Hearing problems / Tinnitus / Sound sensitivity
 

Hi.

I suffered a severe concussion about 3 months ago during a martial arts class and finally starting to recover. I sustained two impacts, one to the ear and one to the face. The only major symptoms I still have are a distortion in my hearing, ringing in my ears, and a hyper sensitivity to sound.

I've been diagnosed with hyperacusis, but I'm curious if anyone else has ever had symptoms similar to this.

I'm pretty sure the diagnosis is correct, but my hearing is distorted, which isn't typically a symptom.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Hyperacusis
 

Hi!
I had a mild head injury 5 years ago (just above my right ear), and one of my many symptoms was hyperacusis. I didn't suffer any distortion in my hearing so I'm afraid I can't comment on that - though I did have a slight hearing loss and a sort of 'fuzziness' in one ear (see below). I have read that ringing in the ears, is not unusual with hyperacusis.
For months I took the advice from Headway : avoid noisy places. The problem of hypersensitivity persisted, with little improvement. It severely affected my everyday life.
Eventually I discovered that there were hearing therapists within the NHS (I'm in the UK) who could treat this. I referred myself to see a hearing therapist and, to my delight, this has greatly helped this condition. I discovered that I needed to expose myself to noisy situations as much as I could cope with in order to desensitise my hearing (I would listen to the radio as loud as I could cope with, and later on, go to musical events, which I used to love). I managed to change my reaction by reciting to myself 'this is therapy, this is therapy, this is therapy...'. This helped prevent my panic reaction and enabled me to stay for ever increasing lengths of time listening to previously unbearable levels of noise. I also was given a 'white noise generator' which helped slightly as well (tho' I found it very tiring listening to this).
I have had to persevere over several years, and my hearing is still slightly sensitive, but am delighted now to be able to cope with most situations, and on the rare occasions I encounter a too noisy situation, I use the 'this is therapy' repetitions to help me keep calm and cope.
The site I first found out about hearing therapists came up when I googled 'tinnitus and hyperacusis centre'

I also had treatment from a cranial osteopath who greatly helped the hearing loss and 'fuzziness"I had. Hoping this information may be of some help to you.
helenelisabeth

I used to have Hyperacusis, the best you can do is not to avoid noise (other than harmful levels of course). i had so bad that even the slightest noise was torture, it lasted about 6 month before the problem faded.
In the case you got it really bad try TRT. (please google)
Be assured, hyperacusis is in almost all cases not permanent.
If you live in Northern California you may want to contact Dr. Sweetow at UCSF, he is a top Audiologist and very knowledgeable about hyperacusis.
... You hit the jackpot, very few people have experienced this disorder.
luckily it will be faint memory you in a while...

Did not realize that Helen summed it up (in a better way than me).

Well now you got almost idnetical advice from two trusted resources.:grouphug:

You may have a treatable condition as related by the two previous posters, or you may have damaged the part of your brain that processes auditory and other stimuli and filters out the ambient sounds and those of little value so you can focus on what's important.

The tinnitus is very common to PCS. Sensitivity to loud noises is also common. If the audiologist can pinpoint it as hyperacusis, then the noise therapy may be the answer. If it is a sensory processing injury deeper in the brain, you may have to learn to live with it and carry earplugs to block out ambient sounds.

I can handle a single loud sound without any problem but those common to loud sounds, residual ringing, discomfort, etc. But, if the sounds have echoes or multiple parts, my brain will overload trying to sort out the different sounds. This is a deeper processing disorder. I can hear echoes that others cannot. Sometimes, this is helpful as I can hear more parts of an orchestra. If the sounds compete, I will become overwhelmed and my brain will crash.

I use the yellow foam ear plugs that are a cylinder about 3/4 of an inch long. I twist them tight then put them deep in my ear. They block about 28 to 30 db, which is usually most of the background and echoing sounds. The primary sounds then become much easier to understand.

My neuro did an Auditory Evoked Potential test and could tell that my brain was trying to process all of the sounds presented. As he said to me, " You hear everything. How do you tolerate that?"

I sure hope you just have the treatable hyperacusis. My problem is very disrupting to my life.

One of my work-arounds when I have too many sounds to process is the ear plugs and listening with my eyes closed. The reduction of all visual stimuli and some auditory stimuli allows my brain to better handle the important auditory stimuli. Unfortunately, this does not work for driving, so I must limit my driving to quieter and less chaotic areas.

Does this make sense to any of you guys?

Mark, maybe check out http://www.hyperacusis.net/. Although your issue sounds different, there might be some good info or help for your condition.

Mark, sorry to bring up an old thread but the symptoms you describe are one of the symptoms I am experiencing. Have you come up with any treatments or solutions since you posted this originally?

Kevin

Kevin,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Please tell us more about your struggles. This thread covers a wide range of auditory problems.

Are you struggling with tinnitus or auditory over-stimulation?

How and when were you injured? What other symptoms do you have? What have you been doing to help your brain recover?