Hyperacusis: Wishing you were deaf?

I don't know how many people suffer from hyperacusis, or an abnormal sensitivity to sound. So I don't know how many people can even relate to this.

I know of other similar conditions "noise recruitment" which involves hearing loss and overcompensation at extreme ranges adjacent to the loss to try and accommodate it.

I know migraine sufferers and autistic children also suffer from similar issues. I don't know how closely all of the above are related but I'm willing to bet (don't take it literally, nothing to bet with) that there are links so close it would be eye-opening.

(I dare say all the chemicals we intake and mix as "food" have nerve damaging effects we may never know the extent of.)

I always wish I had normal hearing again, assuming it was ever normal, and since it likely wasn't then just back to normal enough.

A lot of the time I just wish I couldn't hear because I'm sure there are good statistics on the number of deaf people, causes, treatments when applicable, known untreatable or only by surgery. There are people who could help cope with being deaf and teach me how to function.

Hyperacusis offers none of this. You might think ear protection is good, but not all the time or too much. I did that and it became more sensitive the longer and more protection I added. I later learned from an audiologist that this is pretty much always the case.

Realizing myself that by definition only that my problem was hyperacusis and not recruitment, the ear doctor recommended TRT (tinnitus retraining therapy). Primarily used to treat tinnitus (ringing of the ears) it was also being considered for hyperacusis. My tinnitus is minimal.

Insurance didn't cover $1400 devices and $1000 treatment visits, but luckily I had some savings left from the job I could no longer do.

The devices are similar to hearing aids but produce a white noise. Setting the volume not to totally mask noise and being vented to allow noise in make it a retraining tool for the overactive nerves. I wore the devices for two years and they made a huge difference. Worth every penny I would have to say.

But now what. I've been mostly off of them for almost five years to the date. They seem to slowly be getting worse instead of maintaining. One of the devices had a piece break off but should still function. I guess I'll start getting hearing aid batteries and wearing the devices all the time for months to years and see if it helps again.

If I had to go deaf instead (and I knew a nurse who has one of the conditions I have but more severe who had total nerve deafness in one ear) then I would not be able to listen to music anymore. I wouldn't be able to sing (alone where no one can hear me).

I guess I should be thankful that I have hearing, even if it prevents me from doing some things, it allows so much more.

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Well, even as I was about ready to post, glass and silverware bang some 40+ feet away and I wish yet again that it was the last time I would even hear that at all.

So I've spent about 30 minutes finding the devices and the decision is made, 2 years more, or whatever it takes.

Having found the devices, putting in new short life batteries, the broken one will have to be superglued to function completely but is doable until then. They can be worn all day or even while sleeping but must be out for at least 4 hours a day to keep from getting an ear infection. My wax is "wet wax" as we found out from the non-custom devices shorting out every couple of months and contact with the manufacturer, so maybe more than 4 for me.

Mind you I already have an air cleaner running and have had the TV blaring over it before and STILL heard the piercing sound of metal and glass banging together from some 40+ feet way.

Living where people need hearing aids and won't do others the courtesy of having their hearing tested is not so good.

Meniere's Disease (or Syndrome in my case) has factors such as the anatomy of the inner ear, element makeup of the fluid there, blood pressure, allergies, heredity. Luck me I get them all. Oh I forgot, barometric pressure and heat and humidity (and I've moved back from dry LA to hot and humid Alabama).

So hears/here's to being thankful for some possible relief.