For many people, no clear reason can be identified.įor other people, hyperacusis can be connected to their sensory sensitive condition such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or tinnitus. In some cases, a negative life event appears to be associated with the onset. Sometimes people can experience hyperacusis after certain types of ear surgery.Įxposure to sudden loud noise can trigger hyperacusis. Medical conditions associated with altered sound tolerance include migraine, head injury, Lyme disease, William’s syndrome, and Bell’s palsy. What causes hyperacusis?Ī few medical conditions can have hyperacusis as a symptom so it is important to speak to your GP. When talking to someone who has recruitment, they may say, “Speak up a bit, I can’t hear what you’re saying.” The speaker will then raise their voice slightly, only to be told, “Don’t shout! I’m not deaf.” In recruitment, the auditory system goes from too little, to too much very quickly. Recruitment is a specific form of altered sound tolerance in people who have a hearing loss. Misophonia describes an intense dislike or even repulsion to a particular sound, often one generated by other people, such as chewing. This could be hand driers in public toilets, fireworks or the scraping of cutlery on a plate. Phonophobia is a fear or aversion to certain sounds. There are some additional words used to describe types of hearing sensitivity. It describes the experience of some people for whom even quite modest environmental sounds appear loud, intrusive and sometimes painful. Hyperacusis is used to refer to all types of altered sound tolerance. Common examples of sound intolerance include fingernails on a chalkboard, or a tap dripping, or a pen being tapped against a desk.įor some people, the ability to tolerate sound is so severely altered that it can impact on their daily lives. This reduced tolerance is especially likely to happen when you are tired or stressed.Īs well as having a maximum comfortable sound level, most people have particular sounds they find unpleasant whatever the volume. You may have noticed that some sounds (eg a radio in the background) will be quite pleasant one day, but intrusive on another day. For all of us it will also change according to our mood and the context of the sound. This point of maximum comfortable loudness varies from person to person. We generally reach a point where we feel that sound is too loud and do something about it, long before we reach the threshold of pain. This is the volume of a jet plane taking off. It can pick up very quiet sounds such as the gentle rustling of leaves and tolerate extremely loud sounds like music in a club.Īn extreme level of sound, around 120dB or louder, can cause physical pain. The human auditory system has an extraordinary range. This can lead to the auditory system becoming even more sensitive. Some people with severe hyperacusis become so afraid of sounds that they withdraw from daily activities in order to avoid sound altogether. Other people report that hearing certain sounds makes it difficult for them to concentrate. Some people say that although they feel more sensitive to sound, it doesn’t impact too much on their everyday life. Hyperacusis affects different people in different ways. It is also common in people with tinnitus. Hyperacusis is very common in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other sensory conditions. The number of people who are severely affected is a small proportion of this total. A more conservative estimate suggests that about 2% of the adult population have some degree of hyperacusis. One internet study has suggested that the figure may be as high as 9% of adults but most professionals working in the field feel that this is too high.
There is not much reliable information to tell us about the numbers of people with troublesome hyperacusis. If you are concerned about your tolerance to noise, please discuss this with your GP, who can refer you for an appropriate specialist opinion. Therapy can help to address fears and anxieties and sound therapy can help to re-build a tolerance for sound. This isolation can make the problem worse.
Auditory sensitivity medical professional#
Others find it difficult to live with and withdraw from social and professional activities. Hyperacusis affects people in different ways. Hyperacusis (pronounced hyper-a-queue-siss) is a condition when people experience the sounds of everyday life as intrusively loud or uncomfortable or even painful.
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