Want Professional Help for Hyperacusis — Parents Think I'm Crazy: How to Proceed?

[weab00]

I'm 16 and I got tinnitus a year and a half ago after several regretful years of loud headphone music.

In the past month or so my hyperacusis has gotten pretty bad, and most sounds produce somewhat painful noise distortions. Listening to music is impossible because the high-end sounds like a big whir; I also sometimes get a stabbing pain in my eardrum. My parents think that it's completely anxiety related and that I'm being somewhat of a hypochondriac.

My hyperacusis isn't as debilitating as some people's, but I fear that it will only get worse from here.

Additionally, I've read that the most effective treatment is pink noise therapy regulated by a professional. I've tried playing pink noise/neuromodulation videos, but it only aggravates my tinnitus more.

The only problem is that it seems like there are very few audiologists that know about or treat hyperacusis in my area (MA), and getting my parents to take me to a clinic is another challenge in itself.

I'm very anxiety-ridden right now and would like some advice on the best way to proceed. I know I'm lucky that I'm still young and neuroplastic, so I'd like to get ahead of this because it's starting to make life a living hell.

Is there hope for me?

 

[Mister Muso]

Sorry to hear this. You're certainly not crazy. Try and look out for news and social media articles that may help your parents understand the condition is not in your imagination.

Some white noise and neuromodulation sounds can actually make things worse if you're not careful, especially with hyperacusis. I've found B-vitamins and amitriptyline (if you can handle the side effects) to help my hyperacusis, as well as avoiding loud sounds and music that triggers your symptoms. I've not tried white noise therapy personally.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Is there hope for me?

H usually goes away a year or two after you start being easy on your ears.

My parents think that it's completely anxiety related and that I'm being somewhat of a hypochondriac.

Give them the link to: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...m-being-murdered-by-merciless-tinnitus.29510/
and other threads like it.

 

[Juan]

I think you should not look for a specific treatment, as there is no treatment for this when hyperacusis and tinnitus are caused by noise exposure. No doctor is going to give you more information that you can find on these forums.

People (including me) go check with a doctor just to get peace of mind and rule out some serious issue (acoustic neuroma, tumors etc) going through image testing (CAT scan, MRI...) but if there is a clear causal relationship between noise exposure and the appearance of hearing problems it is very unlikely that you have, for instance, an acoustic neuroma. So, if we are realistic about this, why rushing to the doctor if you are going to get no treatment at all?

If you went to an ENT the most you can get done is an audiometric test and a tympanogram. If the ENT works for a big clinic or hospital and you want to schedule this, you could also get some scans done all in one day, if the clinic has availability and can schedule this. But in the end, the result is the same I explained: no treatment for this. You will have to adjust the best you can, deal with noise, listen to music at very low levels, limit time of exposure to music, use white noise as background sound if you want... and let time go by (a lot of time for hearing changes and heals very slowly).

 

[Andymo]

You are so young there is a significant chance of your symptoms improving. You need to have a professional have a word with your folks if they are not supporting you. Sleep as much as you can, eat healthily, bin the headphones for life and expose yourself to "tolerable" sounds only and rest your ears. You will get better

 

[weab00]

I think you should not look for a specific treatment, as there is no treatment for this when hyperacusis and tinnitus are caused by noise exposure. No doctor is going to give you more information that you can find on these forums.

What about pink noise therapy where they give you a set of hearing aids and you quietly play it into your ears to desensitize them to normal sound levels? Many people have said that that was what finally minimized their hyperacusis. Am I better off just bringing a pair of earplugs everywhere I go? I bought a pelton and some musician earplugs since I play bass, but definitely won't be in any bands/headphones/listening to any moderate-loud music for the next 2-3 years. Do you think the distortions eventually go away as well/have they for other people? Because that's the most stressful part.

 

[Andymo]

They definitely fade. My symptoms started in early May this year and I only get minor feedback from stuff like dishes, paper bags and cutlery etc. I have TTTS with ear fluttering. My H is very mild but I do have ear fullness and a dull ache which was painful to start with some days. Recovery is seldom linear, but it is a jagged upward line. Do you have pain with H or is more noise intolerance?

