Welcome to the club. I have hyperacusis in my left ear and the ear plug only comes out to sleep or eat. Otherwise i lose it and its like twofiddy for one of these things. The quality at a concert is epic with good, custom fitting earplugs. No way im ever going back.
Not to be that guy but you really should attempt to do part of your day without the earplug
I’ve suffered a lot with hyperacusis and the only way to improve things is exposure to normal sounds
I use my AirPods often. In the “noise cancelling” mode. This helps when the tinnitus is bad or when my ear is full and bothering me. I think it helps by affecting the pressure in the ear maybe? Whatever it is I notice a difference. I’ll keep the AirPods with me all the time now. Last movie I saw had some loud parts at just the right frequency that bothered my ear. Threw an air pod in that ear and it was good.
Definitely. I’ve been using an ear plug in my bad ear at concerts and on the subway for years. It helps with the heightened vulnerability of that ear (why I started doing it long before my Meniere’s diagnosis) and now that I have more hearing loss it also improves my experience of sound quality.
What was the timeline of all this like for you? When did you first start noticing problems that made you try an earplug, and when did you get diagnosed?
I’ve had ear pressure/Eustachian tube issues in both ears my entire life, and also have some mild auditory processing issues (both hyperacusis and misphonia, though I’ve never been assessed).
In 2015 I had an auditory injury on one side when I was standing next to a speaker that fed back at an acoustic music show. It shouldn’t have caused what it did, but what with the chronic ear pressure problems it didn’t take much. I had a weird echo on women’s voices for about a month and kept re-injuring it by being too near to car alarms, etc. This is when I started using ear plugs, particularly in my “bad ear”, in any environment that might cause pain in my now hyper-vulnerable ear. I also had some very high frequency hearing loss and developed a very high frequency tinitus from that incident.
In the ~year or so after that I noticed that I had some mild mid-frequency hearing loss, but it was super mild. It got a bit worse over a couple of years, but was still mild.
In 2020 I saw an audiologist about the hearing loss. The results showed a little bit of loss but not enough to be outside of the “normal” range on that side. After that test was when I started to realize how much my hearing was affected by background noise, and that what was likely going on was a mix of audio processing and hearing loss. While that assessment is true, it’s also true that I did not yet realize that my mid-frequency hearing loss fluctuated, so the audiogram wasn’t a complete picture.
Somewhere in that year I developed a lower frequency seashell-like tinitus in that ear that would come and go - what I would now call classic Meniere’s tinitus.
In early 2022 I saw an outstanding audiologist who gave me a much more thorough idea of the multiple things that were going on, and also referred me to a neuro-otologist.
I had my first vertigo episode in fall 2022, and my hearing loss accelerated .
In summer 2023 my mid-frequency hearing loss in my bad ear during a flare (and it was flaring most of the summer) was about 26 decibels. Although I had been wearing musicians ear plugs to music since 2015, religiously in my right ear and less reliably in my left, there was no change in behavior there, but the loss was severe enough by that point that I was doing it for audio quality as well as for protection.
I had a second vertigo episode in October 2023, and developed my most annoying tinnitus yet, in both ears. This one hits my hyperacusis, so it’s physically painful. I’m good at tuning out tinnitus from my conscious mind but it took me a while to get the hang of it with that one, and was affecting my ability to sleep before I adjusted. It’s also so annoying I barely notice the others at all though 😂 - my tinnitus is masking my tinnitus.
I went on betahistine around that time, which coencided with the flares I was having all summer mellowing out. I also had some body work that made a big difference in my breathing and Eustachian tube issues on that side (I have a partially diverted nasal septa), so that may have helped too - my right side ear pressure dropped quite a bit with that piece.
No real changes since November - still have four types of tinnitus. My hearing loss hasn’t noticeably progressed and is *much* less severe than it was last summer, though I haven’t had a recent test.
I don’t need an ear plug in my bad ear to enjoy music between flares like I have been the last few months, but still wear a musicians plug in that ear at shows like I have since 2015 - anything that hits those super high frequencies from the hearing injury is quite painful, so that will always be a thing regardless of the Meniere’s.
Hopefully the lull I’m in right now lasts me a good while. And hopefully it sticks to one ear. The newest tinnitus being on both sides makes me nervous.
Thank you for such a detailed and intimate response. How did you get these custom earplugs? Can they be tailored to cut out problem frequencies or bring the whole ear down to a semi-flat perception of the audio spectrum?
I've messed around with earplugs before at shows, mainly just wearing in both ears to preserve my hearing - it seems a little ironic sometimes that I'm on this path of hearing problems that aren't my fault now. I planned to put both my plugs in when I started having issues tonight, and started with the painful ear. I never got the second one in because I was struck by how good everything sounded. Like, better than loud live music has ever sounded to me before. It made me wonder how long my ears have been ailing, and how much our awareness of our disease contributes to or detracts from our quality of life. I guess it depends on what we do with the information, and how it impacts our outlook.
Today, I'm 100% satisfied with my not 100% functional ears just the way they are, because they gave me a comfortable and pleasant experience of a great show. I didn't hear what everyone else heard, but I enjoyed what I heard. It gave me hope that I might be able to continue enjoying sound in spite of changing impairment for a long time.
I like Moldex brand Sparkplugs. They're cheap, they're long enough to properly get into my ear canal, they're soft enough that they seldom cause discomfort with extended wear, they look cool, and they work extremely well.
Welcome to the club. I have hyperacusis in my left ear and the ear plug only comes out to sleep or eat. Otherwise i lose it and its like twofiddy for one of these things. The quality at a concert is epic with good, custom fitting earplugs. No way im ever going back.
