I have a terrible sensitivity to certain common sounds.  When other
people chew gum, snore or bite down on apples I go through the roof as
if fingernails were scraping down a blackboard.  Is there a way of
desensitizing me of this disorder?  I assume it is a neurosis and I
have had it since I have been a child.

Hello, ronsquestions-ga!


 Has anyone ever told you that you might be suffering from certain
degree of Hyperacusis?

As excerpted from the Hyperacusis Network website at
http://www.hyperacusis.net/whatis.htm:


"Hyperacusis is a collapsed tolerance to normal environmental sounds."


"Imagine being at a movie where the sound track is turned to the
highest volume. Actors' voices are screaming at you. After five
minutes, you leave holding your ears and cursing the theater for its
poor judgment. Turning newspaper pages, running water in the kitchen
sink, your child placing dishes and silverware on the table - all are
intolerable to your ears. A baby cries or a truck screeches its brakes
to a halt and the sound is excruciating. What has happened to my ears?

The person who has hyperacusis can't simply get up and walk away from
noise. Instead, the volume on the whole world seems stuck on high."
 
Dynamic range is the ability of the ear to deal with quick shifts in
sound loudness. Suddenly everyday noises sound unbearably or painfully
loud. The disorder is often chronic and usually accompanied by
tinnitus, but can occur in patients who have little or no measurable
hearing loss.

Hyperacusis differs from recruitment, which is an abnormal growth in
the perception of loudness accompanied with hearing loss. With
recruitment, loud noises are uncomfortable. With hyperacusis, all
sounds are too loud.

Most patients also experience inner ear pain or a feeling of fullness
(pressure) in the ears. Hyperacusis can be devastating to the
patient's career, relationships, and peace of mind. Finding the proper
diagnosis is difficult because few doctors understand hyperacusis."


=== 

 
Is there a cure?


"The progression of hyperacusis is unpredictable. Many patients'
tolerance improves while some cases grow steadily worse. The only
factor we know of that unquestionably affects progression or
regression is continued exposure to loud noise.

"Proper guidelines must be followed especially when one first develops
hyperacusis. The best source of information comes from The Hyperacusis
Network.

1."Many patients have seen improvement in sound tolerance through the
use of sound generators (special hearing aids) that emit broad band
white noise. This retraining therapy suggests that the ear will become
desensitized to sound by listening to white noise at barely audible
levels for a disciplined period of time each day. It can help one
maximize the tolerances left in one's ears. The name of this treatment
is called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy or TRT. To find a list of
current hearing professionals who administer this treatment, go here."

 If this seems to apply to you, the website is:
http://www.tinnitus-pjj.com/referral.html


2."Another method is to have the patient listen to pink noise tapes.
These methods represent great hope and can help the hyperacusis
patient but they are not a cure."

http://www.hyperacusis.net/done.htm


==


Support


 You are not alone! Please read the "Bulletin Board" at
http://www.hyperacusis.net/boards/list.php?f=1

 Subscribe to the newsletter:
http://www.hyperacusis.net/subscribe.htm


===


Other treatment options:


The Oregon Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Treatment Center treats patients
from all over the world:
http://www.tinnitus-audiology.com/

==

The California Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Therapy Center
http://www.californiatinnitus.com/pages/782043/index.htm

The California Center treats patients with tinnitus, as well as
hypersensitivity to sound (hyperacusis). The Center's aim is to
evaluate, diagnose, and treat tinnitus and hyperacusis, with the
objective of making the condition(s) no longer burdensome to the
affected individual.

Therapy:

"A modification of tinnitus retraining therapy, also known as
habituation therapy or the Jastreboff method, is highly effective for
most hyperacusis patients."
http://www.californiatinnitus.com/pages/782045/index.htm

=

Additional Information

"Hyperacusis." Healthlink.
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/990316608.html


===


 I hope this information provides some helpful information. You
shouldn't have to suffer from this condition without some help. There
might be a Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Therapy Center near you.


umiat-ga


Google search strategy
overly sensitive to sounds
hyperacusis

---

Request for Answer Clarification by ronsquestions-ga on 08 Jun 2003 10:15 PDT

I considered Hyperacusis but it does not seem to match any of my
symptoms.  I do not hear these noises as loud.  I also have excellent
hearing with good frequency response.  This problem began very early -
I think the first time I recognized it was when I was about 6 years
old and couln't stand hearing my sister sniffing.  The best way to
describe the feeling when hearing these noises is extreme anxiety.  If
I listen to them too long I feel like screaming.  I am guessing it is
a mental thing and not a physiological reaction.  I have not found any
information on the net - just the usual Hyperacusis thing.  I am
hoping I could beat it with some sort of sensitivty therapy or
similar.  I just wonder if this is common or even a known
psychological condition.

