hyperacusis and tinnitus question

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PS: And thank-you so much for the hyperacusis.net link!

you're welcome! Some of the people on that website have had hyperacusis for 20 years or more.. thanks to the internet now so much more information is available on everything.

I placed an order for the SensGard ear protection device which was described at that site and paid with my company credit card. I think this will be good because my boss feels I look a bit silly with big yellow earplugs with a chord attached. I got them from an abattoir. He was keen for me to rather wear something which looks like a headset or iPod, and this device in neutral grey has that kind of look.

I don't really want to get a white noise device. The local sensory integration expert recommends an iPod. I would rather occasionally expose myself to sound, and then block it out again. It's OK to drive to work listening to the radio or a rock band and then to put on sound protection once I am there.

All the tones on my cell phone (ringtone, message tone, alarm tone) are self-recorded, because I don't like the ring tones on which come with the phone or anything which people usually download. For example, my ringtone was created by shuffling and shaking plastic packets and plastic chains; my message tone is one I made by clicking my tongue. I find such simple sounds less offensive than melodies or the basic ring-ring (which in the past I found to be the most tolerable one).

Ok. If you are going to get an ipod, you could download a sound integration cd onto it and drape the earphones over the top of your ears so they sort of hang down like dangly earrings... have them hanging quite low at first so you can hardly hear them and then move them up towards the ear hole as you develop the tolerance to them. Unless you can tolerate them close already, but I cant. I can do this at home, though I have to wear earplugs when I go out.

I recommend pink noise rather than white, it has a softer sound.

I don't really want to get an iPod, that was just this sensory expert's suggestion to my friend's husband. (She said it works for most of her clients.) He is an Aspie and has similar problems, although I think with him it is only the general integration, not the volume per se.

You have given me an idea to try, though. Both my cell phones can play sound files; one is made specifically for that at comes with little earphones. I will try that out and if it seems promising I can start getting fancy. Somehow my ears don't feel happy about the idea, though. When I listen to those preview sounds of waves on the Internet, it is not pleasant.

It is 1 a.m. here. I have no earplugs in right now and there are sounds of traffic in the background and the occasional sound from one of my neighbours, and none of that is bothering me.

I have had tinnitus since god invented dirt. I am used to it now. If I don't hear that high pitched squeak in my head, then I know that I am dead.

ruveyn

thanks for the links. I've always had tinnitus. I didn't know there are treatments for it. I have hyperacusis, too but I don't know for how long. I think I've always had low tolerance for certain types of noise... which is why I don't like jazz and never have

Lol @ ruveyn's comment.

I personally cannot stand white noise. If I was to get a white noise machine I would just play all the nature sounds and not the white noise itself. If you also find the nature sounds painful there is no point in listening to them at this stage though....
I find that pink noise is way way better, it sounds more natural.

it seems pretty unfun doing sound therapy when sounds hurt, but you can start at a low volume, with whatever you are playing at a distance, and bring it closer/turn up volume.

The cds made for hyperacusis are made for it. You wont get the same results listening to ordinary noise. Pink noise contains a range of frequencies played at the same time, it is sort of like a gym for the hearing part of the brain. I recommend getting the pink noise CD from the hyperacusis network website. What is also helpful is to join the forum and speak to others there, it is a great place to get advice.

When I went to see the tinnitus audiologist, she told me that I had no hearing damage at all, but that my anxiety had led to senses that were too open and therefore prone to overtaxing with sound.

For me I would swear that diet plays a HUGE role in both of those. I've not pinned it down to anything specific yet, but I really feel there is a connection--at least for me. Right now, I'm looking into gluten, yeast and possibly refined sugars.

yeh i've had tinnitus for as long as i can remember

Thank-you, Zen Mistress, for being so persistent -- the conviction with which you give the advice inspires confidence. I understand why you say I should get the pink noise CD too.

I am not sure how I will get the dollars to them since they don't accept credit cards, but maybe when I get to Mozambique at the end of the month I eill ask the guy at the jewellery shop in the hotel to swap me a few, and I can mail the money in an envelope.

I did not notice the forum there; I will go back and take a look.

I am sorry if I am sounding bossy I guess I myself am battling with this. There are no guarantees with any therapy but I have been doing the pink noise therapy pretty consistently. I have a thing, that when I really know I am better I will be able to go to the cinema again. I havent been able to go there for months... even with the earplugs in. I also cant do loud restaurants. In early July we went out for dinner for my fathers birthday and I spent the whole night sitting in the car.

does tinnitus hurt? if not, I think the tinnitus is because of an ear infection. because my ears don't just ring, they hurt too and sometimes itch and feel clogged. I scheduled another appt. but I can't get in for over 2 weeks.

Not at all! I know what it's like when you are convinced you have the answer, you are only trying to help, and people just won't listen to you! (Jeremiah the prophet and Cassandra of Troy come to mind...) I'm heeding your advice now, so thank-you for persisting; it is not bossy.

I have tinnitus under certain quiet occasions.
normally I hear it all the time but it doesn't bother me too much but sometimes it feels like my head is going to disintegrate.

it's in both ears but It's noticeable mainly in the right ear.
the good thing is that It seems to help me get to sleep by adding white noise .

I had some time to kill at the airport recently whilst on my way to work in a neighbouring country and I wandered into a shop that sells gadgets such as MP3 players. And there I bought the most wonderful pair of intra-aural earphones. I was so overwhelmingly thrilled with my purchase that I went back and bought a box of chocolates at the duty-free shop and took it to the salesman with tears in my eyes and a note written on the back saying. "You will never know how you've changed my life today."

They are Philips noise-canceling earphones and I have subsequently seen several unfavourable reviews of them on the Internet, but you cannot imagine how they transformed my world.

I use them in 3 ways:

1. Just plain earplugs. It looks like you are listening to an iPod or something, because of the wires, so it doesn't seem as dorkish as big yellow industrial earplugs.

2. Switched on. They come with a small battery-powered device that produces a sort of white noise, canceling out 70% of the ambient sound.

3. Switched on and plugged into an audio device. I plugged them into my Nokia XPressMusic and selected a setting that gives extra bass, and then picked a couple of rock music tracks. Oh my goodness. My personality was transformed in an instant. I had been feeling so tired and lethargic all day; I'd had flu for 7 days and I was feeling weak, and to top it all I was suffering from some sort of sensory overload in the morning and had even resorted to dark glasses and earplugs and sitting quietly for an hour. But with the new earphones on and that loud music coursing through, it was as though the world around me had just become a surreal 3D place, and I was all alone with the wonderful heavy deep sound all around and inside me. I danced for about 45 minutes with fewer inhibitions than I have ever had when dancing at an airport. I felt extremely happy.

I read somewhere recently that according to one researcher, autistics listen with their bodies and not only with their ears, and that this accounts for some of the learning difficulties experienced by certain people. Well, I am sure I was listening with my whole body. It was like being massaged from the inside.