{"id":269,"date":"2020-11-18T18:16:58","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T23:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.fm1.dev\/hearing-loss\/hyperacusis-misophonia\/"},"modified":"2022-09-26T14:43:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T18:43:51","slug":"hyperacusis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/hearing-loss\/hyperacusis\/","title":{"rendered":"Sound Sensitivity (Hyperacusis) & Misophonia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hyperacusis is a heightened sensitivity to everyday sounds that most people can tolerate easily. A person suffering from hyperacusis may find sounds like a running dishwasher, a nearby conversation or even the shuffling of papers unpleasantly loud or even painful. For some, the sensitivity is only to certain frequencies or pitches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hyperacusis is rare, affecting only one in 50,000 people. This number is higher among tinnitus<\/a> sufferers, however, affecting about one in 1,000. Hyperacusis can affect people of any age, and it can occur in one or both ears. Untreated hyperacusis can cause social isolation, phonophobia (fear of sounds), depression and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are the Causes of Hyperacusis?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is extremely uncommon for someone to be born with hyperacusis. Hyperacusis can be caused by a number of diseases including Bell\u2019s palsy, Lyme disease, Meniere\u2019s disease, head injury, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome and noise induced hearing loss<\/a>. Hyperacusis is also linked with neurologic conditions such as PTSD, epilepsy, depression, migraines, cerebral palsy and autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those whose hyperacusis is the result of trauma to the head or hearing system, symptoms may go away as the injury heals. Identifying the underlying cause is always the first step in treating hyperacusis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Is Hyperacusis Treated?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Some suffering from hyperacusis might seek relief by wearing earplugs or earmuffs. While this may help in the short term, it actually decreases the already poor tolerance of noise, increasing sensitivity in the long run. This result is most obvious immediately after removing the ear protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An effective treatment option is called sound desensitization<\/em>, wherein a specialist works with you by exposing you to white noise at initially a very low volume, increasing it over time to improve tolerance. This treatment may take six months to a year, and maybe even longer for certain patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you suspect you may have hyperacusis, let\u2019s start with an evaluation and consultation. We will complete a full audiologic evaluation, including a hearing test<\/a>, and take a record of your medical history to accurately diagnose your condition and determine your Loudness Discomfort Levels (LDL). We will together guide your treatment and counsel you about the solutions available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misophonia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hearing disorders take many different forms. An estimated 15 percent of adults are extremely bothered by everyday noises that most people don\u2019t even give a second thought. The name for this condition is misophonia, and it can impact many facets of your daily life \u2013 but help is available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explaining Misophonia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Misophonia is a disorder that causes an aversion to common sounds. It can generate intense emotional or physiological reactions such as fear, rage or panic. The disorder is sometimes referred to as selective sound sensitivity syndrome and is thought to be a survival mechanism employed by the brain in response to a perceived threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common misophonia triggers include oral sounds such as chewing, throat clearing, coughing and nose blowing; finger or keyboard tapping; clicking a pen; humming and even breathing. Sometimes, small repetitive motions \u2013 somebody fidgets, wriggles a foot or accidentally brushes against you \u2013 are enough to provoke an exaggerated response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctors aren\u2019t sure what causes misophonia, and up until a few years ago, it didn\u2019t even have a name. Patients were often diagnosed with mood disorders, especially when they displayed anxiety or depression \u2013 emotions that often accompany misophonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent study, while small in scale, offers some insight into the mechanisms that trigger misophonia. Researchers from the University of Iowa examined 20 adults with the disorder and 22 without. Their results, published in Current Biology<\/em> in 2017, indicate that the brains of people with misophonia appear to respond differently to certain sounds. Each group was asked to rate the unpleasantness of a variety of different sounds, including common triggers such as eating and breathing, universally-disparaged negative sounds like the aforementioned nails on a chalkboard and neutral sounds such as footsteps or chirping birds. Participants responded to the neutral and negative sounds in the same ways, but those with misophonia rated the eating and breathing sounds as \u201chighly disturbing\u201d while those in the control group did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The individuals with misophonia also displayed signs of physical stress when exposed to the trigger sounds. Their reactions included an increased heartrate and sweaty palms. Furthermore, brain scans showed unusual activity in the parts of the brain where emotions are processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many experts found the study interesting but pointed out several problems including the small sample size and self-reported questionnaire rather than a face-to-face interview with a trained clinician to specifically diagnose the disorder. Still, it\u2019s a start, providing researchers with some target areas in the brain to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treating Misophonia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Treatment of misophonia is a challenge for several reasons. The condition still isn\u2019t widely-known or universally-accepted. The National Institutes of Health list it as chronic disorder on their rare diseases website but it isn\u2019t an officially-recognized mental disorder in the DSM-5, making it difficult for doctors to diagnose and rare for health insurers to cover the cost of treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those with misophonia are likely to achieve the best results by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to treating it. This might involve a combination of sound therapy, breathing exercises and counseling that focuses on coping strategies. Antidepressants may be prescribed for some individuals, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call Elevate Audiology<\/span> at (864) 442-5555<\/span><\/a> for more information or to schedule an appointment.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hyperacusis is a heightened sensitivity to everyday sounds that most people can tolerate easily. A person suffering from hyperacusis may find sounds like a running dishwasher, a nearby conversation or even the shuffling of papers unpleasantly loud or even painful. For some, the sensitivity is only to certain frequencies or pitches. Hyperacusis is rare, affecting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":202,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Causes and Treatment of Hyperacusis and Misophonia | %%sitetitle%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"(864) 442-5555 | Sound sensitivities are a hidden condition. We see you. We understand your condition and we may be able to help. Schedule today. ","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":""},"service_tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/269\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"service_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/service_tags?post=269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}