencies below 1000Hz that I can actually identify on a piano. The outside traffic, even at less than 35db from here, is buzzing at those frequencies in my right ear like a mosquito... As a musician this is a bit distressing. So I would like to ask you a question about how you manipulated the pink noise though, and what model of headphones you used? Did you use narrow EQ notches to increase or decrease specific frequencies that you were overly sensitive to you? I might try something like this in combination with increasing general environmental noise exposure if my current problem does not subside before long.

I'm mostly curious about your method, but if you have time to check my thread I would appreciate it as well- no worries if you don't have time though. Thank you for the help and the hope you've been able to provide already
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...—-sounds-like-bees-buzzing.36302/#post-462283

 

[Phat Tuna]

Feel free to ask me any questions!

Did you suffer many setbacks? And were they significant? Early last week, I was starting to notice improvements in my hyperacusis and reactive tinnitus. Tinnitus seemed to be reacting less. And I seemed less sensitive to sounds. For example watching TV and my gf's voice were no longer bothering me. Then last Wednesday I had an audiologist appt. She did a hearing test followed by an LDL test. She let things get too loud during the LDL test. I could feel it immediately. And ever since my hyperacusis has been back to full force and so has the reactive tinnitus. You ever experience anything like this? I feel so angry and discouraged that I missed my shot at healing and I now have to start all over again.

 

[Daniel Lion]

Did you suffer many setbacks? And were they significant? Early last week, I was starting to notice improvements in my hyperacusis and reactive tinnitus. Tinnitus seemed to be reacting less. And I seemed less sensitive to sounds. For example watching TV and my gf's voice were no longer bothering me. Then last Wednesday I had an audiologist appt. She did a hearing test followed by an LDL test. She let things get too loud during the LDL test. I could feel it immediately. And ever since my hyperacusis has been back to full force and so has the reactive tinnitus. You ever experience anything like this? I feel so angry and discouraged that I missed my shot at healing and I now have to start all over again.

Did you tell the audiogist you had hyperacusis prior to the test? Just curious, and please describe exactly what they did in the LDL part... is that where they see what volumes hurt?

Some people here say the LDL test is fine and it's the acoustic reflex test that's the problem.

Thanks in advance for your response, and sorry you got to start again.
It should get better, I hope not so slow this time. Take care.

 

[Phat Tuna]

Did you tell the audiogist you had hyperacusis prior to the test?

Yes, she knew I had Hyperacusis prior to hearing test. I had told her it was improving though, and it was.

Just curious, and please describe exactly what they did in the LDL part... is that where they see what volumes hurt?

Some people here say the LDL test is fine and it's the acoustic reflex test that's the problem.

Thanks in advance for your response, and sorry you got to start again.
It should get better, I hope not so slow this time. Take care.

Yes, but this particular audiologist had me use specific vocab for every sound she fed. For example: "Very soft", "soft", "comfortable", "comfortable but slightly loud", etc... I would get to "uncomfortably loud" and she would still increase the volume. I feel like having to use this script through me off. The previous audiologist I saw seemed more gentle and would just slowly increase the volume until I said "too loud."

She did do one short test in my right ear where she stuck this thing in there and it played a low tone and filled my ear with pressure. Not sure if that is the acoustic reflex test. She only did it in my right ear though and I find that H is bad now in both ears. That test was very uncomfortable tho. And only lasted a few seconds.

I would also like to note that directly prior to the LDL test she did a standard audiogram hearing test. I believe this may have also played a role because during the audiogram, the sounds were very faint so I was straining my ears to listen very intensely. I feel this may have made my ears more susceptible to loud noise exposure because it is a drastic switch going from faint sounds to loud ones up to 90 db in the LDL test. And my ears probably did not get a chance to adapt from their state of listening very intently.

Thank you. I am so frustrated and angry. I had a few days of relief and hope, and it was stolen from me. Hope my ears can forgive me and give me another chance.

 

[Capstan]

She did do one short test in my right ear where she stuck this thing in there and it played a low tone and filled my ear with pressure. Not sure if that is the acoustic reflex test. She only did it in my right ear though and I find that H is bad now in both ears. That test was very uncomfortable tho. And only lasted a few seconds.

