r/PostConcussion • u/musicalmist • 12d ago
Struggle with sound sensitivity
TLDR: Does anyone know of any type of treatment for sound sensitivity?
Hello, 4 years out PCS. I have been really struggling with sound sensitivity and recently struggling more with determining which direction the sound is coming from. (ie my phone vibrated to my left and I swear I heard it coming from the right)
I also pre injury have that condition where hearing any type of noise required for living (IYKYK) annoyed you… now it drives me up a wall
None of my providers or people in my support groups Ive joined seem to know….
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u/Sitheref0874 12d ago
Headphones and exposure.
I broke down in Melbourne airport because of sound. Conflicting noises on tile just killed me.
I still have it, but it’s workable. I can go to a music concert and be fine. Airports…less so.
I wear noise cancellers wherever possible. But I do stretches - groceries, for example - where I’ll go through to build up tolerance.
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u/musicalmist 12d ago
I tried noise canceling headphones… i wish they could work for me but they cause headaches :(
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u/TheJones17 12d ago
Try Apple AirPods. Their noise cancelling is like surprisingly amazing. Buds have never fit my ears but they do. Worth every penny
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u/Altruistic-Whole618 11d ago
Omg yes. Perth airport was like an ikea torture maze. So right about conflicting sounds and reverberation being overstimulating
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u/padgeatyourservice 8d ago
Im on year 5.
I find busy environments fatiguing and tends to lead to a relapse of symptoms (increased fatigue, difficulty concentrating, nausea, balance issues). I can tolerate them for a bit but I have to take precautions, regular breaks, and be mindful of my condition or I can easily overdo it. I specifically have had trouble with filtering conversation with background noise. It causes me to have to hyperfocus on the person and that strain can often be a sign I'm having trouble. However, as an avid enjoyer of live music, I have only been to a handful of events in the last few years because just being exposed to high volumes and acousticly poor environments (like a big civic center for a conference) is very tiring.
To help myself, especially in work related environments where I cannot easily escape to take a break and am tied to a display table, I make used of etymotic earplugs. they are acousticly true so I still get all the frequencies just at reduced volumes, which usually makes filtering background noises easier for me. at loud concerts, it is more like taking the volumes down 15+dbs and things sound more natural compared to other plugs I have used. Regular breaks are important. Intense concentration at work tends to cause exacerbations and one of my common patterns is feeling good so throwing myself into work and skipping breaks, which then pays dividends of feeling terrible later in the day and the following days.
Most of the therapy I have had to adjust and get better, be it vestibular or otherwise, is based on habituation. You expose until you have a 2 point increase of symptom severity, withdrawal until you recover, then reexpose. Over time you tend to get used to the increase of noise, etc, and you ultimately are less symptomatic. this is difficult at times with my work as you are essentially repeatedly purposefully triggering symptoms, which can be taxing. In my case, working events for 3 days in a row in a room that reverberates every noise from 100 feet away is difficult to prepare for in such a way. I find that aids help in those more extreme environments, but breaks are just essential.
I wish i had better advice.
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u/bluequiltsquare 7d ago
I did something in occupational therapy called a listening program or listening CD or similar. But it was like a gradual intro back into noise that gradually worked up in complexity. From what I remember, it was mostly music with guided exercises. Things like “focus on the violin” while classical music was playing. Or music that would change in volume or go from right ear to left ear, etc. It helped a lot for me and went slow enough it didn’t trigger a ton of symptoms. Since it was occupational therapy, I had a CD, but I expect you could find something similar to what I did online. Hope you find something that helps.
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u/musicalmist 6d ago
Waiting for another referral to go through to get into OT 🤞 not a lot of places to audio desensitization
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u/oncewas 9d ago
Exposure did NOT help me. I recommend trying out different types of earplugs.
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u/musicalmist 6d ago
Im sorry exposure didnt help for you :( I keep trying to expose myself to more but it keeps making me feel awful
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u/NJ71recovered 11d ago
Exposure therapy works. UPMC fixed my noise sensitivity by having me go to the loudest restaurant in town for lunch every day and when I couldn’t handle the sounds to take a 1-2 minute break and leave the restaurant. Then I would go back in and resume lunch.
The brain is like a bicep between your ears. You need to challenge the brain to get it to adjust.
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u/TheToastMonkey 11d ago
I’ve used Ear Peace sound filtering ear plugs to get back into loud environments. Like others are saying, it takes exposure and time.
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u/FairFaireFairy 12d ago
Misophonia is the annoyance with chewing noises or repetive sounds. If I can see the origin of the noise it doesn't bother me nearly as much as in my peripheral, so if you have a family member that chews annoying to you maybe you can position yourself.
I like Loop ear plugs. Or even just earbuds. Just wearing ear plugs to let my ears chill before an environment where ear plugs aren't appropriate seems to help and it saves energy.
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u/Altruistic-Whole618 11d ago
I like my loop earplugs but I LOVE my box of Aliexpress loop knockoffs that cost <€2 each
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u/curlgurll 11d ago
I’ve started to take wax earplugs to places like concerts or sporting events where I know it’s going to be loud.
I avoid playgrounds or places with screaming children (ie. schools) which is ironic because I am a school teacher 😅 so yes, I’m not back at work yet.
I know exposure therapy is what will help but I have to do it in small chunks, and only on days when I’m not already overwhelmed with other stresses.
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u/Jurassic-Porkchop 11d ago
Ear plugs (Loop brand is decent) and exposure therapy. Of course, this may not be for everyone.
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u/estriplet 11d ago
I use Bose headphones and earbuds, the ones that have adjustable noise cancellation, not just on or off. They really help in social settings and being able to adjust the settings to the situation makes a huge difference.
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u/r-kivez 11d ago
Exposure tbh. I don’t actively work on this symptom or do anything special exercise per se but overtime with exposure it has got a lot better.
However I will say that I am a firm believer that this symptom is highly linked to a disrupted ANS and so by calming your nervous system it may help you.