I'm back again but not for something bad thankfully! Going to see that college on its open evening was a big hurdle for me and since I thought going in a car whose breaks squeaked was a bad idea, so I decided to walk. That was a bigger mistake but at least now I know. 15 minutes of being in a moderately loud car is nowhere near as loud as walking for an hour near main roads, screaming children, and construction work.
During the start of the walk, I put on double protection for the first time. The noises in my head had never been louder and was very unbearable, but at least I only had to deal with it for this short amount of time. Anyway, it was a good thing to do that, as there was a loud bang from somebody throwing an object from the 2nd floor of a house into a skip below, which did make my ears tingle a little and give me a new noise but only for a couple of seconds. I didn't panic too much since double protection was all I could do (and the noise hasn't come back as well!).
Got there feeling terrible from all of the internal and external noise, but my dad is now being more understanding and supportive, so he came with me to help explain and get a tutor over to speak to me in a quiet room. For the course I'm taking, I learned I only have to come in for 3 days a week so that'll be great to help me recover. Soon after talking with the tutor, thunderstorm with hail stones hit and I was caught in it, luckily I was still wearing double protection. It got so bad that instead of walking back I had to get driven back in that squealing car.
Even after all of that, my ears only barely ached a teensy bit afterwards, and no new noises today! This is a good sign of recovery from my hyperacusis, but I'm going to give my ears a break and rest them for a couple days just to be safe - don't want to overdo it and give myself new noises.
I also recently met up with a friend who also experienced tinnitus! We talked for a while about it and we had back and forth conversations like "did you ever hear a DEEEDDEEDEDE?" and often a reply on the lines of "NO WAY YEA!" It was great to finally have a person who could relate to me and truly understand. Thing is, they've had it since 2020 through a similar noise circumstance to me, earbuds and laptop volume, even with many similar noises, and their noises are all tv static now, which is great! They recovered all the while going to college and taking buses. It goes to show that someone like them, even without avoiding noise like me, can still recover, even if it did take them 2 years to get to that point. It made me realise that it's a very slow process and different for everyone, and it also made me kind of grateful for the noises I have. They said they had a car alarm in their head and many completely sleepless nights at some points, which I cannot imagine. I asked when it started to change for them and they said around the 3 or 4 month mark it started to change from ringing to buzzing noise. They were very reassuring and told me it should start to fade, even a little, soon.
It's now my 3rd month in, and over the past couple weeks I've noticed my hyperacusis improving. The clock isn't as sharp, the fridge isn't as loud, I can make a sandwich and pour water without ear defenders on! I've had hyperacusis for so long I forgot how quiet my house actually is compared to most places. Ever since this improvement about 2 weeks ago, my tinnitus is less maskable now, but still maskable by the fridge and being outside like before. This doesn't worry me, as I suspect my improving hyperacusis is why it's less maskable. Everyday noise is less loud for me and so it covers it up less. Not to mention my tinnitus intensity or volume has not noticeably increased either, which I feel reassures me that this is the case.
I am planning to start reintroducing more volume and activities over time. For example, I have marked every Friday from now on to increase my tv volume by 1 until it reaches double the volume it is now. So it'll take me 8 weeks to listen to tv at normal volume again. Then I'll slowly introduce music afterwards if it goes well.
All in all it's an improvement and I am confident it will get better, as long as I keep this up.
During the start of the walk, I put on double protection for the first time. The noises in my head had never been louder and was very unbearable, but at least I only had to deal with it for this short amount of time. Anyway, it was a good thing to do that, as there was a loud bang from somebody throwing an object from the 2nd floor of a house into a skip below, which did make my ears tingle a little and give me a new noise but only for a couple of seconds. I didn't panic too much since double protection was all I could do (and the noise hasn't come back as well!).
Got there feeling terrible from all of the internal and external noise, but my dad is now being more understanding and supportive, so he came with me to help explain and get a tutor over to speak to me in a quiet room. For the course I'm taking, I learned I only have to come in for 3 days a week so that'll be great to help me recover. Soon after talking with the tutor, thunderstorm with hail stones hit and I was caught in it, luckily I was still wearing double protection. It got so bad that instead of walking back I had to get driven back in that squealing car.
Even after all of that, my ears only barely ached a teensy bit afterwards, and no new noises today! This is a good sign of recovery from my hyperacusis, but I'm going to give my ears a break and rest them for a couple days just to be safe - don't want to overdo it and give myself new noises.
I also recently met up with a friend who also experienced tinnitus! We talked for a while about it and we had back and forth conversations like "did you ever hear a DEEEDDEEDEDE?" and often a reply on the lines of "NO WAY YEA!" It was great to finally have a person who could relate to me and truly understand. Thing is, they've had it since 2020 through a similar noise circumstance to me, earbuds and laptop volume, even with many similar noises, and their noises are all tv static now, which is great! They recovered all the while going to college and taking buses. It goes to show that someone like them, even without avoiding noise like me, can still recover, even if it did take them 2 years to get to that point. It made me realise that it's a very slow process and different for everyone, and it also made me kind of grateful for the noises I have. They said they had a car alarm in their head and many completely sleepless nights at some points, which I cannot imagine. I asked when it started to change for them and they said around the 3 or 4 month mark it started to change from ringing to buzzing noise. They were very reassuring and told me it should start to fade, even a little, soon.
It's now my 3rd month in, and over the past couple weeks I've noticed my hyperacusis improving. The clock isn't as sharp, the fridge isn't as loud, I can make a sandwich and pour water without ear defenders on! I've had hyperacusis for so long I forgot how quiet my house actually is compared to most places. Ever since this improvement about 2 weeks ago, my tinnitus is less maskable now, but still maskable by the fridge and being outside like before. This doesn't worry me, as I suspect my improving hyperacusis is why it's less maskable. Everyday noise is less loud for me and so it covers it up less. Not to mention my tinnitus intensity or volume has not noticeably increased either, which I feel reassures me that this is the case.
I am planning to start reintroducing more volume and activities over time. For example, I have marked every Friday from now on to increase my tv volume by 1 until it reaches double the volume it is now. So it'll take me 8 weeks to listen to tv at normal volume again. Then I'll slowly introduce music afterwards if it goes well.
All in all it's an improvement and I am confident it will get better, as long as I keep this up.
Member
