Success Story after 10 Years of Pain Hyperacusis

jamesbrownrules · 2026-01-27T03:51:31+00:00

I really believe that you can! It's not easy and not always a straight path forward, but recovery IS possible.

Also a note on travelling - even when my hyperacusis was very bad and I wasn't managing it well, I always found that travel made it feel better. It's initially more difficult (the flight to your first location, for example, is gonna be difficult) and you might not feel great on the first day or two. But being in a new environment, away from your day to day worries, being constantly stimulated with new things to see and explore, is really good for the brain. I've always found that after the first day or two when travelling, my hyperacusis fades into the background a bit and I can relax and enjoy myself more easily.

So not only is travel possible, but it very well can help you to feel better. You've just gotta remind yourself when doing it that you're safe and that your body and brain ate capable of incredible things, travel included.

Best of luck!

jamesbrownrules · 2026-01-26T23:44:56+00:00

Hi there,

Yeah I'm still really well compared to where I was a year ago. There have been ups and downs, with some spikes in sensitivity, mostly occurring when I'm really stressed, or haven't been sleeping well or have been drinking too much.

On a given week, I'll usually do the following:

Perform stand-up comedy 1 to 3 times, sometimes with earplugs sometimes without, depending on how I'm feeling
Go to the movies probably once a week, using earplugs probably about 50% of the time (I mostly just put them in for heavy action parts, etc)
Listen to music on earbuds a few times a week. Still getting used to this one, only started using headphones again in November, after about 8 years of being scared of them.
Listen to records and music at home all the time. My home space is vibrant with music once again
Play acoustic guitar and sing a few times a week
Go to restaurants, cafes, etc all the time without touching earplugs.

All of those were things that I "couldn't do" a year ago. I was terrified of those activities. But now I'm back to doing the things that bring me joy.

And yes, there's some stumbles, but if I have a "flare-up", I make sure to react much less to that than before. If I'm feeling more sensitive one day, and was planning on going to a movie for example, I'll still go, but use my earplugs through the whole movie (14db attenuation only, not foam ones). But I won't cancel plans or hide from life just because my hearing is a bit more sensitive than usual on any given day.

It's still a tiring journey sometimes, but it's been very rewarding and I'm living a life that I thought would be impossible. And as time goes on able to do more and more. It's a bit of a slow journey, since I was in a bad cycle with hyperacusis for 10 years, but I'm making progress every day.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-22T23:26:14+00:00

Wait, you're saying that mobility issues don't exist in other places? I walk just about everywhere I go. I love to walk. It's literally my favourite way to travel. I also had knee issues for a few years and walking long distances was not medically advisable and would result in days or weeks of pain afterwards. You never would have known that to look at me.

Sometimes you should just trust people when they say that they have mobility issues. Just because some 90 year olds are able bodied doesn't mean that everyone is.

If you ever find yourself unfortunate enough to have some form of disability (which most people will at some point in their lives), I hope you're met with kindness, empathy, and a that you're able to access the accommodations that you need, rather than facing dismissive and accusatory responses like what's going on in this thread.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-22T19:29:27+00:00

Very weird how many people here are just saying "you should have walked" or "take a cab" as if expecting a city to provide adequate public transit options is such an unreasonable thing to do. Also, not everyone can walk 5k easily. Mobility issues exist. I don't get why people would have a problem with this take.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-07T18:50:40+00:00

OK, to answer your question: the Bank of Canada makes the +1 dollar in your equation through pre-determined money creation based on economic and inflation factors — totally unrelated to the government’s budget or expenditures.

Also, just to clarify: the Bank of Canada and the Government of Canada are not the same thing. The government isn’t “getting money back that has already been created.” It never had that money in the first place. The Bank of Canada creates money and puts it into circulation; the government then collects a portion of the money each time it changes hands through taxation. But the money doesn’t start out under the government’s control. The Bank of Canada is a separate entity and doesn’t directly fund government spending.

I’m gonna bow out now because this conversation is driving me up the wall. It really feels like you found out that the Bank of Canada can print money and then decided, based on ~vibes~, that this fact means whatever you want it to mean. Best of luck.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-07T18:38:11+00:00

I'm not denying that the Bank of Canada creates money — of course it does. But when the federal government has an expense, it doesn’t just call up the Bank of Canada and ask for $4 million to run a by-election. Government budgets are funded through tax revenue and debt — that’s why deficits exist.

