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Ear defenders or headphones for sound sensitivity

Little Owl

I'm looking for some recommendations or advice from anyone else with noise sensitivity. I currently use loop ear plugs to help reduce noise levels but I don't really like them because of the horrible echo of my heartbeat and breathing, I can't decide what's worse, the external noise or feeling trapped in my own head. I also find that my own voice feels really loud so I talk too quietly and can't communicate with my husband without taking them out. I was wondering if ear defenders or music headphones would be better? I am looking to get two sets, one that just muffles sound so that I can still hear my husband when we are out and another set that completely blocks out everything (possibly music headphones because I find my own music soothing) for when I need to brave the shops alone. I know the best option is to try them out in a shop but I really hate shops!

It would also be nice to hear if anyone has any other coping mechanisms for sensory overload or just to know that I'm not alone. This has been a relatively recent issue for me because I've taken medication for depression and anxiety for all of my adult life until about a year ago. My meds were interacting with another medication that I was taking so I had to stop. As soon as I came off my meds it was like someone turned up the volume! If I'm stressed even the running of a tap or my husband unzipping his coat causes me distress!

I apologise in advance if I am slow replying or if my replies seem unfriendly or formal, I haven't worked out the rules of social online communication yet and find it a bit scary. Thanks in advance, I really appreciate you reading this.

Parents

  • Sound sensitivity has always been a major issue for me and seems to be getting worse as I get older. That actually does happen apparently as our resilience naturally declines as we age.

    It does make life extremely difficult to manage and so many environments are inaccessible. I have spent a fortune on all kinds of solutions over the years. I have an armoury containing various types of earplugs, ear defenders, noise cancelling earbuds, noise cancelling over ear headphones.

    It is really just trial and error as to what you are able to tolerate and what works best for different situations and noise. For example noise cancelling will work fairly well against general background noise but anything short sharp and sudden (like a dog barking) they don't seem to have any effect.

    I also get overwhelmed by the internal noise from my heart beating and blood rushing when I wear them. Sometimes if I get anxious I find that so overwhelming in itself that I have to take them off. Walking while wearing them is difficult too, as every footstep seems to vibrate and reverberate through my whole body. Therefore I prefer to put them on just before I go into a shop to minimise the amount I'm walking in them

    I do find the noise cancelling solutions somewhat easier to walk in than the earplugs and ear defenders. I have Bose noise cancelling earbuds and over ear headphones. I believe that are one of the best along with Sony but they are quite expensive. They just muffle the sound and make it seem further away than it actually is. I find I can still hear everything while wearing them but more distant. So for example I can still hear what shop assistants are saying without taking them off. 

    If you want to try earplugs or ear defenders there are loads available online fairly cheaply, so you don't have to go into shops to try them. When buying look at the ratings for how much they reduce the decibels by and go for the highest reduction for maximum effect. Again it's trial and error about what works and what you are able to tolerate. I don't like having anything inside my ear for too long and over ear defenders are tight on the head, so I can't tolerate them for long either.

    I'm interested that this appears to be something new for you that you didn't experience while on medication. I wasn't aware that there was any medication that could help with sound sensitivity. I have been prescribed various types of antidepressants in the past for anxiety but none of them had any impact on sound and they caused horrendous side effects for me. If you don't mind sharing what was the medication? Sometimes I get so desperate about living with this that I would try anything, even giving up my hearing completely.

  • in reply to Autonomistic

    Thanks  It was a mood stabiliser called lamotrigine. I didn't take it for noise sensitivity but it reduced my general anxiety levels and I didn't get as distressed by sounds as I do now. I have also taken several SSRIs before that but those just numbed everything so I felt like a zombie and couldn't tell whether I was OK or not, it wasn't very pleasant! If I could go back on lamotrigine I would but it's not going to work for everyone and can have some bad side effects, it wasn't perfect but I was better on them than I am now.

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  • in reply to Autonomistic

    Thanks  It was a mood stabiliser called lamotrigine. I didn't take it for noise sensitivity but it reduced my general anxiety levels and I didn't get as distressed by sounds as I do now. I have also taken several SSRIs before that but those just numbed everything so I felt like a zombie and couldn't tell whether I was OK or not, it wasn't very pleasant! If I could go back on lamotrigine I would but it's not going to work for everyone and can have some bad side effects, it wasn't perfect but I was better on them than I am now.

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