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Hearing Protection
Maybe the first thing to do when severe hyperacusis appears, is to use ear protection until the initial critical state could decrease.
There are basically two types of protectors: earplugs and earmuffs. Many of them are used indifferently to protect the ears against dust, water, wind, cold or noise. However, some of them are specially designed to attenuate noise.
Among earplugs, there are the following types:
* Foam earplug.- very effective, comfortable and cheap
* Silicone rubber earplug. - for general use
* Silicone rubber earplug with an attenuator. – specially designed for musicians
* Silicone earplug with a filter.- for musicians
* Wax and cotton earplug.- with similar results to foam earplugs
* Moldable silicone earplugs.- specially for swimming
Earmuffs are usually made from acrylic, plush, or nylon material, or a mixture of them, and include a head band, sometimes made of metal. Here some examples:
In my particular case and having tried with almost all of those types of ear protection, I prefer foam earplugs due to their easy use, the little risk of inflammation in ear canal and the possibility of shortening their size in order to get a mild noise protection according to the context. Sometimes earplugs along with earmuff must be worn in very noisy areas.
However it is very important to say here that over protection of the ears should be avoided, because it may cause a worsening of the hyperacusis and tinnitus. After a critical stage has gone, it is necessary to expose the ears to normal environmental sounds little by little.
It was very difficult for me to start weaning my ears from ear protection, because I used to wear it all the time, even in my own home and while I was sleeping. Finally, I could leave them, and now at home I keep my ears plugged only at very specific moments. In a next post I will describe how I could achieve this goal.
Text copied from an original post published in my blog: The Hyperacusis and I.
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Hyperacusis: What to do - 3
Finally, having considered the two steps mentioned before, it must be necessary to take some special measures about the ears care, and if hyperacusis was severe, to make some arrangements in the place where the patient live, and to control as much as possible the noise produced in the house by all the family members. In the following post I will give you some usually recommended measures, and some others I performed in my particular case.[@]
Text copied from an original post published in my blog: The Hyperacusis and I.
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Hyperacusis: What to do - 2
A second important step is to share with family members, friends and/or people who will care of the patient, all the information that has been learned, in such a way that all of them be educated about the main aspects of the suffering as well as about the best treatments for the specific case.
Although that is one of most important thing to do, is perhaps at the same time, one of most difficult to carry out successfully. Since there are no external signs which show the patient’s condition, the general tendency is to think that the problem comes from the sufferer’s imagination, suggestion or state of mind, and not to see it as a physiological problem.
Many times, the ones who care of a patient, due to the lack of information and specialists, and being so worried looking for a solution, suggest the application of different treatments, but if there is not enough proof about the effectiveness of a treatment, to insist on using it could be unfortunate for the sufferer and could worsen his condition.
At this point it is advisable to get updated information from recent works and treatise on hyperacusis, and to take notice about the treatments proposed in them, since they have been performed in many patients, and therefore their results are more reliable.
Nowadays, Tinnitus (and Hyperacusis) Retraining Therapy - TRT developed by neurophysiologist Pawel Jastreboff, is the one of the most extended and promising treatments around the world, due to its great effectiveness.
Text copied from an original post published in my blog: The Hyperacusis and I.
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Hyperacusis: What to do - 1
The ear, as many other parts of the body, has a surprising ability to recover in spite of the damage done. However, since the ear is a extremely delicate organ, requires time to reach its recovery.
When hyperacusis arise it is necessary to carry out some actions in order to resist its worsening and to avoid losses in time, effort and resources. There are 3 initial steps which, from my experience, I consider very important:
Firstly, it is a vital step educating oneself as much as possible about the characteristics of this suffering and about its treatments. Among others things, this will help to identify the origin or causes that triggered it.
A good way to achieve this is to visit some sites, blogs, or forums focused on this subject online.
Text copied from an original post published in my blog: The Hyperacusis and I.
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The beginning of my Hyperacusis and Tinnitus
I am a musician, and because of that, I have been continuously exposed to high levels of sound. After every rehearsal and presentation it was normal to perceive a strong humming in my ears, which used to disappear some hours later. However in 1992 I suffered a acoustic accident in a recording studio that brought ominous consequences for my health. Following, I’m going to describe what happened in that moment and what came later:
THE BEGINNING
- In June 1992 I had an accident in a recoding studio while I was using a headset. After an error in the handling of the sound equipment on behalf of the sound operator, a “feedback” (acute and extremely loud noise) was transmitted through the headset.
- A few days later, a buzzing sound appeared in my left ear, and the right ear followed soon afterwards. Likewise, my sensitivity to sounds begun to appear, and eventually spread to environmental noise, especially those from the street.