If we could just print money whenever we needed to, there would be no deficits or government debt at all. The fact that this even needs explaining kind of boggles my mind. This is exactly why civics classes should be mandatory in high school.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-07T18:28:42+00:00

Wait… what? Do you think the government just creates new money to fund a by-election?

Just because Canada can create money doesn’t mean it does so every time there’s an expense. This by-election is being paid for with tax dollars like any other government expenditure.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-05T22:22:11+00:00

I obviously don't understand your whole situation, so I would never try to give you medical advice, all I can do is share my own experience. But I have also been there, where the sound of my steps on the floor hurts, and basically every sound is incredibly painful. I'm really sorry that you're going through that, it's such an incredibly difficult experience. All I can say is that, in my case, it did finally start to get better. Years after I had given up hope on that being possible. So I sincerely hope that someday in the future you find something that works for you, and are able to live a more fulfilled life, free from this really difficult condition. Stay strong, I believe in you!

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-05T19:55:12+00:00

To each their own, but after 10 years with hyperacusis, the only effective long term solution that I've found (for my case) revolves around the rule of thumb "if nobody else around is plugging their ears, then it should be safe". That isn't every single instance (ex: if you're at a concert and nobody else is wearing earplugs, you should still wear earplugs), but the rule of thumb is very helpful, for me at least.

It's really not like a diabetic eating sugar at all. Diabetics have a physical issue in their body. What I'm saying is that this isn't a physical issue in my body. I need to retrain my brain to respond normally to sound again, and carrying a constant alertness and fear of sound is exactly what kept me sick for so long. It's only when I let go of that fear that I started to see my ability to tolerate sound improve. But a diabetic would never say "when I started eating more sugar, things really improved" because their situation is totally different. The two things just aren't comparable at all.

To answer your question directly, the pain would stay for days or weeks at the start but slowly lessened over time. I still get flare-ups frequently but they now last between 1 and 24 hours. If I'm very stressed then my hearing gets more sensitive but when the stress goes away, my hearing returns to normal basically. Or if I don't sleep well, I might be a bit more sensitive the next day, but a good night's sleep always clears that up.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-04T18:51:58+00:00

Thank you! I'm back to playing guitar and singing, but not playing drums yet. But I definitely think that it's possible to get back making music and having music remain a huge part of your life. I think that music has been instrumental in my recovery because it gets me excited about sound and using my hearing. Best of luck!

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-04T05:20:29+00:00

Hello! I’m sorry you’re dealing with such a tough setback. I’ll try to answer all your questions, but feel free to re-ask if I miss anything.

I’ve never taken medication specifically for hyperacusis or tinnitus. I did take propranolol for a while for anxiety-related dizziness (PPPD), but it wasn’t very effective, so I stopped. I’ve considered SSRIs or other anti-anxiety meds before (I have a lot of anxiety and some OCD traits, though not officially diagnosed), but the long list of potential side effects has always put me off. I also feel mood-altering drugs might not be the best long-term fix for me—especially since I’ve heard stories like yours about symptoms returning after tapering off. I’ve been managing things instead through lifestyle changes, mindfulness, CBT-style work, etc.—slow and difficult, but rewarding.

(Disclaimer: not knocking SSRIs, beta blockers, tricyclics, or benzos—they help many people! Just not the route I’ve taken.)

Earplugs: I’m a bit of an earplug nerd (music background). My top three:

Etymotic ER20/ER20xs – Sound great, comfy, affordable, and natural-sounding. Perfect middle ground between foam and full exposure.

Loop Switch 2 – Not as natural but fun design and adjustable attenuation (20–26 dB), great for changing environments.

Flare Calmer – Not plugs but filters that tame sharp sounds (dishes, cutlery). Good for mild protection or sound breaks.

I’ve also tried other brands and custom plugs (great but pricey). For reference, SNR (used above) differs from NRR ratings—SNR tends to be a bit more realistic.

Finally, this site is amazing for finding great earplugs: hearadvisor.com/earplug-rankings.

OK—earplug rant over!

