You are not logged in.
I am suffering from tinnitus and hyperacusis for a couple of month. It is very difficult to stay possitive. I try to do everything as normal as possible, but loud noises makes me very nervous.
Today a motorbike pop pipe made a very very loud noise just next to me when I was walking under a tunnel, now my tinnitus is worse .
How can you handle this unexpected noises? Can a motorbike pop pipe damage your ear? Is it only because I am afraid or anxious?
Anybody experience with it?
Txs in advance
Offline
Hi Eilleor,
Welcome to the forum.
The motorbike pop shouldn't damage your ear, but if you have already tinnitus, it can temporarily aggravate it, especially if you are afraid and nervous about it. Don't worry, this sensitivity will disappear again after a while (a few months or so). You can try whether one or two painkillers (Paracetamol or Aspirin) can calm it down again, but it should do so by itself within a few days.
Thomas
Offline
Thank you for your answer.
The damage and increased tinnitus as reaction on the motorbike was not so bad after all....just a lot of fear.
Still I have a very very big problem with sensitivity and reaction on sounds,
it seems that it is getting worse and worse every day since my tinnitus started in april. I can not listen to any music anymore, because it is unbearable, even voices and my own voice is getting too bad...
All the time I try to do everything as normal as possible, with no earplugs, but I have the feeling that, altough sometimes my tinnitus is less for an houre of so, the sound sensitivity is going up and is driving me crazy and and it is hard to imaging that this will ever go away, because I see no improvement on it at all, jow hard I try to ignore it.
The thing I loved to do most is playing my guitar and singing my own music and songs, but I can not do that anymore....I feel very sad about that, as I am unemployed this keeped me going...
Sorry for my negative story, but it is all very frightening for the future.
My audiologist does not say a lot about it, he just said that I am very sensitive...he does not say anything about getting worse.
Is there anybody who has the same?
Thanks for any reply.
Offline
Hi Eilleor,
I know your situation very well. I couldn't listen to music either in the first couple of months. But trust me, it is only a matter of time until it gets better. You may have to give your nervous system a couple of months more time to calm down again, but eventually it will. Just try to address the problems from day to day at the moment, and don't think so much about the future. Your present condition won't last forever. Take it from me.
Thomas
Offline
Thanks again Thomas, your answer is comforting..
It is so hard to believe that it will get better..
I do not have a hearing loss and I was always listening or making music. Music was keeping me happy and less stressed about the future being unemployed...
All over the internet everybody strongly advise sound therapie, but I tried white and pink noise, but it seems to make both T and H worse, that's when I decided to live and act as normally as usual, but it seems not to work. What is your advice?
My audiologist only made a new appointment for the end of August with a social worker,which I met once before and she also did not but tell me anything about sound therapie, she said it would take month's, even a year to habitate....
Hopefully, as you mentioned, H will slightly improve the next month's, but untill now after 3 month's it went only the opposite. I live in Holland and as far as I can see, we are not so far with training etc compared with other countries.
Did you use sound therapie and how to deal with it in case it seems to make it all worse?
Regards,
Eilleor
Offline
Eilleor,
Let me tell you that I was unemployed as well in the first few years of my tinnitus. The point is that in this situation you tend to focus a lot on the tinnitus, which does not exactly help. On the other hand, you don't have any troubles trying to juggle this with a job (in particular if you have sleeping problems). So the situation is not all bad.
In the beginning there are a lot of things that can aggravate the tinnitus (caffeine, alcohol, food additives like Glutamate, regular exposure to noisy devices in your household etc). With time this sensitivity will get less, but it helps obviously if you try to eliminate for a while some of these causes in the first place. This all takes time to figure out and of course some determination from your side.
You should of course consider any options and suggestions you come across, but lastly you have to go your own way. Don't let other people (even doctors) tell you what you need or not. You are the only one who can tell what's good for you and what not. From my own experience I can say that it is more a case of avoiding certain things than finding some remedy or therapy. The only remedial thing that was important for me was the occasional use of painkillers in the first few months (which enabled me to control the intensity of the tinnitus at will, and also contributed to the overall improvement).
Thomas
Offline
Hi Eilleor
I have posted a bit on sound therapy and you can look at my posts to review. The sound like a white noise will not act as a magic bullet. It will tend to slowly moderate things. I noticed that it gave me a more constant incoming nose level so that the incoming sound that hits you like a dinner bell is softened in its blow to your ear drum. It's like putting some plastic wrap on you ear to protect it, but is just a thin layer of sound to reduce the impact. This is a very slow process. I am 8 months now and still have significant issues sometimes. But I do have times when it seems like the sun will shine again. I just don't seem to have achieved full sunshine yet. The sound should help but you may need help in selecting the correct thing and volume level. This is important. I also use a sound pillow which was really significant with me.
Ask questions I will be glad to answer.
Jim
Offline
Hi Jim,
Txs for your kind advice, I did try white noise, but it seemed to aggravate the noise in my head.. doing as normal in general works the best, but the hyperacusis is getting worse, may it is just in my mind and my anxious trying to live normal. Very difficult, but I really appreciate all the kind and good suggestions. I realize I am still in the beginning of a long process.
A very good thing is that I in general do not have problems with sleeping.
Eilleor
Offline
Hi Thomas,
Good to hear your story.
As far as food concerns I am happy to love healthy food and I always try to stay away from food additives in general. One of my weaknesses is red wine, I love to drink one of two glasses after dinner. For the rest, I am on vitamins, magnesium, Gingko and go outside for nature walks every day.
I can try to take a paracetamol more than usual, normally I take as less as possible of any medicins.
It is also rather difficult to socialize, because I feel a burden for my friends, which they say I am not
Txs
Eilleor
Offline
Eilleor,
Alcohol (in particular red wine) does often aggravate the tinnitus. So you would be well advised to avoid it completely for a while and see (or rather hear) whether it improves through this.
As much as you should try to lead your life as normal as possible, there are still some concessions to make for an improvement, and I think giving up alcohol for a while is something one can deal with in this case.
Thomas
Offline