I’ve gone on a few times about some of the struggles with which I’ve contended around hearing. I’ll summarize the summaries:

Sound is a problem.

Too summarized?

Okay: sounds are familiar, but something’s not “right”.

I’ve recently started to wonder if part of the challenge is actually something of a hypersensitivity to sound. Apart from going through a period of deafness, so to speak, I wonder if that deafness was something of a neurological attenuation of sounds trying to bring them to appropriate levels for comprehension. Perhaps the initial concern that I’d made — that sounds felt effectively overdriven — may have been an accurate interpretation.

Now I find myself wondering if some mild-grade earplugs with a low NRR could be somewhat beneficial. I don’t need (nor want) a 32 dB NRR solution, which would be ideal for motorcycling or shooting sports. But it’s certainly worth giving something mild a go to see how it will impact my perception.

Permanent? I can also see that it would be as long-lived as my need for a cane has been. I found it inconvenient.