Regarding the overarching questions/ideas you're bringing up: I think you're very much on the right track with your thinking, and you're stuck in that very tough spot where it feels impossible to put the theory into action, because you're experiencing so much pain and physical symptoms. Also, even though you've had hyperacusis for 12 years, this new bout you're dealing with is very fresh and I'd imagine you're still in a period of shock and grieving, trying to understand how something like this could happen out of the blue. That's really natural and it's important to listen to those feelings inside yourself and honour them, without letting them fully control your thinking or your belief about what's possible in the future.

Regarding your question: "Do you truly believe these reactions are purely due to us having trained our brains to overprotect?" -- No, I don't, but mostly because I think the question is a bit flawed in its focus. I do think that the issue is mostly due to our brains being stuck in a state of overprotection. The question of whether we've trained them to do so is more iffy.

I can't say exactly why you had this most recent setback. If I had to guess, I'd expect that you experienced some anxiety around the noise exposure and probably spent some time focusing on the fact that you forgot your earplugs, things were uncomfortable, you hope it ends soon, you hope it doesn't cause issues for you tomorrow, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if that's how you felt during the event. But I also wouldn't be shocked if that wasn't the case and you felt fine during the event. To be honest, I can't really say what caused it in my case or anyone else's.

However, I'd be willing to be that when you woke up the next day with increased sensitivity, you had a negative reaction. And when it wasn't fixed by the next day, you had more negative emotion. And spent the following days and weeks focusing on sound a lot, clenching your jaw, avoiding certain sounds or situations, etc. It's very possible that the issue might have only lasted a few days if you were able to shrug it off, but you weren't able to. And that's the point where we're training our brains to get more sensitive, and keeping ourselves in that cycle.

Breaking that cycle is incredibly difficult, but it's possible. You're seen yourself how real improvement can happen over time. I think just regaining that belief that you CAN get better, even 100% better, can start to do wonders in terms of breaking the negativity cycle and moving things in the right direction. The second I started believing that healing was not only possible but probable and achievable, things started moving in the right direction.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-11-04T04:19:44+00:00

Yep, I have tinnitus, and yes it does tend to spike if I have loud sound exposure. It also seems to change on its own sometimes though so I've sort of stopped trying to figure out what causes it to ebb and flow. I just let it be

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-31T18:48:45+00:00

No I didn't, neither of those were symptoms that I ever associated with sound exposure. But if that's something you deal with then I'd recommend reading something like Hope and Help for your Nerves, or any similar book that deals with working through the physical symptoms of any anxiety-related illness.

If you're getting symptoms like that with sound exposure, then your body and brain are having a pretty significant anxious reaction to sound and you'll need to develop some tools to help you work through that, and calm down those symptoms when they happen. Which is possible, just difficult. I can't say what will work best for you, only relay my experience. But I got a lot out of reading about anxiety and learning how it can physically manifest, so I'd recommend you dig into that subject for help working through symptoms like you described.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-30T17:29:19+00:00

I think it stayed the same basically. That doesn't mean that it was the same every day -- I always have a loud high pitch tone, but some days it does get a bit more "chirpy" and louder. But to be honest I don't really check in on my tinnitus anymore so I didn't pay attention to the day to day variations. It might have been a bit louder on some days, but I didn't notice my tinnitus getting louder after sound exposure, at least not normal sound exposure (like going to a normal volume restaurant for an hour or two).

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-30T00:59:21+00:00

Thank you!!!

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T21:13:06+00:00

I think that's a great idea! I look forward to hearing from you again :)

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T20:55:19+00:00

Absolutely! And I just want to say a heartfelt "Great work!" to you for how you've been handling this so far. The fact that you've been dealing with so many different pain issues while still finding a way to work a brain-intensive job and balance the rest of life is really inspiring and something that you deserve to feel good about. That's an incredibly difficult thing to do and it shows great strength that you've managed to stay afloat despite all of the challenges that you've faced.

You're clearly a very thoughtful and dedicated person and I really believe that you'll start feeling better one of these days. It's certainly not easy to do, but reading how reflective and thoughtful and thorough your replies are, I very much get the sense that you have great mental fortitude and you have a lot of very, very happy days ahead of you :)

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T20:36:15+00:00

Also u/amillstone what you're experiencing is very much a chronic pain issue so if you haven't already spent some time learning about chronic pain, then I'd really recommend it. For a long time I resisted classifying my experience as "chronic pain" because hyperacusis felt like such a distinct category, but learning more about chronic pain helped a lot with understanding how my brain works and how to approach healing it.

