Post: #1

I suffer from a disorder called "hyperacusis." It affects 1 in 50,000 people. I developed this in the Army but it has gotten worse over time.

If you do not know what hyperacusis is, hyperacusis is an extreme aversion and hypersensitivity to sounds that are generally not an issue to other people. It is caused by hearing loss. For people with hearing loss and hyperacusis, the sound signals from the inner ear to the brain will be weaker than normal, and it’s possible that the brain amplifies these signals too much to compensate, resulting in acute hypersensitivity.





This disorder causes me a great amount of physical pain. If you have ever taken a really hard hit when playing football, and you wake up and your ears are ringing, this is the same experience I have when I hear a sudden high pitched noise.

I have trouble at restaurants because I hear plates clanking together, I hear people banging their metal spoon on the side of a coffee cup when they stir their coffee, I hear brake pads when a car slows down. Being around a vacuum, a smoke alarm chirp, a small dog barking, a crying baby, sirens, motorcycles, someone who claps when they laugh, trash trucks banging dumpsters around, drums, all cause me discomfort and sometimes physical pain.

The last straw was a year or so ago when I was seeing some girl and I took away her spoon and made her eat her fruity pebbles with those shitty wooden chopsticks you get at panda express because she kept slamming her spoon against the bowl. At that point I decided to go see an audiologist. After waiting a few months to see a primary care doctor just to get permission to see an audiologist and waiting two more months for that appointment, they put me in a sound booth. When they were done, they gave me a readout that I had a reading of 25db which is beyond severe, whereas normal was 60 db, and there was currently no cure. They recommending sound therapy but she seemed to have very little confidence in its effectiveness.

So to sum it up, here is the paradox: I have hearing loss which makes a muscle in my ear or synaptic path in my brain to overcompensate which leads me to hear too well. If you are in a crowded club whispering in someones ear, I can hear what you are saying. I know it is hard to make sense of.

I made this post to tell younger men to wear earplugs when you go to clubs and turn down your volume on your headphones or you might not go deaf after-all, but you'll find yourself avoiding people because they are too loud.

Post: #2

Terrifying, I'm sorry to hear this.

Have you considered wearing ear plugs in noisy places?

Ear loss is something that terrifies me. Thanks for this reminder.

Post: #3

(12-26-2018 01:19 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  Terrifying, I'm sorry to hear this.

Have you considered wearing ear plugs in noisy places?

Ear loss is something that terrifies me. Thanks for this reminder.

Yea, but the audiologist claims wearing hearing protection in a day to day environment decreases sound tolerance which exacerbate hyperacusis and makes it worse.

Who knows, it's all theory, no one really understands the disorder too well. One doctor even told me they used to give people valium for this and then studies came out that said valium may actually cause it.

Post: #4

So your ability to hear as been amplified to the point that it causes you physical pain?

Post: #5

You're like Daredevil.

Post: #6

I'll add another recommendation. Use headphones or earbuds that have really good sound isolation. I spend a lot of time in data centers and discovered how well Etymotic products reduce noise level. Since then I've spend the money on having custom molded eartips made that are even more comfortable. In really loud environments, I put hearing protectors over those. It works well enough that I can easily make phone calls, even though it's hard on the person at the other end.

In my everyday life the sound isolation means that I can listen to music or podcasts at a much lower volume and still enjoy them. No more cranking it wide open when listening.

Post: #7

For going to bars, clubs and concerts I highly recommend Earasers, unlike many other earplugs they're almost invisible, very comfortable to wear and available in different strengths. Also still possible to talk while wearing them. They won't feel like a big difference at first but take them out after 10-15 minutes in a loud venue and you'll be shocked at what you've been subjecting your ears to all this time.

Only downside is that it's easy to lose them and I must have lost a dozen of them at this point. Still worth it every time though, a pair is just 40 bucks or so.

Post: #8

What's it like during pressure changes?

Post: #9

Regarding ear problems, do you guys tend to hear occasionally sudden low frequency sounds in you ears? They might happen anywhere, doesn't matter if you are near antennas or computers or in the forest. Is it tinnitus?

Post: #10

Not sure if its the same deal, but the US Navy and Operation Enduring Freedom left me with some wicked tinnitus.

