What can be done to help with hyperacusis?

Hi all!

I am not sure if I am posting to the right spot or not. I recently suffered acoustic trauma and now have bilateral hyperacusis.

Here is my audiogram from yesterday:

Right: Normal hearing sensitivity 250-8000 Hz
Left: Normal hearing sensitivity 250-8000 Hz

Bone Conduction: Unmasked left ear bone conduction thresholds are within normal limits, with 10-25 dB air-bone gaps noted.

I'm told that this means I have superhuman hearing (so to speak). I am struggling, to say the least.

It's been just over a week since the initial injury. I was in horrendous pain for the entire week, particularly my right ear. Today, things have calmed down and I have been fine wearing an ear plug in my right ear.

I have a sensation of fullness in both ears and I wondered if anyone has had luck treating the fullness with corticosteroids.

My ENT doc hasn't given me anything to help with it other than Gabapentin, which I refuse to take because it makes me feel like I am on a tilt-a-whirl and I end up puking (think: The Exorcist). I read several studies where corticosteroids helped with the "fullness."

My pain is at a manageable level right now unless I am exposed to something like a lawn mower, leaf blower, abrupt closing of a heavy door, barking dog, etc. While taking the audiogram, I could scarcely hear anything in the headphones over the roar of the computer in the room (which to me sounded like a tornado). I believe that exposure to loud sounds are triggering cluster migraines but have yet to have any physician's input on my theory.

I was wondering if anyone in the group has similar bone conduction sensitivity -- what my ENT jokingly called "supersonic" hearing.

I'm going for a CT scan tomorrow and vestibular function testing on Friday. I imagine they are looking to see if I have something wonky with my semicircular canals but they haven't told me anything.

I'm eager to see if anyone else is walking or has walked the "supersonic" path. Did surgery help?

Respectfully,
L.

Hi Lacyrazor, this sounds unbearable. Perhaps @joyces @julieo4 @willows @lacy2 or @nurseheadakes can offer some advice.

I'm glad to hear that you have further testing (CT scan and vestibular function testing) in a couple of days. I'll be interested to hear what you find out.

I'm sorry, this one is over my head. I know people who have hyperacusis. Sounds are extremely loud, but that doesn't necessarily mean 'clear' as in 'super hearing'. It appears from the data shared that you are hearing quite normally in the range of speech. Masking done with hearing instruments might be helpful. I hope that further testing may identify the problem. What kind of acoustic trauma was experienced? Is it possible that the acoustic trauma has ignited a tinnitus issue?

Strange as it may seem, I am almost deaf yet suffer terrible hyperacusis. I have to turn off my hearing aids (which work fine in average settings) when I'm on a noisy street or in a crowd. Lip Reading helps me when I shut my hearing aids off send even when I am using them. There are noise canceling headphones, a good ENT or Audiologist should know about them. They can be adjusted to your needs

..maybe repeating myself but audiologist not that interested, where I live, as if mainly want to sell haring aids? the ents (2 with a 1 to 2 year wait) dont deal with tinnitu and when I say hyperacusis its like no one has heard that word before...
I have moderate hearing loss but dont yet wear hearing aids as living at home with husband, retired, turn up volume but dont hear beginning and end of a lot of words he says..anyway, the hyperacusis followed increase in tinnitus and other ear issues .. pain, fullness, echo, pressure which no one seems to care about/have a solution: and lately just the noise of the toilet flushing or the washing machine spinning "hurts" ears.... or toilet seat falling down....so odd to not hear yet hear too well.
My tinnitus wake me up during night, or does it? After months/maybe years I started to write down what time of night i was being woken up .. by my tinnitus .. and although not always right on the dot it seems around 1am, 3am, 4.30 to 5am and 6. Arguing with husband, yes, I do have tinnitus mostly 24/7 but surely tinnitus doesnt occur according to the clock!
Must be some things on timers like neighbours (cant see for trees and fences) that have pools, hot tubs; could be trains going by echoing off the lake; exhaust from neighbours gas water heaters on their roof... we are block from trans canada pipeline which apparently makes noise underground and city pumphouse pumping water to the water treatment plant and then to water pipes to thousands of homes??
Honestly, its been a challenge to figure out what is me and what it=s them making sort of machinery noise....but now realize I am like a jigsaw puzzle with: hearing loss, over-hearing, tinnitus, hearing City noises, cant hear some things, can hear some things...and I just try and be grateful I "can hear."!!!!!
What gets me down more now I realize its a combination of things, is the pain and pressure which last for hours to the point of crying, and now ent hinting at recurring tmj from years ago or neck issues??
Talk about wandering through an aural maze! it gets quite painful esp. right side of face etc but as I read some of the things writers are telling us about their operations, deafness, and other ear issues I am trying to be a bit more positive about the things I am coping with.Could be a lot worse and am thinking of those coping with more serious issues than mine...I hope the drs can help you and wish you all the very best outcomes J.

