Hyperacusis

Hyperacusis is when you experience sounds other people consider normal as uncomfortable, unbearably loud, painful, or even frightening. There can be a variety of mechanism or causes related to experiencing hyperacusis.  Misophonia, also related to hyperacusis, is an emotional or physiological response to sound e.g., panic when a certain sound is heard.

Usually, 90% of patients with hyperacusis have hearing loss and this is the first step to treatment even if the hearing loss is not the main concern.

Hyperacusis involves a diagnostic evaluation of your hearing, your loudness tolerance and identification of sounds that make you react. 

There isn’t a standard treatment for hyperacusis; however it can be related to another medical condition and therefore further investigation is important. Treatments are often tailored to the individual and can involve sound therapy, medications, hearing protection, relaxation and even hearing aids themselves can provide treatment as they can help to compensate when the auditory system isn’t compressing or “squashing” sounds in a normal way.  If you are experiencing hyperacusis discuss it with your Kapiti Hearing Audiologist for further evaluation.