There's this thread:/thread-62644...t=tinnitus

The VA was actually very helpful, but moreso, if you send a message to Samuel B Roberts, he sent me some stretching stuff that really helped. This was maybe a year and a half ago, and I can't find the messages. But I've had very little ringing since. I'm around loud ass boat motors all day.

I did get acupuncture, which was also helpful, but Samuel B's towel stretches were crucial. Myofacial release its called. I know because whenever somebody says "facial" I laugh.

I guess you could ask Saddam Hussein too about the ringing we put in that motherfuckers ears, but good luck finding him.

Aloha!

Post: #11

I am starting to have problems as well over the past year or so. It seems to be partially caused by chronic congestion of the eustachian tube. The doctors I saw prescribed me anti-histamines and corticosteroids to clear that up but I had already taken that stuff for a decade or so (corticosteroids only when it got really bad), so they basically did not help whatsoever.

Most annoying is that I am occasionally hearing my heart beat in my left ear, especially when I use ear plugs. I looked that shit up and apparently there are a host of reasons why this could occur and none of them are easily curable/fixable. Add to that constant tinnitus which comes and goes but never really stops altogether. I am pretty convinced that it is all related to my 'seasonal' allergies, which I put in quotes as I suffer from them all year.

The cause of all this IMO is the climate here in this corner of Spain which is very humid (mediterranean) with mold spores all over the place. It's not something I had to deal with when I lived in a more desert like climate and the whole thing started a few years after I moved here. So the most obvious course of action to clear this shit out and hopefully get back to any semblance of normal hearing would be to move my ass to a more dry environment.

By the way the sensitivity toward loud noise is also an aspect I suffer from. It's less so that it's painful but it's that I seem to have grown more sensitive to noise in general. I wear ear plugs while I sleep and often even during the day. I also use M7 audio pro earplugs which was supposed to be an upgrade to the old Etymotic. On paper they are supposed to be better but I honestly liked the old Etymotic better as they seemed to have better noise insulation, and that's with the same 3rd party earbuds I bought for them. I guess it depends on the shape of one's ears but I will probably buy Etymotic again once the M7 go bust.

Not sure what to suggest to be honest. Doctors in general seem to be useless. They do their audio test and then tell you there's not much that you can do. Just a waste of time. Protecting one's ears is important of course and avoiding loud music/noise will go a long way to keep you from more hearing loss. Whatever has occurred however is irreversible unless they come up with some gene therapy that may grow back some of those tiny hears in our inner ears.

Post: #12

Good thread LINUX, it's a topic that's a bit of a buzzkill for people as we all tend to have a few enjoyable-but-damaging habits for our hearing, but you only get one set of ears in life.

Nobody wants to hear it (no pun intended), but if you go to loud venues a lot, especially nightclubs or metal concerts—but even classical music really—you need to be wearing something to protect your hearing. If you don't, the very least you can expect to suffer long-term is a reduced range of hearing beyond what you'd expect for your age, but you're risking tinnitus or, as in LINUX's case, even worse.

Musicians are terrible for this, even though their ears are literally their entire careers—when I was at college, several of the guys would crack jokes when the few of us who always wore plugs put them in at gigs. The thing is, most of a decade later, those are the same guys who can't hear anything above 14khz when they're not even 30 yet.

If you're at a loud gig and forgot plugs, roll up some tissue, wet it a bit and use that, it's better than nothing. The plastic bumpy cone-shaped protectors you can get are better than foam plugs, but if you can afford it, custom moulded protectors are by far the best as they attenuate things in a more pleasing manner. Foam plugs tend to just cut the shit out of the high frequency content, all the way down to the frequency range responsible for clarity in human speech, so they make it hard to hear what people are saying as it gets drowned out by the low-mids and you can't discern any of the consonants. Moulded plugs give a much flatter cut.

Listening to music at a sensible volume at home or in the car is the other thing. If you insist on listening to everything at extremely high volumes, you are fucking your ears up in the long run, and there's not really any way around this. The V-shape EQ that everyone seems to love is a problem as well, as it makes it possible to play music at higher volumes before getting the physical cues that it's too loud, like your ears actually hurting.

If you work on building sites or anywhere with loud machinery, you really want to be wearing plugs and over-ear headphone-style protectors simultaneously.

