Driving and reactive tinnitus

[EnzoMonty]

Hello,I have a type of tinnitus that reacts to noise. This tends to be things such as the sound of the central heating system, washing machine, TV, driving a car. The T levels goes up considerably. One problem I have is driving long distances say 2 to 5 hour journeys that tend to make my tinnitus spike and them seems to permanently make it worse. I wondered if anyone else suffered from this type if T and what you do to minimise the effect of driving. Thanks 😊

[Candleinthewind]

You better look up hyperacusis.

[EnzoMonty in reply to Candleinthewind]

Thanks. I have read about hyperacusis and I don't have any pain from noise. Rather it's the reaction to sound that spikes my tinnitus.

[Darren6 in reply to EnzoMonty]

Hi EnzoMonty,

From my experience which was the same as you are experiencing, this is very much Hyperacusis. There are a few different symptoms of hyperacusis and pain is just one of them. I never had pain with my sensitivity but certain sounds would make my tinnitus spike such as driving, rain/shower, refrigerators. I too called it reactive tinnitus and it restricted my life immensely.

I would seek an audiologist who specialises in hyperacusis for a more professional opinion. In my case I used sound therapy, CBT and meditation to overcome mine.

One suggestion is that if you know you will be exposing yourself to a sound that makes your tinnitus spike, such as driving, wear some ear protection to lower the sound input just a tad and obviously within legal and common sense levels to make sure you can still hear the things you need to hear around you. Dont over do it though, silence is not the friend of hyperacusis and tinnitus as you need sounds to help your audio system lose the sensitivity.

[EnzoMonty in reply to Darren6]

Thanks very much for your reply Darren. Can I ask, has your condition improved now with those interventions?

[Darren6 in reply to EnzoMonty]

Completely. I have no hyperacusis and have habituated fully to my tinnitus. This took approx 18 months for me but can be shorter or longer for each person.

[777john]

My T increases when i drive, i can not explain the sound of the noise, its different to all my main noises but its horrible, it always stops immediately when i stop the car, the only other thing that effects my T is my wife hair drier, its strange but all other noises are fine

[Yoga62]

Yes, my T increases big time when I go on a long journey in the car, we have several stops but it doesn’t really help, it usually stays really bad for months and I’m not sure if I just get use to it or if it’s the same, sorry not much help, hope you find a solution.

Best wishes.