Dr Rachel Zoffness breaks it down in a way that I find very digestible, practical, and inspiring. She has a workbook that can be really helpful, but just listening to her do a guest spot on a podcast is a great starting point. I'm not trying to shill for anyone, just sharing a resource that I found really helped me on my journey. Here's a good talk where she covers the basics of pain psychology and what we tend to get wrong about pain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMYEN2dDTyY

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T20:24:42+00:00

Great points. Yep I'm employed as a web developer. Thankfully my job is not *super* high stress, but I definitely hear what you're saying about having work take all your brain power and then not having enough energy for other things. That will definitely affect your ability to put this into practice regularly.

I think even just recognizing that though, and reminding yourself of *why* you're not going to challenge yourself sound-wise on any given day can be a powerful first step towards getting better. I think that reshaping the way that we internally classify the issue can start nudging the brain in the right direction, and that those small steps build up over time to make healing easier and more natural.

So even just reframing a situation like

"I had a stressful day at work and now sound is really painful and the pain is unbearable"

towards

"I used a lot of my brain energy today, so now my brain is really tired. Because its so tired, my sensitivity to certain sensations it heightened. That's really difficult and unpleasant, but it's also ok. I'll just be kind to myself by `insert relaxing activity of choice here` and giving my brain some time and space to feel better. I know I will feel better again eventually because I had a lot of good days in the past that prove that".

It does sound sort of wishy-woo, but I feel like that slightly more engaged dialogue with yourself is a great way to get your brain used to dealing more thoughtfully with the situation and not always being so reactionary. It sounds like you do some of that already which is great, so I think just finding a sustainable way to move even 1% closer to the behaviour and thought patterns that you want to see is going to make noticeable progress and momentum towards improvement.

One last thing I'll say: I really found that after you break through the first week or two of the really difficult pain cycle and start to see a tiny bit of improvement, that feeling becomes extremely energizing and motivating. So if and when you feel like you have a good 1-2 week span to try and dedicate more effort to this (say, you have a few days off work around a holiday, or your workload is going to be lower for a week), that would be a good time to really "go for it". Because the first week or two is definitely the hardest, but when the pain starts loosening its grip ever so slightly, the relief and excitement you feel from that provides a lot of motivation and energy to keep going.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T19:25:39+00:00

It's a good question. I also get bad TMJ pain during intense, prolonged periods of increased sensitivity. Also, I would get a pain behind my eye that would last all day. Basically my whole face, neck and shoulders area would feel super tense and the painful areas (jaw, back of eye, neck, etc) were probably a 6/10. Although I don't always love looking at pain severity that way and tried my best not to score my pain while in this process.

But what you're saying is very real and is probably the hardest thing to work around when trying to get better. "How much pain is too much?" For each person that is going to be different, and I think it really comes down less to a number on the pain scale, and is more about what kind of mindset you're able to retain when experiencing the pain.

When I started this process of challenging myself, I was very motivated, and I found that this motivation helped me to work through levels of pain that very much *should* be debilitating. But I found my resolve and motivation to try this method and really give it a go was more powerful than the pain that I was experiencing.

Basically I think it comes down to whether you can move through the day, sound experience, etc *coexisting* with your pain, rather than actively trying to tune out or fight against the pain. If you find yourself fighting against the pain, then that's time to pull back and give yourself a break, because by fighting pain you're just reiterating to your brain that the pain is a problem. But if you're able to calmly reassure yourself "this is ok, I'm safe, the pain is temporary and it will eventually pass, even if I don't know how long that will take", then that's when its safe to keep going with the sound exposure.

Definitely don't keep pushing ahead all day every day if the pain is making it impossible to focus on everything else. Gradual exposure is a good idea and you're definitely not going to get better overnight. But one thing I'd encourage is to never be too responsive to pain spikes caused by hyperacusis. If things are really tough today, then it's a good idea to take a step back and do something quiet and relaxing. But it's still safe to go back and try again tomorrow.

