When we think about hearing disorders, hearing loss often comes to mind, but many others exist. While hearing loss results in a reduced sensitivity to sound, some auditory disorders can, conversely, increase your sensitivity to noise.
Having more acute hearing might seem enviable, but it sometimes leads to finding ordinary, everyday sounds irritating or even unbearable. Here is an in-depth look at several disorders characterized by an increased sensitivity to noise and their possible causes.
Hypersensitivity to sound can be difficult to live with. Understanding its underlying reasons will provide you with valuable keys.
Sound hypersensitivity disorders
Everyone perceives the world a little differently, and this also applies to how you perceive sounds. Everyone has their own idea of what a loud sound is. Despite these variations, there is a broad consensus on what constitutes a normal sound level.
Everyone reacts negatively to very loud sounds; auditory hypersensitivity disorders, however, concern people who perceive sounds at a reasonable level as loud or unbearable.
Here is a more detailed look at three sound hypersensitivity disorders and what they entail:
Misophonia
Misophonia is a hypersensitivity that makes some people extremely reactive to specific sounds. It is considered more of a psychological disorder than an auditory one, as it is essentially an aversion to a particular sound. The reaction to these sounds is generally highly emotionally charged and triggers anxiety or anger.
Although misophonia is psychological in nature, the reaction to certain sounds can have detrimental effects on your general well-being. Sounds that trigger an aversion in people with misophonia include slurping a drink, chewing, breathing, or the clattering of dishes.
Left untreated, misophonia can lead to many problems, including avoidance and isolation. For this reason alone, getting treatment helps preserve one's social life and the ability to go out without feeling anxious.
Hyperacusis
Hyperacusis is another auditory hypersensitivity disorder. But rather than targeting specific sounds, it relates to sound intensity. Specifically, a noise like ice cubes clinking in a glass is perceived as unbearably loud, while others find it to be at a perfectly normal volume.
Hyperacusis is generally considered a both physiological and psychological disorder. On one hand, an ear injury can increase sensitivity to sound; on the other, the brain may begin to interpret normal sounds as loud, leading to this hypersensitivity.
Hyperacusis often has a significant impact on quality of life. An act as simple as a walk outside can become an ordeal, as ordinary noises seem deafening.
Because hyperacusis is a general sensitivity to sound, it is difficult to avoid. Many affected individuals wear earplugs or noise-canceling headphones to reduce the volume of sounds to a tolerable threshold.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is an auditory hypersensitivity disorder that causes you to hear non-existent sounds, which are imperceptible to those around you. Generally, those affected hear a sound like a single tone that does not disappear.
The exact sound perceived varies greatly from one person to another, but it is often described as a high-pitched tone, a whistling kettle, static crackling, or even a rushing sound.
What are the common causes of noise sensitivity?
Tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia may seem like completely different disorders, but they share a number of possible causes. Here is a look at the most frequent causes of sound hypersensitivity, as well as conditions related to them in one way or another.
Trauma
Head trauma is one of the possible causes of both tinnitus and hyperacusis. Head injuries can alter your hearing capacity, because the brain is the center of sound perception. Your ears are excellent at converting sound waves into nerve signals, but ultimately, one cannot hear without the brain.
When injured and healing, the brain may alter your perception of sounds and trigger a phantom whistle like tinnitus or an increased sensitivity to volume levels.
Furthermore, head trauma (especially those affecting the inner ear) can lead to noise hypersensitivity. The inner ear plays an essential role in hearing. If it is damaged, it can alter your perception of sound and cause noise hypersensitivity or tinnitus.
Hearing loss
Hearing loss is characterized by a reduced ability to hear sounds. On the surface, this seems to be the exact opposite of sound hypersensitivity, but the two are actually linked. When your hearing starts to decline, it is thought that your brain attempts to adapt by "turning up the volume," i.e., by increasing sensitivity to signals from the ears.
This increase in sensitivity could lead to the interpretation of a sound in the absence of a signal, causing tinnitus, as well as an amplification of incoming sounds, which can lead to hyperacusis.
Exposure to loud noises
Ears are remarkably well-designed to perceive a multitude of sounds in your environment, but they have their limits. When exposed to loud noises, they can suffer damage. This can contribute to hearing loss, but also to sensitivity disorders like tinnitus and hyperacusis.
So, from how many decibels is it too loud?
Sounds exceeding 70 dB can damage the ears over prolonged periods of exposure. The higher the sound level, the less time it takes for damage to begin. Some sounds, like a foghorn at close range, are powerful enough to cause nearly immediate damage.
Other psychological disorders
As mentioned above, misophonia is a hypersensitivity limited to specific sounds, like slurping or chewing. In this sense, it is more of a psychological disorder. While not direct causes, certain psychological disorders sometimes seem to coexist with misophonia: OCD, mood disorders, and ADHD.
What can be done?
Ultimately, if you have sensitive ears, you are likely looking for some relief. Many people try different solutions, such as wearing earplugs. Be aware, however, that while earplugs protect your ears from noise, they may also further heighten your auditory sensitivity.
For most people suffering from tinnitus, hyperacusis, or misophonia, there is no immediate cure, but treatments can help. Here is a look at the therapeutic options available for auditory hypersensitivity disorders and what they entail.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
In sound hypersensitivities, there is a delicate interaction between what you perceive and how you interpret that sensation. Let's take the example of misophonia: your ear detects the sound of someone chewing, then your brain interprets this sound as something unpleasant or disgusting.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy aims to transform this perception of sound into a neutral or less distressing one. The same principle applies to tinnitus as well as hyperacusis.
Desensitization
Desensitization is a treatment that uses gradually more intense sounds to reduce auditory hypersensitivity. In the case of hyperacusis, for example, the person wears a sound-generating device that emits slightly irritating noises. After some time, the volume is increased, and this continues over a long period until hearing returns to a normal level.
Hearing aids
Hearing aids are another useful treatment in cases of auditory hypersensitivity. Since hearing loss can contribute to certain hypersensitivities, being fitted with hearing aids can be beneficial. In particular, they help to mitigate tinnitus by masking background noise.
An overly sensitive sense
Many reasons can explain your noise sensitivity: hyperacusis, tinnitus, or misophonia. These disorders represent the main auditory hypersensitivities, but yours may also have a completely different origin.
If you are sensitive to noise, consult a hearing care professional for a full hearing assessment to identify the precise cause of your sensitivity.
Sources
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for managing distress caused by tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia: current perspectives | NCBI
Misophonia: phenomenology, comorbidity, and demographics on a large sample
Hyperacusis | NCBI
Tinnitus: ringing in the ears and solutions | Harvard Health