Hi @Phat Tuna,

This test sounds like a tympanogram. Acoustic reflex is longer with more beeps. Did you have hyperacusis in your right ear prior to the tympanogram? My hyperacusis came on a few days after this test. I really do believe it is related.

 

[Capstan]

What I mean to describe as "reactive" / sound-sensitive tinnitus (and I used the quotation marks on purpose as it is such a vague term), is a phenomenon whereby the tinnitus immediately responds to the external sound, as if it is trying to overlay / compete with / mimic the external sound.

@Coffeebean - it's interesting you included mimic the external sound. I sometimes experience this phenomenon. Mine has mimicked beeps, bells and wind. I have no idea why. I recently started having "reactive tinnitus" - is this a phenomenon that occasionally occurs with it?

Thanks.

 

[Phat Tuna]

Hi @Phat Tuna,

This test sounds like a tympanogram. Acoustic reflex is longer with more beeps. Did you have hyperacusis in your right ear prior to the tympanogram? My hyperacusis came on a few days after this test. I really do believe it is related.

My H has faded to very manageable levels. For the most part, I'd say my noise tolerance is now just a bit below normal. I do believe over-activity of the tympani muscle and H are extremely correlated and they were for me and still are. If I am exposed to a very lout sharp sound, it will cause my tympani muscle to react and I will be left will reactive tinnitus and/or hyperacusis that will take a couple weeks to fade back away.

 

[serendipity1996]

My H has faded to very manageable levels. For the most part, I'd say my noise tolerance is now just a bit below normal. I do believe over-activity of the tympani muscle and H are extremely correlated and they were for me and still are. If I am exposed to a very lout sharp sound, it will cause my tympani muscle to react and I will be left will reactive tinnitus and/or hyperacusis that will take a couple weeks to fade back away.

How long did it take for your hyperacusis in all? After 3 months my hyperacusis is finally 90% back to normal and most everyday noises aren't an issue for including helicopters/planes overhead and traffic when out. Fans etc/white noises sources no longer bothering me. I have been virtually asymptomatic cor the past 2-3 weeks.

The one thing that still triggers my H and TTTS symptoms however is artificial audio sources in particular audio from my laptop speakers. It's truly bizarre - after like 15-20 mins my forehead will tingle and feel really tight and kinda numb. It's not even 'loud' per se but the audio from my laptop has a sort of 'scratchy' quality to it that just seems to really aggravate my ears. Hoping that this will eventually go away - after all, it's not acutely painful nor does it trigger burning anymore just this really uncomfortable cluster of TTTS symptoms. Just worried that this will remain permanent. Feels like some obscure atypical variant of hyperacusis. I wonder if it could be due to damage at a specific frequency that is amplified through laptop speakers.

 

[Lane]

after like 15-20 mins my forehead will tingle and feel really tight and kinda numb.

@serendipity1996 -- That sounds a lot like the symptoms I get when I'm exposed to EMFs. I've reduced these symptoms by using a grounding pad with my laptop. I also only use the laptop when it's NOT plugged in. Using just battery power reduces EMFs by as much as 80%. Wifi is also out for me (really feel it in my hands); much higher EMFs than when using an ethernet cord. -- I'm planning on getting a keyboard and mouse that I plug into my laptop, which supposedly would reduce EMFs another 80% or so.

Whether or not EMFs are causing your symptoms, it would be good for anybody (especially those with ear issues) to reduce exposure as much as possible. Just like with many people who've exposed their ears to loud noises for years, they never thought it was causing damage. Until it finally caught up with them. I think it's the same with EMFs (which have already been widely reported to cause tinnitus/ear issues). Some threads on this forum have pinpointed EMFs from trucks with all the high-tech gizmos, smart meters, etc. as the cause of their tinnitus.

 

[serendipity1996]

@serendipity1996 -- That sounds a lot like the symptoms I get when I'm exposed to EMFs. I've reduced these symptoms by using a grounding pad with my laptop. I also only use the laptop when it's NOT plugged in. Using just battery power reduces EMFs by as much as 80%. Wifi is also out for me (really feel it in my hands); much higher EMFs than when using an ethernet cord. -- I'm planning on getting a keyboard and mouse that I plug into my laptop, which supposedly would reduce EMFs another 80% or so.

