When Everyday Sound Becomes Torture

[Pb]

In early 2012, I came down with hyperacusis, which is an extreme intolerance to noise.  Most likely, it was caused by shooting guns in my case.  I got it while wearing ear plugs; it did not help.

Unlike the patient in the article below, my hyperacusis responded well to sound therapy (tinnitus retraining therapy) with an audiologist.  My hyeracusis is probably around 95% gone after 6+ months of sound therapy.  I am very lucky mine responded well to treatment; if it hadn't, well, I like to think I wouldn't have killed myself like the man in the article.

Even though I am a gun lover, I am sorry that I ever had anything to do with them.

Conventional hearing protection will NOT prevent your ears from being damaged; I religiously used hearing protection.  Suppressors + plugs + muffs maybe; not plugs and muffs alone.

Hyperacusis is NOT associated with measureable hearing loss.  It is highly corrolated with tinnitus, though not always.

If you or someone you know comes down with hyperacusis, try sound therapy with an qualified audiologist immediately.  I have to go out of the state for treatment; audiologist that do this are rare.  The otologists I saw were basically completely clueless, and most did not care to look for a treatment.  One advised me NOT to use sound therapy.   

The following article has a very good description of what severe hypearcusis is like.

""Every sound hurts my ears," Jason DiEmilio wrote just before washing down dozens of hoarded pills with beer in the bathtub of his Harlem apartment in October 2006. "The sound of flipping this page is too loud for me. It sends pain through my ears and brain."

DiEmilio, 36 when he took his life, was the victim of a rare acoustic trauma called hyperacusis, which flip-flops the usual effects of excessive noise by grossly intensifying the loudness of sound rather than causing hearing loss. Researchers who have dedicated their lives to studying the vast and unique intricacies of the ear have no idea what causes this or how to relieve it. DiEmilio is not the first — or the last — to suffer this bizarre malady, but given his symptoms, the way they materialized, and the way he coped with them and the way he didn't, he may as well have been patient zero."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/joycecohen/noise-kills-when-everyday-sound-becomes-torture

[tokugawa]

Thanks for posting this.  Very valuable info. And very sad.

[gunsmith]

Sorry to read of your misfortune BTR, I have tinnitus and that can suck at times.

Researchers who have dedicated their lives to studying the vast and unique intricacies of the ear have no idea what causes this or how to relieve it.

I'm pretty sure rock concerts/shooting are what gave me tinnitus - the article you snipped said they don't know what causes your predicament.

I read in a article last yr about a new treatment for tinnitus that involves an electrical "rebooting" of the brain.
Only now I cant find any reference to it.

[lee n. field]

my hyperacusis responded well to sound therapy (tinnitus retraining therapy) with an audiologist.

I remember reading about that.  How difficult (and especially, how expensive) is that?  I assume that's the same as the "brain rebooting" thing gunsmith mentioned.

[cosine]

Suppressors seriously need to be de-regulated... they should be basic safety equipment.

[roo_ster]

Suppressors seriously need to be de-regulated... they should be basic safety equipment.

This.  Not mandatory, but readily available.

[Pb]

"Tinnitus Retraining Therapy" was invented for tinnitus obviously... accidentally, it was found to treat hyperacusis.

Basically, I wear devices that look like hearing aides all day.  They do nothing but emit broad-band sound (sounds like static) at adjustable volumes.  Exposure to constant, quiet sound desensitizes your ears/brain.  When I went in, my tolerance level was 60 decibles (normal speaking voice levels- any sound above this was painful).  A month later, it had gone up 5-10 decibles.  After about 6 months it was ~90 decibles.  The next time we met, it was 105 decibles (normal)

However, though my levels are testing as normal, in reality it is not completely there.  I still have extreme negative reaction to loud souds (like loud music, car horns).

Also, sometimes I have "setbacks" after hearing something loud.

In fact, for the past week, my sound tolerance has decrease and I've had a lot more ear pain after a *#@! bagpipe player parked himself near me a week ago.

Like the article said, sound therapy does not help everyone; no one knows why.  Some people never improve, though it helps most patients (it saved my life).

The audiologist is now attempting to treat my tinnitus with TRT.  Basically, I tune the sound generators so the noise emited is slightly below the noise of the tinnitus, and the two sounds blend.  Over a long period of time, this supposedly trains the brain to ignore the sound.  She said if it is successful, 90% of the time I will not hear the sound, and the times I do hear it, it will not bother me. 

I do not know if TRT will help me with learning to ignore the tinnitus.  I can defintely say it is less annoying when wearing the generators (which I do all the time).

I paid $3000 for the devices and treatment.  I did it for the hyperacusis treatment (which worked very well) and hope I will get some benefit out of the tinnitus treatment.

If you suffer from hyperacusis, by all means try it IMMEDIATELY.

If you have tinnitus that annoys you, I would say it very well might be worth a try.  I'm not sure how effective it will be for mine.

If you don't have either, buy suppressors and never shoot without them.

What a nightmare.

[lee n. field]

If you don't have either, buy suppressors and never shoot without them.

Can't be done in this benighted state.

[Fitz]

I have a pending disability claim with the VA for my tinnitus (among other things)

I will ask them about this treatment once my claim comes through. So... maybe around 2017

[Scout26]

Mom has tinnitus real bad.  I've been looking for something to help her with it.  I'm going down there later this week and taking her to her audiologist on Friday.  I'll ask.

[Pb]

It's worth a try for sure.  Not all audiologists do this though.  Look up one trainted in Tinnitus Retraining Therapy.  I have to go out of state for mine.

The tinnitus treatment takes over a year I believe.

Hopefully, it will help me.  I do feel more "comfortable" wearing the devices.  Of course, the goal is to not need them eventually.

The hyperacusis treatment defintely works (at least for a lot of people).

[MillCreek]

I am interested to see that although tinnitus is a medical condition, it is apparently not covered by your insurance.  Just like my hearing aids are not covered for my hearing loss.

[Pb]

My primary complaint was hyperacusis... my insurance did waste a lot of money on incompetent otologists, and two MRIs.

They didn't cover the sound therapy, because it is "experimental"- it actually worked though.

[Pb]

Well, in an update... my hyperacusis came back.   

I think the noise of bagpipe player did it to me this time.

We will see how long it takes to get rid of it this time.  Took 6 months before.

[gunsmith]

sorry to hear that, I used to carry ear protection when I worked in loud environments, maybe you can carry ear plugs for when your in an urban setting?

[Pb]

That is what I will need to do I guess.