...simmilar with me although this is year later i never end up in current chat box, duh to me I cant hear half of what husband says, can hear tv ifvolume up but then the vibrations or tone is too much for my hyperacusis...which i now think got from many ct scans with NO HEARING PROTECTION over the years; lastone 2021 I had to ask for it and itdid help. Also pain of eustachian tube disfunction after flu one year... so my main problem, well, sort of, is that i go to sleep early and about 4 times thru night wake to noise similar to a washing machine spinning...also have tinnitus, so is it me or something outside... been for couple of years. my spouse canh hear plane flying over high and the clock in bathroom run by battery buti cant; it makes me look like i am mentally ill or something.; how can i have so many different ear issues at same time. i used to get up thru night go downstairs and one of 2 fridges running but another night not running; also heating system under my bedroom and cannot change rooms, runs for ages winter for heat and summer a/c.... but even if those are making noise, i hear that grinding sound now most of day and night. ok so some neihbours have pool heaters, hot tubs; we are between trans canad pipe line 2 blocks away and city water pumphouse runs 24 hours a day but no one else complains. I started scribbling down notes of times woken up and theyare not exact but similar times, eg 1am, 3am 5am plus or minus... also we have long long freight trains in the distance but not in view... again, know its my brain, my ears, my sound sensitivities and moderate hearing loss; only thing is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which i am trying with hour zoom meetings with social worker but after listening to her voice after an hour on zoom, or phone call, then i get the background music or singing or male voices ... apparently called musical ear. I am as you can read on here not coping very well and have a list of other illnesses and every few months just feel like giving up... honestly. I wish i was stronger like many others here. Now with lack of sleep and every day something hurting, aching, plus ibsd its affecting my 40 yr old marriage...i cant seem to overcome it and crying as i type this and amazed at reading how others are coping i feel like such a failure.... sorry changed name to my middle one Valerie, was Lacy before... but still am who i am; hugs

I’ve tried retraining my vagus nerve with teaching from Dr Stephen Porges on polyvagal theory, in particular I bought a program to use for 10 30-min listening sessions called SSP, Safe and Sound Protocol. It uses music and the rhythms/tones of the songs to help retrain the brain as to how it hears sounds. I’ve done a lot of other vagus nerve practice this year too after my Cochlear Implant surgery for sudden single sided deafness so I can’t for sure say that the SSP was the one thing that helped, but I’m thrilled to report that I’m feeling better and making progress! If you’re interested you can message me and I’ll share more details. It was quite the journey finding sources to help. Best of luck to you. I see you and understand that sense of helplessness, friend.

Valerie: You’re not alone but it seems that way b/c most people have hearing loss or tinnitus or music/pitch distortion or hyperacussis, etc. I have had all of them for four years now and have pretty much adapted to my new reality. It’s a life changer for sure, and I fully empathize. Wish I knew where it all came from but that doesn’t change anything, I think, so perhaps it’s best to be hopeful. Hugs.

..thank you. Had ipad on a little bit too loud just now for ten minutes, turned off and now i have a musical discussion going on in my ears...or rather brain receptors... it's so odd. Frightened me the first time I thought neighbours had radio on loud but they were away...and last Christmas in bed and it's not a repeat of a song we like , i think they call that ear worm... but it was a Christmas Carol music but the first few bars over and over and over. I wasn't well and it bothered me till I said to myself, well, hum along.... I sort of did and it went away, after 2 weeks...only to be replaced with something else. I had never heard of the word hyperacusis before....or musical ear; and yes you are right we just have to adapt...but on top of other issues it's a bit much isn't it? I thought tinnitus was bad enough but this is double-trouble! J.

Ear worm and musical ear are called Tinnitus by the ENTs I know. So different: I see nothing similar between repetitive melodies, drums, songs and Tinnitus (hissing, buzzing, humming, crickets, thunder etc), in my opinion. And yes, it’s all a bit much. Breathe…..