Will Getting Rid of the Hyperacusis Get Rid of the Tinnitus?

[Nathan]

I have now had tinnitus for about 2 months now, and when I wake up in the morning, it is now often at a very low volume.

After I get out of the shower, the tinnitus comes back.

Does the hyperacusis have something to do with this, because every time I am exposed to even a moderate amount of sound, tinnitus comes back to life.

My highest pitch tone (13,500-14,000 hertz) seems to be the most reactive. It also has a tendency to fluctuate throughout the day, ranging from near silence (1/10) at the least to borderline moderate (3/10) at the most, especially when I am stressed.

If I get rid of the hyperacusis, will it make the tinnitus easier to treat and more likely to go away completely?

 

[fishbone]

I don't think so. I wish you the best!

 

[dpdx]

Why are you freaking out? 2/10 T is amazing, no it wont ever go away. The best thing to do now is to move on and protect your hearing.

 

[JohnAdams]

Yes.

Wait. I actually have no idea.

 

[Michael B]

It's not unusual for tinnitus to increase in the am although you do ask a good question. I'm under the impression that my tinnitus increases as my brain activity increases which may not have much to do with hyperacusis.
Mike

 

[Contrast]

There are hypothesis that suggest tinnitus and hyperacusis are two sides of the same coin as if the brain was acting as an internal hearing aid to compensate for hearing loss, and there may be several types of hyperacusis but no one knows for sure this is not proven.

I am personally subscribed to the hypothesis that there are two kinds of hyperacusis
Painful hyperacusis and Recruitment (loudness but no pain)

Remember a hypothesis is an educated guess usually with some facts but not confirmed

1: tinnitus/loudness hyperacusis (this hypothesis suggest tinnitus and LH are the same mechanism)
The brain is amplifying frequencies it is getting less input from to make up for hearing loss
causing spontaneous neuronal activity in the Dorsal cochlear Nucleus and non audiotory regions of the brain AKA (tinnitus) and in the process also amplifies non damaged frequency regions making them abnormally loud
(loudness hyperacusis)

If this hypothesis is true then tinnitus and a form of hyperacusis would be the same mechanism
what is certain is that there are confirmed changes in the brain after hearing loss that can give rise to tinnitus. But no one knows exactly what the brain is trying to do.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4760846/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25386157

2: painful hyperacusis
Research at John Hopkins showed evidence that a small minority 5% of outer hair cell nerve fibers are the cochlea's hidden pain receptor in response to extremely loud noise. 120+B

From what I understand one hypothesis behind painful hyperacusis is that wide spread outer hair cell damage or something to do with cochlear damage drops the tolerance threshold of these nerve fibers to make every day noises or atleast noises below 120db painful.
https://www.ata.org/news/news/hyperacusis-related-damage-nerve-cells-inner-ear


Also you could argue there are more forms of hyperacusis like issues such as after surgery tensor typani muscle dampening your voice after yelling.

I wish actual researchers were here, I am in no sense qualified to even discuss these issues. I am a college drop out with hearing damage not a PHD researcher. This forum will remain in the dark and Jastreboff will monopolize off suffering for another 20 years before people wise up and want help.

 

[yonkapin]

If I get rid of the hyperacusis, will it make the tinnitus easier to treat and more likely to go away completely?

I went from severe hyperacusis to no hyperacusis.

Unfortunately still deal with tinnitus, but I did find that my tinnitus became much more "stable" and much less intrusive when the hyperacusis went away. The absence of pain meant I paid less attention to my tinnitus and I found my ears did not react to moderate noise so easily, so I wasn't as prone to spikes or new tones as I used to be.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Does the hyperacusis have something to do with this, because every time I am exposed to even a moderate amount of sound, tinnitus comes back to life.

You just need to be more serious about protecting your ears. Listen to the signals given to you by your own body, and protect your ears against all of the noises that cause T spikes for you. Given enough time, your ears will have a chance to recover, and minor noises will stop giving you T spikes. That had been my experience, and the experience of many others here. For most people, this is the way to achieve the fastest fading of T.