Remember when I had said that I have tinnitus and have been living with it nonstop since 2012? Well unfortunately for me, now I have to contend with having hyperacusis as well. For those who don't know what that is, hyperacusis is a decreased tolerance to varying levels of sound, where sounds seem like they've been dialed up to 11 from their normal perceived levels. Each case is very unique to the individual. In my case, while I can still handle most typical noises from conversations to ambient background noise in public places, my tolerance threshold for such sounds has been greatly reduced to around 70 dB or so. Any louder and it begins to cause pain in my left inner ear. If it's especially loud and I don't see (or rather hear) it coming, I can end up in pain in my head that can linger for days before it subsides.

And the worst part is that I don't need a doctor to know exactly what is wrong with me. The auditory nerve in my inner ear has sustained some damage due to the sound energy levels of acute moments of loud noise...damage that sadly cannot be reversed or healed. My actual hearing is still relatively normal, but my sensitivity to sounds has increased a lot to the point where it causes pain. If you shout in my ear, it'll be complete agony for me for days (and I'll probably be punching that person in the face as well). The worst part is while the pain has so far subsided after some time has passed, there may come a point where the pain may never go away. I'm already living with tinnitus (ringing in my left ear). I'll be damned if I have to live with chronic inner ear pain as well.

My roommate has introduced me to these earplugs that have a dial that lets me control how many decibels I can block out. These would be perfect for when I work, when I can't predict when a loud sound might occur, while still allowing me to hear other people. They aren't cheap, but they are far cheaper than if I visited an ENT specialist and got a battery of tests to confirm what I already know. I'm already considering corticosteroids to help with the current pain I'm experiencing now since just over a day ago when some shopper bumped over a metal cover on a freezer than hit the floor with an extremely loud CLANG!! This happened at the back end of the store when I was at the front, but the noise was still loud enough to cause pain in my ear that's persisted up til now.

I'm really hoping that pain goes away so I can really appreciate these new earplugs I ordered. I also can't stress enough how important it is to safeguard your hearing. You may feel like you can rock out to music at max volume, but trust me when I say that that shit catches up with you and eventually, you'll regret it when you develop chronic tinnitus or worse, hearing loss. Hyperacusis is especially bad, due to the heightened sensitivity to everyday sounds...something that is supposed to be rare. But one thing they all have in common is that these conditions are cumulative. The components of your inner ear don't regenerate from sound damage. Once damage sets in, hearing disorders follow and they'll never fully go away ever again and will only get progressively worse the older you get.

I've already resigned myself to the likelihood that I'll probably go deaf in my left ear by the time I'm in my 60's. Just do yourself a favor and take good care of your hearing. It isn't worth it to subject yourself to loud sounds just because you can handle them without any problems. Trust me, your ears aren't invincible.