Whether or not EMFs are causing your symptoms, it would be good for anybody (especially those with ear issues) to reduce exposure as much as possible. Just like with many people who've exposed their ears to loud noises for years, they never thought it was causing damage. Until it finally caught up with them. I think it's the same with EMFs (which have already been widely reported to cause tinnitus/ear issues). Some threads on this forum have pinpointed EMFs from trucks with all the high-tech gizmos, smart meters, etc. as the cause of their tinnitus.

Idk. I use my laptop and phone quite a lot and otherwise experience no other issues - it's literally just when I, say, watch something on YouTube/listen to music or try to watch a TV show.

 

[Phat Tuna]

How long did it take for your hyperacusis in all?

About 6 months. I'm not completely out of the woods yet. I'm still susceptible to spikes if I'm not careful. But it's a night and day difference how I am now compared to how I was even 2 months ago.

 

[Darryl Colebank]

@Coffeebean where are you?

 

[Nav J]

How long did it take for your hyperacusis in all? After 3 months my hyperacusis is finally 90% back to normal and most everyday noises aren't an issue for including helicopters/planes overhead and traffic when out. Fans etc/white noises sources no longer bothering me. I have been virtually asymptomatic cor the past 2-3 weeks.

The one thing that still triggers my H and TTTS symptoms however is artificial audio sources in particular audio from my laptop speakers. It's truly bizarre - after like 15-20 mins my forehead will tingle and feel really tight and kinda numb. It's not even 'loud' per se but the audio from my laptop has a sort of 'scratchy' quality to it that just seems to really aggravate my ears. Hoping that this will eventually go away - after all, it's not acutely painful nor does it trigger burning anymore just this really uncomfortable cluster of TTTS symptoms. Just worried that this will remain permanent. Feels like some obscure atypical variant of hyperacusis. I wonder if it could be due to damage at a specific frequency that is amplified through laptop speakers.

I have the same symtoms as you. My Tinnitus started 5 weeks ago on March 28, however since January 18 to March 28 I had ear fullness which lasted two days and then for the 1.5 month I had my ear twitch to loud sounds and no Tinnitus, which seem like I have TTTS symptoms that are triggered by phone speakers, laptop speaker. However I noticed that the phone speaker can be really loud when it's placed closed to you, and the way these speakers are designed is interesting, partially they are directing all the sound towards one direction and that's why it seems more noticible.

Doing some research I believe my TTTS is caused by certain muscles in my neck, back because when I clinch my neck it will change my Tinnitus sound from White noise (The one when you change the TV to those channels with wrong source, and it has black and white grains) to High Pitch EEEEEE sound, when I un-clinch my neck it's back to the white noise. So it's related and makes sense as I stand my Tinnitus isn't as bad, when I sit it gets louder, and when I lay down it's the loudest. This is probably due to different muscles being activated in different settings.

 

[Tara Lyons]

Hi all,
I've been reading this forum for over a year now but hadn't made an account myself. Today I made one to post my story, in the hopes that it will benefit those of you who are still struggling.

I've been suffering from noise-induced hyperacusis and tinnitus for about a year. I might post the entire background story another day, but in summary I was exposed to a very loud noise at a music festival. I'd always been quite careful with my hearing, wearing earplugs at concerts etc., but my ears might neverthelss already have been weakened a bit by years of headphones use. And, I suppose, sometimes its also a bit of bad luck.

The day after the incident I woke up with ringing in my ears, almost like an electric hissing, and I became extremely sensitive to sound. Music sounded shrill, harsh and distorted, and it was like I had two megaphones permanently glued to my ears all day long. I also got pain in my ears, pain in my face and jaw, TTTS, hearing distortion, and tinnitus which was very 'reactive' / sound-sensitive: whenever I would hear a sound, the tinnitus would beep over it almost as if it was trying to overlay the original sound and compete with it.

When I first got these symptoms I became very scared and depressed, as the symptoms were very debilitating and limiting my life. I went to various doctors and ENT's who couldn't help and who told me that there was no cure, and that I would just have to 'learn to live with it' and 'wear earplugs'. My audiogramms were fairly normal (between 0 and 15dB on most frequencies), but showed that I had some noise-induced hearing loss which created a 20db "noise notch" on the 2k-4k frequencies. An extended audiogram showed that I was extremely sensitive to high frequencies, sometimes even scoring into negative decibels.

