Hello, my name is Javier Blanco and I have Hyperacusis and Tinnitus since 2021 after getting the Covid vaccine.
My life has changed since then, and so much so, that I used to be an Audiologist and Optician and now I work as a remote Computer Programmer.
Why is that?
Well, that’s the thing about Hyperacusis… you have your whole life project set up, and from one day to the next it all goes down the drain. The years studying your career, your master’s degree, all the training to forge a stable future… now they are useless. Wonderful!
And why did you have to change your life project due to hyperacusis?
I’ll explain it to you quickly,
Have you ever hammered a hammer with a pickaxe and hit your fingers with a hammer without meaning to? Have you ever felt that sudden, stabbing pain when the hammer hit your fingers?
Well, that’s how I felt with every little noise, without going any further, with my own voice for example.
The only activity I could do at that moment was to isolate myself in silence while I read all the scientific documentation on the subject to try to find a way out. But even the sound of turning the page of a book, that small friction between two pages, gave me that unbearable pain.
Unbelievable, isn’t it?
And what are you doing right now?
You look for solutions like a beaten convict while your neighbor tells you it’s psychological.
That’s how it works.
No more, no less.
Well, haven’t you visited medical specialists?
Of course you have. Not one, not two, not three, not four, not?
Many.
And the answer was clear: “It is a new vaccine and there is no scientific evidence written about it, there are more very specific cases like yours, but as there is no scientific literature about it, there is no effective treatment either”.
And what do you do when you hear this?
Well, you thank them for their sincerity and support, and when you get home you break down.
You break down as you watch your loved ones, who were waiting for you at the exit of the appointment hoping for good news, see you devastated.
That’s how it works.
But well, let’s not cry.
Let’s look for a solution, right?
Where can I work tomorrow if, in the worst case, this problem persists?
Well, one thing is clear… it has to be a job where noise can be avoided.
You think about it… and if you are lucky you can find one.
In my case I was lucky, and I found it.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved technology. And one of the good things that the pandemic has brought has been teleworking.
Well, I wanted to telework.
How do you tell this to your closest friends and family without giving them a fit?
Well, they will get a shock, but when you explain it to them they will understand.
Big problems, big solutions, right?
That’s right.
And well… years have gone by, my hyperacusis has improved with time, allowing me to live a normal life with hearing protection (earplugs). Which, when you’ve been really screwed up, is a real gift of life.
A gift of life to be able to do life with hearing protection…?
As you hear it.
To give you an idea, after being severely hyperacusic (at first, the hammer one), the first time I was able to have a conversation with my parents without writhing in pain from every sound of the conversation, tears came to my eyes…I felt like I was coming back to life
And here I am, with remote work.
Well, so what?
So I have set up this website to help people understand hyperacusis, and give visibility to this unknown condition.
If you have hyperacusis or a family member suffers from it, just send your case to [email protected] and we will publish your testimony to help more people to understand this condition, it’s that easy.
Good.
They say that it is good to be grateful, right?
Well, from here I would like to thank my family and my partner who lived this situation from close and as if it was theirs, they probably lost years of health seeing me like this, but today they are smiling.
I would like to thank my friends who were there and the health professionals who helped me.
Thank life for teaching me to appreciate things I didn’t know before.
I only hope I have helped you to understand hyperacusis.
A hug.