 

[Juan]

What about pink noise therapy where they give you a set of hearing aids and you quietly play it into your ears to desensitize them to normal sound levels?

You don't need any special equipment, let alone hearing aids or white noise generators. The rationale behind all that is just reducing the dynamic range with peak sounds, the difference between silence and an eventual very loud sound. White noise also touches a wide range or frequencies, and the idea for that, as I understand it, is "touching" hair cells that are misfiring or reproducing sound amplified or distorted and trying to bring them to normal, just due to controlled exposure.

You can achieve the same result just playing music at home, at a volume you can tolerate well. I would recommend you to try classical music, as it has many components and richness of sound that could help.

Do you think the distortions eventually go away as well/have they for other people? Because that's the most stressful part.

It can go away. For instance, when I had severe hyperacusis I would play Pink Floyd, at minimum volume, this is volume 1 on my hi-fi. Ok, there was this triangle sound on the intro of one of the songs that just clicked at the right pitch and frequency (for me) and that I perceived incredibly loud and distorted. Over time I replayed this song a lot and started hearing that sound more balanced. It took weeks.

Jazz also helped because there are these ups and downs of the saxos and trumpet.. and that's hard to bear for hyperacusis ears, but played at the right volume, it did help me. I remember clearly listening to a jazz record and one day the sound just twisted and got distorted, and then I did not hear anything for a second (like my hearing dropped to zero), and afterwards I started hearing less "hyperacusic", less distorted and more balanced.

Anyway, this is just my experience, and yours may be different.

Also, I was hearing all sort of impact sounds (even normal sounds like closing a kitchen cabinet) amplified, very amplified, and this particular problem only got better when I started losing hearing on high frequencies (first stage) and then on lower frequencies over the years.. Again, this is all individual, and could be different for you.

What I would not advise you in this initial stages is taking loud tests or pursuing repeated visits to doctors trying this drug and that another drug.. because that is likely not to be the best approach for a mild case of sound sensitivity and tinnitus.

 

[Michael Leigh]

What about pink noise therapy where they give you a set of hearing aids and you quietly play it into your ears to desensitize them to normal sound levels? Many people have said that that was what finally minimized their hyperacusis. Am I better off just bringing a pair of earplugs everywhere I go? I bought a pelton and some musician earplugs since I play bass, but definitely won't be in any bands/headphones/listening to any moderate-loud music for the next 2-3 years. Do you think the distortions eventually go away as well/have they for other people? Because that's the most stressful part.

@weab00

I know you are going through a difficult time at the moment. I and others gave you good information and how to proceed please read my post again: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...ent-what-do-i-do-i-cant-enjoy-anything.34909/

 

[Juan]

Listening to music is impossible because the high-end sounds like a big whir; I also sometimes get a stabbing pain in my eardrum.

Just a note on this, from the book "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks: "Arnaud Noreña and Jos Eggermont found in 2005 that cats exposed to noise trauma and then raised for a few weeks in a quiet environment developed not only hearing loss but distorted tonotopic maps in the primary auditory cortex. (They would have complaint of pitch distortion, were they able to.) If, however, the cats were exposed to an enriched acoustic environment for several weeks following exposure to noise trauma, their hearing loss was less severe, and distortions in their auditory cortical mapping did not occur."

So listening to music in theory is beneficial, at the right volume...

 

[weab00]

Just a note on this, from the book "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks: "Arnaud Noreña and Jos Eggermont found in 2005 that cats exposed to noise trauma and then raised for a few weeks in a quiet environment developed not only hearing loss but distorted tonotopic maps in the primary auditory cortex. (They would have complaint of pitch distortion, were they able to.) If, however, the cats were exposed to an enriched acoustic environment for several weeks following exposure to noise trauma, their hearing loss was less severe, and distortions in their auditory cortical mapping did not occur."

So listening to music in theory is beneficial, at the right volume...