Post: #13

Have been carrying these on my keychain for a while now - https://www.earpeace.com/

Post: #14

Its not just your ears that need protecting. Your skull is penetrated by these sound waves and ithey can change it. Explosions and loud speakers go through your skull bones and into your brain and other organs. Put your hand on a speaker, turn it up and feel the vibrations. That is what happens to your head.

Post: #15

Besides that, it doesn't hurt to pause the intake of music for a while.

Post: #16

As a young man (mid-20s), I am grateful that my hearing is in excellent condition. I can hear the faint sounds while using the lowest possible headphone volume at night and the highest frequency I can detect is around 15500-16000 Hz (refer to the videos below).

These are a couple of good hearing frequency test videos. The frequency doubles at equal intervals in the "Hearing Test HD" video.


On rare occasions, I experience a sensation of ringing in the ears, as if a hearing cell within one of the ears is plugged in similarly as an auxiliary cord connects to an amplifier. What happens is that I would hear a brief, high pitched sound for a few seconds & then the sound gradually softens towards silence.

(12-26-2018 01:13 AM)LINUX Wrote:  I suffer from a disorder called "hyperacusis." It affects 1 in 50,000 people. I developed this in the Army but it has gotten worse over time.

If you do not know what hyperacusis is, hyperacusis is an extreme aversion and hypersensitivity to sounds that are generally not an issue to other people. It is caused by hearing loss. For people with hearing loss and hyperacusis, the sound signals from the inner ear to the brain will be weaker than normal, and it’s possible that the brain amplifies these signals too much to compensate, resulting in acute hypersensitivity.

This disorder causes me a great amount of physical pain. If you have ever taken a really hard hit when playing football, and you wake up and your ears are ringing, this is the same experience I have when I hear a sudden high pitched noise.

(12-26-2018 01:44 AM)ballsyamog Wrote:  So your ability to hear as been amplified to the point that it causes you physical pain?

LINUX, does your hyperacusis trigger from low pitched sounds as well, or does it only occur from high pitched sounds?

(12-26-2018 06:18 AM)redpillage Wrote:  [...]

By the way the sensitivity toward loud noise is also an aspect I suffer from. It's less so that it's painful but it's that I seem to have grown more sensitive to noise in general.

redpillage, is the sensitivity more noticeable at certain frequencies, or are all sounds equally sensitive?

(12-26-2018 08:22 AM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  Its not just your ears that need protecting. Your skull is penetrated by these sound waves and ithey can change it. Explosions and loud speakers go through your skull bones and into your brain and other organs. Put your hand on a speaker, turn it up and feel the vibrations. That is what happens to your head.

Sound can be weaponised. Who knows how many of these kinds of devices are being built or used right now?

_______________________________________________
"But my words, like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells, of silence." #250

Post: #17

I just listen to music on my computer (youtube) and occasionally TV. Stopped going to loud clubs/bars and seeing movies in the theatre. I no longer listen to music on my headphones or in a car.

Hopefully I am good

Post: #18

Sorry to hear this Linux. I'm sensitive to sound as well, but not nearly as intense as that. When I wear earplugs and talk, my voice sounds even louder though. Could be due to the earplug I was using. When I travel with people and watch movies I need to wear them more often though.

Post: #19

I've had hyperacusis for over twenty years, it almost drove me crazy when I first got it. Went to three audiologists, one even said my eustacian tube wasn't draining and said I needed a tube put in my eardrum. So I got it done, fuck was it painful, while he put the tube in, my right fist was clenched and I was staring at him like I was going to punch him, it was so painful. I knew a guy whose kid had to get a tube put in his ear, he said it sounded like his kid was being tortured ... put your children to sleep if they're going to get this done.

It's very very annoying. It's like your ear blinks, like an eye blinks at an irritation, but it's the ear. Sounds like Linux spoke about, cups clinking, items on glass tables, certain ranges of the piano I can't process because my brain, or ear, turns it into distortion via amping up the tone where the ear has been damaged, and the funny thing is, I can handle going to a club and being around super loud music, it seems as long as the frequencies are balanced my ear/brain can deal with it, but a lone sound like dishes clinking make my ear completely over-react. I had developed a fear of sound at one point, which I read was pretty typical.

It's years and years later and I'm used to it, no longer bothers me : ) and at one point it tortured me.