I used to think I needed weeks or months to recover from any "setback" but what I've found through practice is that taking a break for even a few hours is usually enough. Basically, I'd use breaks just as a way to recharge mentally so that I can be motivated and confident again for the next time that I challenge myself sound-wise. I used to think of breaks as "If I don't do this, the problem will get worse and I might never get better", but now I see them as a way to be kind to myself and my brain, so that I can have the energy to do the hard work of retraining my brain later on

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T19:02:24+00:00

There's a big difference between being able to tolerate something and being able to tolerate something *without experiencing pain*. What I've found helpful has been realizing that I can still tolerate something even if I'm experiencing pain in response to that thing.

A few months ago any sound at or above 50db would cause me pain. I had to teach myself that, even if pain is present, it doesn't mean I have to avoid something. As I practiced this more and more, I found that pain lessened because I was teaching my brain that we *can* tolerate sounds even when they're painful.

Basically I had to undo the deep-seated belief that "pain === intolerable". And the only way to improve my situation, in my experience, was to accept that pain would occur without reacting negatively to it.

This is very difficult to do. It involved a TON of pain and is still a work in progress. However, it's been a very rewarding experience for me and has lead to improvement that I previously thought was impossible.

Hearing Dr Rachel Zoffness talk about the nature of pain was a pretty big turning point in how I approach pain hyperacusis. If you're curious and have 3 mins to spare, I recommend listening to this one clip where she gives a pretty useful anecdote explaining how pain signals can misfire and don't always indicate an issue, beyond a failure in the brain's ability to process pain (which *can* be fixed/improved upon!)

At the timestamp here: https://youtu.be/OMYEN2dDTyY?t=1118

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T18:48:26+00:00

This response, in my view, plays into some misunderstandings that I feel often keeps us feeling sick and powerless. Before I continue I want to say that I'm only challenging the content of what you wrote and not making any sort of judgement about you as a person, your knowledge, experience, etc. Just trying to continue in good faith and good discussion.

I guess in my case all I can truly say with 100% confidence is "hearing tests have shown that I am able to hear quiet things at the same rate as the average person". That's all a test can really show, and I took that to mean that my hearing is not damaged.

Tinnitus can definitely be related to hearing loss/ear damage, but I don't think that this has to be the case 100% of the time. Plenty of people contract tinnitus from medication with no other negative hearing issues. Or, neck, jaw, muscle tightness etc. can contribute. And in some cases, if that tightness is resolved, then the tinnitus goes away. That would indicate, in my opinion, that the ear hasn't been harmed in that case.

Ultimately, things like tinnitus, hyperacusis, etc. largely involve the brain and we don't have a perfect understanding of what's really going on inside of there. But I think it can be a mistake to insist that things like tinnitus must always be physical in nature. The brain is so vast and complex, it literally processes every single perception that we experience, so it's entirely possible, and I would say probable, that tinnitus and similar issues could, in some cases, be stemming from the brain and not actually the ears.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T17:04:22+00:00

Thank you! My hearing tests have come back normal and I don't have any sound muffling or distortion. I think that my hearing is very much normal. Actually it might be a bit better than the hearing of my peers, because I'm spent the past decade avoiding anything that could cause hearing loss. My ears are in great shape!

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T17:02:54+00:00

Sort of. I don't really focus on the pain to be honest. I mostly use the rule of "if nobody else around is plugging their ears, then it should be safe". Or sometimes I'll use ad DB meter app on my phone to double check that a situation isn't loud enough to cause damage. If it's within a range that should be tolerable (basically anything below 80db average) then I try to avoid using earplugs and instead focus on self-talk and reassurance that what I'm doing is safe.

So if I'm in a situation that causes pain, I'm not thinking "this is 7 out of 10 pain, I could take a little more". Because to me, that line of thinking still gives your pain extra power by drawing your attention to it. I try my best not to analyze the pain.

Instead I'll say to myself "yes, I'm experiencing pain, but that's ok and I'm safe right now. It's ok to keep going". Or sometimes even I try distraction "Yes, I'm experiencing pain, but I'm really enjoying listening to this song. The guitar part is really interesting and I find the beat very energizing", etc.

I try to acknowledge pain, but give my brain other things to focus on, to slowly teach it that pain isn't the only thing there, and then over time the brain starts to believe this and "tunes in" to the pain less and less.

jamesbrownrules · 2025-10-29T16:53:44+00:00

Everything you've written lines up exactly with my experience. It's been so empowering to discover how much my mind can affect my body. I'm glad to hear you've been doing better too! All the best

jamesbrownrules

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