I had always loved music more than anything in my life, and because of the hyperacusis and tinnitus I could hardly listen to any music anymore. I became very scared and depressed, to the point were I genuinely started to feel like life wasn't worth living anymore, having suicidal thoughts on a daily basis.

However, the impact that this had on my life also made me determined to find a solution, so I started looking for one myself. I quickly learned that many people with hyperacusis and tinnitus tend to overprotect their ears, but that this actually makes the symptoms much worse as depriving the auditory system from sound actually caused the auditory system to 'turn up' the volume in an attempt to hear something, thereby increasing the hypersensitivity. I read about 'TRT', which as a treatment uses wearable sound generators in the ear to produce broadband noise all day long, in order to slowly stabilize the auditory system again. Since TRT was not available in my country, I decided to try if I could do it myself by using 'pink noise', which is broadband noise with less energy in the high frequencies, so that it is gently on the ears.

It took me a while to find a suitable form of pink noise (i.e. one that did not make my symptoms worse, and one that addressed the entire frequency spectrum) and a suitable headphone (as I could no longer tolerate most headphones/earbuds). I started out with a low level of pink noise each day, slowly increasing the length and volume over a period of months, and tweaking the frequencies to address my specific challenges. It took many months before I noticed a little bit of improvement, but I decided to stick with it as I was convinced that an overly sensitive auditory system needs to be desensitized, rather than kept in quiet.

There were a lot of everyday sounds that caused me trouble, such as the clanking of dishes. Again, I tried not to avoid these sounds, and instead I purposefully tried to clank them a bit louder every time to improve my tolerances. I also learned that 'reactive' tinnitus is a poorly chosen term, as it is actually a symptom of hyperacusis, which can decrease as well as you build your tolerances to sound.

Of course, I still remained careful around loud sounds, but I learned that it is very important to only use hearing protection when you are in a place in which the sound is actually too loud (i.e. so loud that it could also be dangerous to someone with normal hearing), and that you only make your symptoms worse if you start wearing hearing protection in everyday situations.

Many days were - literally - quite painful, but I soon started to view the sound exposure and pink noise as a form of exercise, like training your muscles: at the end of the day you will be sore, but when you recover you will be a bit stronger next time. The same applies to your ears. The trick is to push yourself a little bit each time, but not so much that you injure yourself. I realized that because of my experiences, I had also built certain fears and anxieties around sound that I needed to address. For that I used EMDR therapy, which is a form of psychotherapy of which I believe that it would actually deserve its own topic here on TinnitusTalk, as it was very effective in reducing my distress and effectively moved the hyperacusis and tinnitus from the foreground of my perception to the background.

After a year I would say I am about 80% better. I am not entirely cured as I am still a bit sensitive to certain frequencies of sound, but I have faith that I will continue to improve as I work on desensitizing. Improvement can sometimes take many years and I am still in my first year. I have a little bit of hearing loss, which makes certain music sound a little different, but it is nowhere nearly as bad as when the hyperacusis and tinnitus were at their worst. I no longer use the in-ear headphones, and I avoid very loud situations such as very loud rock concerts, but for the rest I live a normal life. I do not overprotect, but wear custom earplugs whenever things get real loud (live musics, loud bars, using power-tools, snowmobiles etc.). I still have a little bit of T, but as it is no longer as reactive as it was it is much earlier to live with. Sometimes I have to struggle to hear it at all.

I hope that anyone who reads this who is suffering from hyperacusis and/or tinnitus which reacts to sound and/or the other auditory symptoms I describe, will find some hope and confidence in my story that it really is possible to improve. It takes a lot of hard work and there will be setbacks, but a slow and purposeful desensitization to sound will help you in the long run. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank @Michael Leigh , whos many posts on TinnitusTalk regarding T&H were very valuable to me during my darkest days, and provided me with a lot of information and insight.

Feel free to ask me any questions!

Hi there,

You did this all on your own? I have tinnitus for the first time ever in my life I've been devastated, also sound sensitivity. I hear pink noise is good for that. I downloaded an app, do you suggest I sleep with it on?

 

[Coffeebean]

Hi all,

I have not been visiting this forum much anymore, my apologies. I have basically been going on with life, and I often find it best not really to think about this chapter of my life anymore. But still I try to visit from time to time, in the hope that I can help others. So I will try to answer as best I can the questions recently posted here. I am still doing very well, my symptoms are practically gone (only very mild sound sensitivity and tinnitus, barely noticeable).