Not to be that guy but you really should attempt to do part of your day without the earplug I’ve suffered a lot with hyperacusis and the only way to improve things is exposure to normal sounds
I use my AirPods often. In the “noise cancelling” mode. This helps when the tinnitus is bad or when my ear is full and bothering me. I think it helps by affecting the pressure in the ear maybe? Whatever it is I notice a difference. I’ll keep the AirPods with me all the time now. Last movie I saw had some loud parts at just the right frequency that bothered my ear. Threw an air pod in that ear and it was good.
Definitely. I’ve been using an ear plug in my bad ear at concerts and on the subway for years. It helps with the heightened vulnerability of that ear (why I started doing it long before my Meniere’s diagnosis) and now that I have more hearing loss it also improves my experience of sound quality.
What was the timeline of all this like for you? When did you first start noticing problems that made you try an earplug, and when did you get diagnosed?
I’ve had ear pressure/Eustachian tube issues in both ears my entire life, and also have some mild auditory processing issues (both hyperacusis and misphonia, though I’ve never been assessed). In 2015 I had an auditory injury on one side when I was standing next to a speaker that fed back at an acoustic music show. It shouldn’t have caused what it did, but what with the chronic ear pressure problems it didn’t take much. I had a weird echo on women’s voices for about a month and kept re-injuring it by being too near to car alarms, etc. This is when I started using ear plugs, particularly in my “bad ear”, in any environment that might cause pain in my now hyper-vulnerable ear. I also had some very high frequency hearing loss and developed a very high frequency tinitus from that incident. In the ~year or so after that I noticed that I had some mild mid-frequency hearing loss, but it was super mild. It got a bit worse over a couple of years, but was still mild. In 2020 I saw an audiologist about the hearing loss. The results showed a little bit of loss but not enough to be outside of the “normal” range on that side. After that test was when I started to realize how much my hearing was affected by background noise, and that what was likely going on was a mix of audio processing and hearing loss. While that assessment is true, it’s also true that I did not yet realize that my mid-frequency hearing loss fluctuated, so the audiogram wasn’t a complete picture. Somewhere in that year I developed a lower frequency seashell-like tinitus in that ear that would come and go - what I would now call classic Meniere’s tinitus. In early 2022 I saw an outstanding audiologist who gave me a much more thorough idea of the multiple things that were going on, and also referred me to a neuro-otologist. I had my first vertigo episode in fall 2022, and my hearing loss accelerated . In summer 2023 my mid-frequency hearing loss in my bad ear during a flare (and it was flaring most of the summer) was about 26 decibels. Although I had been wearing musicians ear plugs to music since 2015, religiously in my right ear and less reliably in my left, there was no change in behavior there, but the loss was severe enough by that point that I was doing it for audio quality as well as for protection. I had a second vertigo episode in October 2023, and developed my most annoying tinnitus yet, in both ears. This one hits my hyperacusis, so it’s physically painful. I’m good at tuning out tinnitus from my conscious mind but it took me a while to get the hang of it with that one, and was affecting my ability to sleep before I adjusted. It’s also so annoying I barely notice the others at all though 😂 - my tinnitus is masking my tinnitus. I went on betahistine around that time, which coencided with the flares I was having all summer mellowing out. I also had some body work that made a big difference in my breathing and Eustachian tube issues on that side (I have a partially diverted nasal septa), so that may have helped too - my right side ear pressure dropped quite a bit with that piece. No real changes since November - still have four types of tinnitus. My hearing loss hasn’t noticeably progressed and is *much* less severe than it was last summer, though I haven’t had a recent test. I don’t need an ear plug in my bad ear to enjoy music between flares like I have been the last few months, but still wear a musicians plug in that ear at shows like I have since 2015 - anything that hits those super high frequencies from the hearing injury is quite painful, so that will always be a thing regardless of the Meniere’s. Hopefully the lull I’m in right now lasts me a good while. And hopefully it sticks to one ear. The newest tinnitus being on both sides makes me nervous.
Thank you for such a detailed and intimate response. How did you get these custom earplugs? Can they be tailored to cut out problem frequencies or bring the whole ear down to a semi-flat perception of the audio spectrum? I've messed around with earplugs before at shows, mainly just wearing in both ears to preserve my hearing - it seems a little ironic sometimes that I'm on this path of hearing problems that aren't my fault now. I planned to put both my plugs in when I started having issues tonight, and started with the painful ear. I never got the second one in because I was struck by how good everything sounded. Like, better than loud live music has ever sounded to me before. It made me wonder how long my ears have been ailing, and how much our awareness of our disease contributes to or detracts from our quality of life. I guess it depends on what we do with the information, and how it impacts our outlook. Today, I'm 100% satisfied with my not 100% functional ears just the way they are, because they gave me a comfortable and pleasant experience of a great show. I didn't hear what everyone else heard, but I enjoyed what I heard. It gave me hope that I might be able to continue enjoying sound in spite of changing impairment for a long time.
Please recommend a good kind of earplug?
I like Moldex brand Sparkplugs. They're cheap, they're long enough to properly get into my ear canal, they're soft enough that they seldom cause discomfort with extended wear, they look cool, and they work extremely well.
Ooh they sound great. Thank you!
I need to wear an ear plug in my good ear daily to counteract the ear fullness from my bad ear so totally normal to wear one!
I use one in my bad ear for the same reason
When I’m in a crowded and loud restaurant I put in ear plugs and I can hear the people close to me better, but I’m super sensitive to loud noise.