What is hyperacusis?

On our last post we talked about the problem of auditory hypersensitivity or sensitivity to sound. And within that post we distinguished between 3 specific ailments. Today we are going to talk in depth about hyperacusis.

Dog barking, laughing, telephones ringing, water coming from a faucet or noisy vacuum cleaners are common and everyday sounds... Not too loud - and certainly not harmful. At least not to the normal ear.
 
But for people with hyperacusis, these everyday sounds can cause pain, frustration, and even terror. Children have been seen fleeing from specific sounds, which distressed them, but are harmless to everyone else.
 
Lack of understanding is another problem for people who have this problem. Very often, they are accused of being hypersensitive, even hysterical. "Your hearing is too good," is a common mistake.

People with hyperacusis have perfectly normal hearing. They are not able to hear "better than anyone else", but what they do have is a reduced tolerance to specific sounds and sound levels that are not normally considered high. For some people, the problem arises at sound levels as low as 25 dB, which means that they cannot be properly diagnosed by the normal acoustic testing equipment in the doctor's clinic, as this equipment works with much higher sound levels: 80 dB or more.

 
Experts on this rare hearing problem advise families and their doctors to be understanding first and foremost. Being a victim of "acoustic torture" is bad in itself, but the lack of understanding and empathy of the family and doctors only makes things worse.
 
Hyperacusis can be a particularly difficult affectation for children, as they may have difficulty making adults understand that covering their ears and running away from the classroom is not only "naughty", but for good reason.
 

Doctors point out that the cure for hyperacusis is neither silence nor earplugs.

On the contrary, too little noise can make the problem worse, making the hyperacoustic person unable to lead a normal life.
On the other hand, people who suffer from reduced tolerance to sounds - hyperacusis - should be surrounded by pleasant, low-level sounds at all times.
Low-volume radios or even a special noise generator may be used for constant stimulation to help the brain readjust to the normal sounds of everyday life.
 
 

Hyperacusis may be the result of a change in hearing function or may be secondary to brain injury or other health conditions. It’s common for hyperacusis to coexist with tinnitus. Hyperacusis is controlled through the desensitization process.