- @TLion The TTTS thing still popped up from time to time, but now that I think of it I have not really had this symptom for many months. I still strongly believe that this is related mostly to stress/anxiety/fear regarding sound. As far as I am aware, TTTS is generally harmless and will improve a lot when other symptoms improve and when anxiety drops.

- @Ace I did not manipulate the pink noise much, but I made sure to use high quality pink noise covering all frequencies and I used open-ear headphones with a full frequency response (from 20Hz to 20.000Hz, i.e. the full range of human hearing). It was a Sennheiser headphone, but I would need to check the exact type. I think in general, it is just important to continue to exposure your ears to a variety of sounds within safe levels, of varying frequencies, intensities etc. and to slowly build it up.

- @Phat Tuna I did experience some set backs from time to time, and overall it was sometimes difficult to really notice progress because it was so slow. It helps to have your LDLs checked from time to time.

- @Capstan I suppose you could call it 'reactive tinnitus' but that term is also used to simply describe tinnitus that gets louder from time to time due to sound exposure. In any case, I had the weird phenomenon that I heard a sort of chiming sounds that overlayed the actual sound, but it is much better now. I still hear it on rare occasions with certain static noise sources, but it does not bother me.

- @serendipity1996 I suppose it took me about 1,5 years to get back to normal. I had to deal with the hyperacusis, reactive tinnitus, and feelings of depression, anxiety and fear that related to it.

- @Tara Lyons I did most of it on my own. I visited an audiologist from time to time for the LDL tests and for some general tips etc., but they did not really offer a full treatment program. Regarding your question, I believe it is generally recommended to use the pink noise during the day, but to have some relaxing ambient sounds at night. Personally, I did not really use much sound enrichment at night, it made my ears feel fatigued the next day.

 

[mylesm]

For all that might be interested, I had another check-up with my audiologist lately and my hyperacusis has improved some more (better LDL scores on all frequencies). I still have the 'reactive / sound sensitive' tinnitus a bit, I discussed this with my audiologist and while he could not give an exact diagnosis he indicated that it is most likely more related to hyperacusis and not to tinnitus, and that it might improve further when my hyperacusis improves further (which according to my audiologist is possible if I continue to desensitize as I have been doing).

To avoid any confusion: I am not advocating to treat T&H with additional 'acoustic trauma's', I'm only saying that if you slowly continue to expose your ears to normal levels of sound, you can improve your H and related symptoms. The clanking of dishes, whilst it may be unpleasant depending on your level of hyperacusis, is not an 'acoustic trauma' unless you smash them extremely loudly in close proximity to your ears, which you should not do of course. Just take slow steps forward to introduce more and more sound into your life, and protect your ears when levels actually become dangerous (live music etc.) or when you might not yet be ready for these sounds due to hyperacusis still being severe. In that sense I do not agree that there is no 'middle ground', the whole of the treatment involves finding a middle ground between over- and underprotection, and slowly increasing your tolerances within safe limits.

Edit: I appreciate that research in the field of hyperacusis is still lacking and that of course simply the passing of time can also contribute to recovery. Generally speaking though, almost all of the research that has been done over the last few decades indicates that slowly desensitizing the auditory system with pink noise, noise generators, exposure etc. provides much greater benefits than simply waiting it out, and that overprotection is dangerous as it will increase symptoms. This research is not the absolute unquestionable truth or anything, but for me if very strongly points in the direction that it is worth it to at least try to take these steps to improve.

Hey.
That was an inspiring story. Were there times when the hyperacusis got worse and then better?

 

[Michael Leigh]

I have basically been going on with life, and I often find it best not really to think about this chapter of my life anymore. But still I try to visit from time to time, in the hope that I can help others.

HI @Coffeebean

It is good to see you back and always interesting to read what you have to say. I am pleased that you have made substantial progress and able to get on with your life.

A wonderful achievement and I wish you the very best for the future.

Take care
Michael

 

[mrbrightside614]

Hey.
That was an inspiring story. Were there times when the hyperacusis got worse and then better?

Hyperacusis most certainly gets aggravated by microtraumas. Over time, your threshold to sustain these traumas will increase along with reactive tinnitus thresholds IME.