Ok thanks, I appreciate all the advice you've given me. My main anxiety is that the noise distortions, which adds a whistling sound on top of many frequencies, will be forever and that most sounds make my tinnitus louder, but I'm thinking those are normal symptoms of hyperacusis. I bought a white noise machine and will try listening to low-volume classical and jazz music throughout the following months. Do you think I've waited too long, since I haven't done anything to address my hearing issues for a year and a half, or that there's still hope?

 

[Juan]

Ok thanks, I appreciate all the advice you've given me. My main anxiety is that the noise distortions, which adds a whistling sound on top of many frequencies, will be forever and that most sounds make my tinnitus louder, but I'm thinking those are normal symptoms of hyperacusis. I bought a white noise machine and will try listening to low-volume classical and jazz music throughout the following months. Do you think I've waited too long, since I haven't done anything to address my hearing issues for a year and a half, or that there's still hope?

I think there is hope for you. You are very young and your ears and brain will adapt in time. It is best to be surrounded by sound in a controlled environment, so you can play music at home, at a volume you can tolerate. Over time you should improve or adapt.

 

[Shizune]

Hey we're from the same state.

It's pretty ridiculous that, despite being a medical hub, there are barely any doctors here that know about tinnitus or hyperacusis, or attribute it to anxiety. I have had experience with the two audiologists in our state that are supposedly trained in it, but I am not convinced. One seemed like a huge money-hungry scammer, the other had extremely outdated information (PM me for more info if you want to know).

I'm still new to the whole hyperacusis and tinnitus game but so far I am in agreement with everyone else here. One of the audiologists I saw basically said H was all in my head and encouraged me to go about my life. Big mistake, and now I am even worse off.

It really depends with everyone but so far I am in team "protect when you can and don't over-expose". I'm echoing what others have said here. Give your ears a break. Print out some articles from Hyperacusis Research for your parents to read. I had trouble convincing mine as well.

 

[weab00]

I think there is hope for you. You are very young and your ears and brain will adapt in time. It is best to be surrounded by sound in a controlled environment, so you can play music at home, at a volume you can tolerate. Over time you should improve or adapt.

I tried classical and after about 40 minutes the hearing in my right ear dropped and I got a loud ringing for like 8 seconds... not sure if that's supposed to be apart of the process. On moderate volume

 

[Orions Pain]

Sorry you're going through this and that your parents don't understand. I don't have much great advice as far as what treatment is right for your condition, trying to figure that out myself. But just came here to say you're definitely not a hypochondriac, don't let your parents make you feel that way. Hyperacusis is a very real condition.

That being said, you're still very young so you can definitely improve! Just be very very careful with headphones and don't push your ears too much. Ears take forever to heal but it's not impossible.

Take care!

 

[Michael Leigh]

It's pretty ridiculous that, despite being a medical hub, there are barely any doctors here that know about tinnitus or hyperacusis, or attribute it to anxiety

The ear is a very delicate organ and anything that goes wrong with it needs to be examined by a professional and that means seeing an ENT doctor or GP to diagnose. Symptoms include impaired hearing, deafness, dizziness, balance problems or acute pain in the ears and in some cases tinnitus when caused by an underlying medical condition. This is their area of expertise and what they are trained in.

Although noise induced tinnitus falls in the realms of being a medical. The only way to really understand and advise on coping with this condition is for a person to have it. Many GPs and ENT doctors do not live with noise induced tinnitus, although some may have experienced it briefly in their life as many people do. Therefore, their knowledge and understanding of it and the way it can affect a person's daily life will be limited - nothing like many of the people that visit tinnitus forums on a regular basis for help and support. The best the GP or ENT doctor can do for noise induced tinnitus, is prescribing medication such as antidepressants and some benzodiazepines that can help with managing the condition. They will normally refer a patient with NIT to Audiology to see a Hearing Therapist or Audi0logist.

Hearing Therapists and Audiologists that practice tinnitus and hyperacusis management and treatment with patients often have tinnitus. They were either born with it or acquired it at some time in their life. Therefore you will find them at some tinnitus forums as I have done.

