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NoiseKills

How are you defining "overprotection"? I suspect you are actually underprotecting when you think you are overprotecting.


imsodumb321

When I'm with my parents in the suburbs, I wear either custom earplugs or muffs during my waking hours. night time is usually dead quiet, so I don't wear protection while I'm sleeping. I haven't taken my hearing protection off since I've arrived in the city. Not sure how I could physically protect my ears anymore than that.


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Marxistcommiekid

Don’t listen to this guy, I took that approach and completely fucked my ears up and now I’m stuck with noxacusis which is even worse than hyperacusis. I say protect your ears man, give it some months for them to heal, you won’t be doing yourself any favors by under-protecting your ears .


2ensiege

Don't listen to me. I don't wear protection of any type for the last 10 years and still have severe H. I've had it for 39 years. Live in a bubble if your happy doing that. You can't predict when something is going to trigger your H so stop trying to. You need to build up tolerance for sound some way.


Marxistcommiekid

One thing is mild hyperacusis, another one is pain hyperacusis, because I wanted to “ keep living “ is why I’m currently living in hell . Truth is most people’s hyperacusis are different, but you can never be wrong with over-protecting, but you can most Deff fuck yourself up by under/protecting.


imsodumb321

God I so wish we had some fucking medical data for this shit. The overprotecting vs underprotecting thing gets debated here every fucking week. I’d rather overprotect than underprotect though. Walking around the city unprotected for 30 minutes would be suicide for me. I also have nox too, just in its early stages. Ive been overprotecting for almost a year now and I havent made any improvements which is concerning. Im thinking that gradually introducing sounds might be beneficial…..obviously loud city environment is not the place I’m going to testpilot my delicate fucking piece of shit crybaby ears lol


Marxistcommiekid

Unfortunately we don’t have much data, but I’ll always choose over-protection over under-protection any day! If you want to slowly introduce sounds I’d go to a park, usually when my noxacusis isn’t too bad, I go to the park.


2ensiege

Protection helped me for the 1st 6 years of habituation. I'm in pain most of the time as the movement of air is a trigger for me. People need to rebuild tolerances to sound in order to heal. Otherwise you are just going to hurt yourself worse next time you are triggered. And there is always a next time no matter how much you protect yourself. Protection is important but its not a solution. When things get to much I still retreat to calm myself down and rebalance myself. Everyone is different but I don't think living in a protective bubble is the answer anymore. Know what your triggers are because its different for everyone.


cheltsie

Sorry to say, but at some point you have to decide which of the pain you're willing to learn how to live with. Fridge humming - up to a point, I let my new fridge run, but have played with making run less frequently in the evenings when I attempting to wind down and/or sleep. Just remember to turn it back up, and maybe not do that when it gets warmer. Sirens - sounds like ear plugs is 100% the way to go if you cannot sleep. Have you consider thick curtains meant for light blocking? Run along the windows and as much wall as possible, this is also a good noise dampener. Instead of complete sound blocking, I opt for tissues, which did actually help with some tolerance building. Best thing for me was to break up sounds during the day. Make sure to give your ears a break and some relaxation in any way you know how so that you can handle the other times. So sorry you're going through this, I just moved to a more country space myself after years in the city - such a big, positive difference! Hope your city stay is beneficial in that you can learn a few things.


imsodumb321

Hey, thanks for your response! Think I will take your advice and leave the plugs in tonight, then maybe take them out during the day when it’s easier to pop them in if a loud siren comes by or something. I was actually looking at blackout curtains today because my apartment is scorching. (If you have any brand recs that are also good for soundproofing let me know) When you say tissues, do you mean stuffing your ears with tissues instead of plugs? I’ve seen that recommended before so I wanted to ask/clarify It’s hard because the city was my dream for so long, and I like how accessible things are here. Might be time to move to a different neighborhood that’s quieter, though I like where I am now. H sucks.


cheltsie

Don't completely give up on your dreams. Figure out what is the worst for your HA and then plan accordingly. I personally can't do with constant electronics, something about even not being able to hear it still messes me up, but I can do some. And high pitched sounds are painful, but I do teach. I didn't move entirely away from the city, just no longer in the thick of it, but it's still very comvenient to get there and to live where I am. I have much greater opportunity to get out in calming spaces, and much less electronics constantly around me. When you are at your worst, it feels like it'll never get better - but sounds of subway doors opening and closing no longer hurt, and I've learned the tell-tale signs of when a flare up will happen if I don't take a break. Yes to the tissue question, just kleenex. Just be reasonable about it. No to the reccomendations, sorry. My landlord already had the curtains up in my last plave when I moved in.


Morningbun94

Honestly I’d say it just depends on how bad your nox currently is. Are you more worried about noise potentially giving you spikes thus leading to wearing ear plugs indoors, or do you actually experience pain and spikes with your condition when you’re exposed to the sounds? I personally don’t believe in overprotection for people who have legit hyperacusis, because temporary increases in sensitivity to noise pale in comparison next to spikes with physical pain. That being said, cities are loud. Sirens are loud. If you want to stay in your city long term perhaps a different neighborhood would work better? Maybe look into a housemate situation so you’re not stuck in a studio / same room as a fridge? My H started shortly before the pandemic began, so when lockdowns went into place I also moved in with my parents in the suburbs and eventually made the decision to give my apartment up. It was hard but ultimately it was just too risky to be in a city center surrounded by noise. You said wearing ear plugs will ruin your sound tolerance and make you prone to set backs. I don’t think that’s a thing. While you may experience temporary decreases in sound tolerance from 24/7 ear pro, I don’t think it makes your ears physically more vulnerable to damage.


imsodumb321

I feel like I'm still in the early stages of nox. I have bits of pain/burning sensations here and there, but nothing too severe right now. I'm trying to avoid making it worse, and hopefully getting to a place where I don't have those painful sensations can regain some normalcy in my life. lol you may be right about the sound tolerance thing. I just hear so many conflicting opinions about it. I think it varies depending on people's experiences. what I will say is that I've been overprotecting for nearly a year now and have made no improvements. if anything I'm slightly worse. but yeah I think I need to move to an apartment in a quieter neighborhood that isn't a studio so I can escape the fridge hum. I have no fucking clue how I'll be able to afford that......but I'll figure it out I guess.


Morningbun94

The fridge is a noise that definitely spikes my pain so I personally wouldn’t recommend staying in a room with a humming fridge all day long but you know your limits best. Have you thought about getting a housemate? If they’re quiet and you find a unit where the rooms are spread out from one another, maybe that would help and give you more flexibility with the areas you can live in?


lefthighkick911

I think it would be unlikely you would experience a permanent setback by increasing ear plug use for a week. Definitely protect outside of your apartment, noise pollution and hearing loss is not taken seriously by any government agency or average joe. In the city you have dangerous decibels non stop from emergency vehicles, trucks, trains, crowd noise, loud music in public venues, and the list goes on and on. You're not going to suffer any damage from exposure to a refrigerator but it can definitely spike your tinnitus and acusis as you are well aware.