---

Clarification of Answer by umiat-ga on 08 Jun 2003 18:25 PDT

Hello again, ronsquestions-ga

 It is important to realize that with hyperacusis, the sounds do not
have to be loud for you to be sensitive to them. In one of it's forms,
it is merely a hypersensitivity to sounds of a normal level. For
instance, while I might barely hear someone chewing an apple across
the room, you would be able to hear it so clearly that the sound would
be extremely unbearable. And the hypersensitivity it doesn't
necessarily have to be to all noises, according to some who post on
the chat board.

Please read this chat thread on "Selective Sensitivity" and see if any
of it makes sense to you:
http://www.hyperacusis.net/boards/read.php?f=1&i=6759&t=6759 


 However, I know you have investigated hyeracusis to the fullest and
have ruled it out.

 Therefore, I DO have one other thought!  


Mild Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
==================================

 Since you have mentioned that only certain sounds make you very
anxious, another thought is that you could have a VERY mild form of
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which can take on many dimensions. Some
people are overwhelmed with many symptoms, and others with just one.

=

From "Take the OCD Screening Test." Mind/Body Consultant Services.
http://www.mindbodyconsult.com/ocd_test.html

Somatosensory Obsessions:
 
"Upset by certain sounds and noises - clocks ticking, loud noises,
buzzing.."

==

From the Child and Adolescent Action Center. NAMI
http://www.nami.org/youth/ocdcf.html

Common obsessions of OCD

"extreme concern with certain sounds....."


=


Treatment is Available
======================

From "What is OCD?" The Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation.
http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1010a.htm

 The good news is that if your resultant anxiety to certain sounds is
actually a mild form of OCD, there are several medications available
which may offer a great degree of help. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
is also a possibility.

"It is believed that insufficient levels of serotonin are prominently
involved in OCD. Drugs that increase the brain concentration of
serotonin often help improve OCD symptoms.....When OCD starts suddenly
in childhood in association with strep throat, an autoimmune mechanism
may be involved, and treatment with an antibiotic may prove helpful."


==


Behavioral Therapy
==================

"Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) is the psychotherapeutic
treatment of choice for children, adolescents, and adults with OCD. In
CBT, there is a logically consistent and compelling relationship
between the disorder, the treatment, and the desired outcome. CBT
helps the patient internalize a strategy for resisting OCD that will
be of lifelong benefit."


Medical Treatment
=================

"Research clearly shows that the serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs)
are uniquely effective treatments for OCD. These medications increase
the concentration of serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain."
 
Read more about both of these treatments at
http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1030a.htm



OCD Support Groups
http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1170d.htm


==


An interesting question I ran across:

Excerpt from a question on AllExperts.com about phobias:
http://www.allexperts.com/previousqv.asp?QuestionID=2320043


Question   I don't know if you can help me with my problem, but I am
getting absolutely desperate.

I have always had a rather strange problem with certain sounds.
Ticking clocks, and other repetitive noises completely do me in. If I
hear a one of these sounds, it becomes the focus of my attention no
matter what I do and drives me crazy. I either have to stop the sound
or leave the room."

 
====


 I am certainly not a doctor, but I have a great deal of familiarity
with various anxieties and mental disorders. I would not discount a
mild form of OCD. You just might want to look into that area,
especially since you mention that the anxiety associated with the
noise is a major symptom.


 I surely hope this extra information has been useful. I wish you the
best in finding some some answers, and most of all, some help.

 Good Luck!

umiat-ga

You're indeed not alone on this, Ron.  I've been plagued by this for
years.  While it helps me in my profession, I would gladly trade in
this "talent" for some garden variety ears.  In an audiogram once, my
hearing measured off the chart in the higher decibel range.  I've
often joked that I can even hear dog whistles.

Believe me, I've regularly felt a little cuckoo from this constant
barrage of auditory stimulus that no one else is aware of.  Your sleep
patterns are disrupted from the innocuous-sounding refrigerator whirr
to an air conditioner hum.  Every sound is indeed amplified for
hyperacusics.

Barbra Streisand spoke on this once and I know she's similarly
affected.  Personally, I've been to several ENTs locally but they were
baffled on what to do.  White noise machines sure weren't of any help.
 Lately, I've taken to plugging my ears with cotton to help me sleep,
which is not recommended.  Sounds are at least a bit muffled.  A
person embarks on a therapy course they can afford andA, well, I have
a cotton ball budget.

Besides the excellent links provided above, if you're able to
financially pursue this, here is a specialist discussing the subject:
http://www.tinn.com/fox.html

If you haven't already had an audiogram done, I'd definitely start
with that diagnostic test at one of the TRTA centers listed for your
state.  You might check with your insurance company to see if this is
a covered.  Mine was an out-of-pocket expense.
http://www.tinnitus-pjj.com/referral.html

Best of a quiet world to you,
V

Some people dream of Brad Pitt but, call me crazy, my fantasies are of
these people:  http://www.acousticalsolutions.com