 

[Tara Lyons]

Hi all,

I have not been visiting this forum much anymore, my apologies. I have basically been going on with life, and I often find it best not really to think about this chapter of my life anymore. But still I try to visit from time to time, in the hope that I can help others. So I will try to answer as best I can the questions recently posted here. I am still doing very well, my symptoms are practically gone (only very mild sound sensitivity and tinnitus, barely noticeable).

- @TLion The TTTS thing still popped up from time to time, but now that I think of it I have not really had this symptom for many months. I still strongly believe that this is related mostly to stress/anxiety/fear regarding sound. As far as I am aware, TTTS is generally harmless and will improve a lot when other symptoms improve and when anxiety drops.

- @Ace I did not manipulate the pink noise much, but I made sure to use high quality pink noise covering all frequencies and I used open-ear headphones with a full frequency response (from 20Hz to 20.000Hz, i.e. the full range of human hearing). It was a Sennheiser headphone, but I would need to check the exact type. I think in general, it is just important to continue to exposure your ears to a variety of sounds within safe levels, of varying frequencies, intensities etc. and to slowly build it up.

- @Phat Tuna I did experience some set backs from time to time, and overall it was sometimes difficult to really notice progress because it was so slow. It helps to have your LDLs checked from time to time.

- @Capstan I suppose you could call it 'reactive tinnitus' but that term is also used to simply describe tinnitus that gets louder from time to time due to sound exposure. In any case, I had the weird phenomenon that I heard a sort of chiming sounds that overlayed the actual sound, but it is much better now. I still hear it on rare occasions with certain static noise sources, but it does not bother me.

- @serendipity1996 I suppose it took me about 1,5 years to get back to normal. I had to deal with the hyperacusis, reactive tinnitus, and feelings of depression, anxiety and fear that related to it.

- @Tara Lyons I did most of it on my own. I visited an audiologist from time to time for the LDL tests and for some general tips etc., but they did not really offer a full treatment program. Regarding your question, I believe it is generally recommended to use the pink noise during the day, but to have some relaxing ambient sounds at night. Personally, I did not really use much sound enrichment at night, it made my ears feel fatigued the next day.

1.5 years? OMG...
The healing process was that long?

 

[Vassili]

1.5 years? OMG...
The healing process was that long?

Hello, Tara!

I'm afraid yes, the healing process is really long. At the moment I am 7 months in with my tinnitus and hyperacusis. Good thing is that I almost can't hear my tinnitus when I'm outside. I think my hyperacusis is gone or almost gone because I don't feel that everyday noise is louder than it actually is but I still feel pain when something is loud enough to cause it (pain in the jaw and teeth and some muscle spasms allover the face and neck). I can hear my tinnitus when I'm at home in a quiet room. I'm so happy that I've reached the stage when I can mask it with TV or radio when I'm at home. When I'm outside I can hear my tinnitus when I use earplugs and if I walk without them I usually don't hear it but feel pain quite often when I'm near traffic or in a really noisy mall depending on what song is being played on the radio. So yeah, it's a long ride, I guess. I hope that soon I will be halfway there. I am so tired of sleeping with masking sounds. I usually use fireplace sounds.

I wish you full recovery and lots of patience.

 

[Tara Lyons]

Hello, Tara!

I'm afraid yes, the healing process is really long. At the moment I am 7 months in with my tinnitus and hyperacusis. Good thing is that I almost can't hear my tinnitus when I'm outside. I think my hyperacusis is gone or almost gone because I don't feel that everyday noise is louder than it actually is but I still feel pain when something is loud enough to cause it (pain in the jaw and teeth and some muscle spasms allover the face and neck). I can hear my tinnitus when I'm at home in a quiet room. I'm so happy that I've reached the stage when I can mask it with TV or radio when I'm at home. When I'm outside I can hear my tinnitus when I use earplugs and if I walk without them I usually don't hear it but feel pain quite often when I'm near traffic or in a really noisy mall depending on what song is being played on the radio. So yeah, it's a long ride, I guess. I hope that soon I will be halfway there. I am so tired of sleeping with masking sounds. I usually use fireplace sounds.

I wish you full recovery and lots of patience.

Thanks for writing! Is there anything special you have done for this? I've been using ear plugs for a few days at work to see if it helps, mine seems to be aggravated by noise.

