Before my condition got worse

After having the acoustic accident in 1992, I began using ear protection, not only due to the doctor (E.N.T.) advice, but also because the loud noises bothered me and caused my tinnitus become increased.

Lacking of adequate directions, I decided to wear earplug throughout the day.

I used to wear specially foam earplugs, and used to cut them in half. Some times, due to the constant use of them I got an irritation in the ear canal. When that happened I changed the earplug by new ones.

When I was in the street my worst problems were car, bus and truck horns or alarms, as well as ambulance and fire engine sirens, or travelling salesman bugles and megaphones.

At home my problems were with the other people who lived with me because of the noise they produced. On the other hand the weeping of my little son was also extremely bothersome.

When I failed to avoid loud sounds, a relapse happened to me which was characterized by the appearance of a sensation of fullness in the ears (or the affected ear), followed later by a tingling in their interior. In the following hours the tingling became in pain, and lasted for some days. After that a reflex pain appeared in the upper zone of my head. During this inflammatory process my hyperacusis (hypersensitivity) was exacerbated and most of the time the intensity of my tinnitus was also increased.

Depending on the intensity of noise or exposure time, these relapses could last from 2 days to 2 weeks, in which case I had to suspend or delay all my activities in order to rest at home and keep me away from the environmental sounds.

Although all of that was a typical noise exposure consequence, it was not always possible for me to realize when loud noise was produced.

That was my situation during 11 years, with getting neither better nor worse significantly. However, in 2004 I experienced an almost total recovery as a result of a trip I made abroad. In a next post I will describe what happened.