Michael

 

[Juan]

I tried classical and after about 40 minutes the hearing in my right ear dropped and I got a loud ringing for like 8 seconds... not sure if that's supposed to be apart of the process. On moderate volume

That used to happen to me, and after that I felt better. How did you feel about it? Did you experience any change in your hearing?

Take into account that if hyperacusis is very severe, just exposure to low volume sound can give you tinnitus for a while afterwards. In my case there was tinnitus for a few hours which then faded, but my hearing adjusted progressively and got more balanced and better at tolerating noise in the long run.

All these symptoms can be very individual.

 

[weab00]

That used to happen to me, and after that I felt better. How did you feel about it? Did you experience any change in your hearing?

Take into account that if hyperacusis is very severe, just exposure to low volume sound can give you tinnitus for a while afterwards. In my case there was tinnitus for a few hours which then faded, but my hearing adjusted progressively and got more balanced and better at tolerating noise in the long run.

All these symptoms can be very individual.

It's too early for me to say, so I'll definitely let you know a few months down the line. The problem is that even things like ambient rain or jungle sounds increase my tinnitus and can cause occasional sharp pains behind my ear if I listen too long or too loud. I've noticed that flute in classical music hits my ears in a weird way that makes a beeping distortion completely overlay it, I'm guessing this will slowly go away in time based on your experiences.

 

[Juan]

It's too early for me to say, so I'll definitely let you know a few months down the line. The problem is that even things like ambient rain or jungle sounds increase my tinnitus and can cause occasional sharp pains behind my ear if I listen too long or too loud. I've noticed that flute in classical music hits my ears in a weird way that makes a beeping distortion completely overlay it, I'm guessing this will slowly go away in time based on your experiences.

I had symptoms very similar to yours, but my hyperacusis was severe, very bad hyperacusis. I'd say you should keep listening to that flute sounds that "hit your ears" at a low volume provided they do not produce pain.

If you get a temporary tinnitus, or some fullness, or a bit of a headache, I think that's part of the process to adjust. These symptoms should disappear afterwards.

I read about sound therapy protocols for hyperacusis and tinnitus, and some of them specifically talk about a temporary tinnitus spike as a result of immersing in a sound-rich environment. The sound-rich environment wants to treat hyperacusis.

 

[weab00]

I had symptoms very similar to yours, but my hyperacusis was severe, very bad hyperacusis. I'd say you should keep listening to that flute sounds that "hit your ears" at a low volume provided they do not produce pain.

If you get a temporary tinnitus, or some fullness, or a bit of a headache, I think that's part of the process to adjust. These symptoms should disappear afterwards.

I read about sound therapy protocols for hyperacusis and tinnitus, and some of them specifically talk about a temporary tinnitus spike as a result of immersing in a sound-rich environment. The sound-rich environment wants to treat hyperacusis.

Thanks for the helpful back and forth by the way. I am learning a lot and getting guidance I wish I'd have had from the get go. Did you ever get occasional sharp pains behind the ears or in the ear drums? Is this something to be concerned about? Not necessarily from listening to music, but it comes on seemingly randomly

 

[Juan]

Thanks for the helpful back and forth by the way. I am learning a lot and getting guidance I wish I'd have had from the get go. Did you ever get occasional sharp pains behind the ears or in the ear drums? Is this something to be concerned about? Not necessarily from listening to music, but it comes on seemingly randomly

Yes, but for me it did not come and go randomly. It was associated with a previous noise exposure, or with tension on shoulder and neck, or with blowing my nose or valsalva manouver (be careful with that). Depending on the severity of hyperacusis and the quality of your hearing, your body can "block" your nose and sort of block your throat to let less sound in, it is like a somatic reaction.

Symptoms derived from noise exposure can be apparent immediately or there can be a delayed reaction (normally within the next 24 hours).

Many hyperacusis sufferers develop neck and shoulder tension due to hypervigilance, looking out for potential noise that can make harm, and also due to spending a lot of time home bound, sitting, or around the house. So it's important to stretch and get some exercise, and go to the physiotherapist if needed to treat back, shoulder and neck tension.