- The medical diagnosis was “hyperacusis” caused by acoustic trauma. It was in a moderate level and the advice was to use ear protection.
THE DEVELOPMENT
- Since then, I constantly used ear protection. Both the buzzing (tinnitus) as well as the hyperacusis were moderate accompanied by events of increased sensibility that lasted maximum ten days.
- During 2004, I traveled out of the country and lived four months in a much less noisier city than Lima. I returned in a better shape. My sensibility and tinnitus had reduced considerably. However, the following year, after another acute exposure to sound which took place at home, the buzzing and sensibility problems returned.
- In 1996 after continuous and unexpected exposures to loud sounds in several musical activities, my situation worsen considerably and became severe in only 7 months.
- In November of that year, because of the inability to tolerate every day sounds, my isolation at home begun with a high level of hyperacusis and tinnitus, that were getting worse every day.
That confinement implied for me the beginning of hell. In next posts I will talk in detail about this period and how I could leave that stage little by little.
Now, I am still in process of recovery and beg God to allow me to
get better as soon as possible.
Text copied from an original post published in my blog: The Hyperacusis and I.
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About Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a sound or noise perceived in the ears in absence of external sound stimulation. It can be present in a single ear, in both, or in the head.
As hyperacusis, tinnitus is not considered a disease, but a symptom of an underlying problem.
Tinnitus can take the form of humming, whistles, hissing, roaring, strumming sounds, as well as wind or sea roaring, waterfalls, engines, unintelligible human voices, telephone line tone, indefinite noise (like white noise), etc.
Tinnitus can arise suddenly or gradually, and when it reaches a very high level can become quite intrusive to the sufferers daily life.
When tiinnitus is associated to hyperacusis, its severity is related to that of hypersensibility. That means, if a relief is experienced in hyperacusis, a relief is also experienced in tinnitus.
Text copied from an original post published in my blog: The Hyperacusis and I. To read the complete post, please click here.
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About Hyperacusis
Hyperacusis is an auditory disorder characterized by a hypersensitivity to normal environmental sounds. Also it is defined as the loss of the dynamic range, understood as the ability of the ear to deal with sudden changes in the intensity of sounds.
The causes of hyperacisis are of diverse nature. The most common is acoustic trauma or noise injury, which is also the most difficult to treat. Other causes are head injuries, surgery, adverse drug side effects, chronic ears infection, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), etc. Some times, two or more causes can be present.
The isolation experienced by the patients becomes so traumatic, that many of the them go through a severe depression which must be treated in addition to hyperacusis’s treatment. Tinnitus (humming in the ears) is usually an added problem for most people who have hyperacusis.
Until now, there isn’t exist a cure for hyperacusis, since it has been impossible to determine the area in the inner ear where a damage has occurred. For that reason, hyperacusis is only considered as a symptom of that damage, but not as a disease itself.
What is known about hiperacusis is still very little, and there are few specialists in the world who know it and have some experience with its treatment. In most of the cases there is a total acknowledgement on it.
Text copied from an original post published in my blog: The Hyperacusis and I. To read the complete post, please click here.
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Welcome
Dear friends,
This blog was created to share with you my experiences in living with Hyperacusis, a lifestyle that I have succumbed to for several years now. So you may wonder, what does it mean to suffer from Hyperacusis?
Imagine the sounds made by dishes and utensils, the sounds made by water falling while taking a shower, or the voices of people during a conversation… it all sounds as if someone was hammering your ears with a chisel. Or imagine perceiving the sound of the refrigerator, the microwave, or even the fan in your computer, all sounding as if you were standing right next to a powerful electrical generator. That’s Hyperacusis.
Since I began to suffer from hyperacusis, I’ve constantly lived escaping from the extreme environmental noises. With time, my condition worsened, and I found myself a prisoner from all sounds, even though I’ve been confined – imprisoned - in my own home.
To make matters worse, tinnitus (humming) appeared. This is a constant and permanent buzzing I feel in my ears that due to its intensity and diversity, would stagger me without mercy.
However, in the mist of this sonorous inferno, where the most delirious metaphors of sound became real, what seemed to be an additional condemnation, finally turned out to be my best resource: art, my previous life as a musician, had given me the necessary musical sense to be able to bear the many disturbing sounds.
Since not much is known about this ailment, I have decided to put up this blog in the hopes that it may be useful to other people also suffering with hyperacusis (and/or tinnitus), and in general, for anyone who, in a preventive way, may wish to become informed on the matter.
Julio
e-mail: hyperacaid@yahoo.com
other blogs:
The Hyperacusis and I (english)
La Hiperacusia y Yo (spanish)