I'm sure what caused it was jamming in a room with a drummer with no hearing protection, which is totally insane. The amount of sound pressure levels you are subjecting your ears to is off-the-charts. I've tried about ten different types of earplugs, the best ones are the boring yellow foam ones you can get at any drugstore, I used to get scissors and cut off about a quarter of the plug so no-one would see it. It worked just fine, still cut off a ton of volume and stopped the "what's in your ear?" comments. Also, I could actually hear people better.

Have hearing plugs everywhere, your computer case, your car, your home, have them everywhere all the time.

About a tube not draining properly, that's interesting because I've noticed on a couple of occasions that when doing sinus flushes sometimes the salt water would go through the two tiny holes on the top of the mouth palate, afterwards I noticed less reactivity. Who knows.

(12-26-2018 07:29 AM)Ocelot Wrote:  If you work on building sites or anywhere with loud machinery, you really want to be wearing plugs and over-ear headphone-style protectors simultaneously.

Yep. I do this. For really loud machinery this is what to do.

Post: #20

Headphones can often be the "silent killer" for hearing loss.

Think about it, if you're in a quiet room, you can hear everything at about 30% volume. Step into a loud room, and you crank the volume up to 70% (or more) just to hear what's coming out of your headphones. Because there's background noise, that 70% doesn't seem loud, but it's still the same volume level no matter what room you're in.

To prove this to yourself, go to a quiet room and jack your headphones up to 70% (or whatever you use out in the world). You'll find this to be excruciatingly loud. Now, imagine that same volume playing in your ear. That's what happens when you turn the volume up in noisy rooms.

Without thinking about it, many men do this regularly in day to day life. That volume adds up over time and can cause serious damage.

The most common "noisy rooms" for me are the gym, my car, and airplanes. All three of these have thick background noise that we often disregard. To fight this, I opt out of listening to music or taking calls in these venues. I even wear earplugs on airplanes to prevent damage.

Post: #21

@Built To Fade: My sensitivity to noise appears to be universal. I think a big contributing aspect is me living in Spain, which is the 2nd noisiest country on earth. So there may be a psychological component to this as well. But in general throughout my life I have always hated excess noise and sought to avoid it.

Post: #22

(12-26-2018 09:28 AM)redbeard Wrote:  Headphones can often be the "silent killer" for hearing loss.

Think about it, if you're in a quiet room, you can hear everything at about 30% volume. Step into a loud room, and you crank the volume up to 70% (or more) just to hear what's coming out of your headphones. Because there's background noise, that 70% doesn't seem loud, but it's still the same volume level no matter what room you're in.

To prove this to yourself, go to a quiet room and jack your headphones up to 70% (or whatever you use out in the world). You'll find this to be excruciatingly loud. Now, imagine that same volume playing in your ear. That's what happens when you turn the volume up in noisy rooms.

Without thinking about it, many men do this regularly in day to day life. That volume adds up over time and can cause serious damage.

The most common "noisy rooms" for me are the gym, my car, and airplanes. All three of these have thick background noise that we often disregard. To fight this, I opt out of listening to music or taking calls in these venues. I even wear earplugs on airplanes to prevent damage.

Which is why I use the M7 Pro (and previously Etymotic) as they come with noise insulating ear plugs that aim to reduce external noise pollution.

Post: #23

I always got an introverted vibe from you, Linux. This explains a lot of that.

Post: #24

I recommend Bose quiet comfort (esp the earbuds). Blocks outside noise the best.

Post: #25

"I'm sure what caused it was jamming in a room with a drummer with no hearing protection, which is totally insane."

That's exactly what happened to me...all the way back in 1992.

When I go to movies or clubs I do not use foam earplugs. I use tissues or napkins. It seems ridiculous but for my hearing condition it has the effect of applying a high rolloff filter while still having enough volume/clarity to follow a conversation. If I do use foam earplugs I usually split them in half which makes things more discrete and also reduces the sound falloff.

As you can imagine, this presents a significant handicap in the dating world which is geared towards loud clubs and other live events. That's to say nothing of the overall psychological/emotional impact of suffering from tinnitus in general.

I had been keeping up with medical developments on and off over the last 26 years but I have never bothered to see an ENT because for the most part they can't do anything. However, there have been some promising developments in treatment lately. I suggest those who have this problem join this community:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/