I know I run the risk of increasing my sound sensitive but from what I told that wouldn't happen right away. People's voices still make me cringe, I've had to leave/wanted to leave small gatherings because of the annoyance.

Did you do or take anything in particular? I'm only at 4 months in and I'm going to try harder to ride this out but I absolutely hate everything about this noise!

Nice that you've improved!

 

[Vassili]

Thanks for writing! Is there anything special you have done for this? I've been using ear plugs for a few days at work to see if it helps, mine seems to be aggravated by noise.

I know I run the risk of increasing my sound sensitive but from what I told that wouldn't happen right away. People's voices still make me cringe, I've had to leave/wanted to leave small gatherings because of the annoyance.

Did you do or take anything in particular? I'm only at 4 months in and I'm going to try harder to ride this out but I absolutely hate everything about this noise!

Nice that you've improved!

I haven't done anything special really. Only protected my ears, took vitamin D and B-vitamin complex, also my ENT prescribed me Betaserc 24 mg two times (I think it sped up the process). And that's it.
The fact that you protect your ears while being at work is a good thing. I also do that at work, also when I am outside or at the mall. I do not protect my ears while I'm at home. I can't wear earplugs all the time because my ears start to hurt. But anyway home is a quiet place so I don't think it is necessary to protect ears at home.

I agree with others on this forum really. Main healers are time and noise protection. Supplements and other prescription drugs like Betaserc (increases blood flow to the inner ear) do not play the role of a magical pill but they do help the body to heal itself more effectively. But timing is very individual. I hope to be tinnitus and hyperacusis free in a year or two.

So we have to stay strong

 

[Andymo]

Wow, @Coffeebean! You have shed some light into my temple of doom. Thank you! Have been displaying all symptoms over the past 2 weeks and, to be honest,
I have been shit-scared, anxious, depressed and even thinking those other dark thoughts. The paradox is that my hearing is ok, been tested, so I still don't understand the condition. My greatest fear driving my guilt is I have been spending many hours on my road bike, listening to ear buds. But if I have damaged my inner ear hairs / cochlea (sp) why did my hearing test ok... But you've given me hope. Thank you! TRT for me. Mind me asking how severe your hyperacusis was?

 

[serendipity1996]

Hi @Coffeebean
Thanks for coming on here to respond to people's queries - it means a lot!

I have a question - did/do you have any lingering anxiety about sound etc and any advice as to how to overcome this? My hyperacusis setback is pretty much gone now and I'm not really having any issues with day-t0-day noise so I guess it's reverted to a milder form of noise sensitivity as it has been for most of the past 4 years.

However, this has been by far my longest setback, taking approx. 6 months to properly resolve and I've realised I have a TON of residual anxiety about dangerous noise levels that I fear will prevent me from enjoying life. At the height of this setback back in January/February I was in a near-constant state of discomfort/pain with burning ear symptoms etc which really decimated my mental health.

Tbh I feel a bit 'scarred' (trying not to sound melodramatic) and have this pervasive fear of being one accident away from further catastrophe - one of my particular worries is fire/smoke alarms - in my head I'm already concocting future hypothetical scenarios in which I start a job at a workplace where the fire alarms are constantly tested or move into a new place with an easily triggered smoke alarm. I've been referred to CBT by my ENT which could definitely be useful with regards to the phonophobia aspect of all this. I don't know, I just felt so pleased to finally be 'out of the woods' lately but my brain can't cope with not having something to worry about it's so incredibly frustrating.

 

[HootOwl]

Wow, @Coffeebean! You have shed some light into my temple of doom. Thank you! Have been displaying all symptoms over the past 2 weeks and, to be honest,
I have been shit-scared, anxious, depressed and even thinking those other dark thoughts. The paradox is that my hearing is ok, been tested, so I still don't understand the condition. My greatest fear driving my guilt is I have been spending many hours on my road bike, listening to ear buds. But if I have damaged my inner ear hairs / cochlea (sp) why did my hearing test ok... But you've given me hope. Thank you! TRT for me. Mind me asking how severe your hyperacusis was?

It's possible that you have inflammation, and not structural damage, which I suspect is part of my case as well. Unless it is self-perpetuating due to an underlying cause it is likely to calm down.

Although hearing tests are poor at detecting minute damage, so it is very possible you have mild synapse or OHC loss.