In our psychcoacoustics lecture a few weeks ago, I came across a condition that I had never heard of before – Hyperacusis.
What is Hyperacusis?
According to the NHS website, “Hyperacusis is when everyday sounds seem much louder than they should”. It sometimes appears on its own but can also be caused by other conditions such as tinnitus (constant ringing of the ears), migraines and Lyme disease, amongst others.
The NHS website also states that sounds that can affect people with the condition include “jingling coins, a barking dog, a car engine, someone chewing or a vacuum cleaner”. Seeing as I just went to Hastings to record jingling coins (the first sound that NHS lists as causing difficulties), I wanted to research this condition more and find out how it affects people who have it.
How does it affect people in day-to-day life?
It’s all well and good reading about the condition and grasping how it might affect people, but for my research I wanted to find actual case studies of people who suffer from hyperacusis and see how it really impacts their day-to-day lives. I found an ABC interview from 2014 with Joyce Cohen and Ben Meltzer (https://abcnews.go.com/Health/quest-silence-living-wth-hyperacusis/story?id=22284805), a couple from New York who both suffer from an extreme form of the condition. The interviewer follows Cohen around the streets of New York, and it becomes apparent just how much this condition can affect people. Cohen walks around with industry grade ear protection over her head, which she only takes off “if I’m out in my block in the middle of the night…But typically, it’s too hazardous”.
Seemingly innocent noises such as a doorman blowing a whistle have an incredibly strong affect on Cohen – she describes the sensation as her “ears being filled with burning acid”. Matters are even worse for her husband, Ben Meltzer, who hasn’t been able to leave his apartment for years due to his condition. In fact, the only time he has left his apartment recently is for the interview, and even then the team has to take extra special precautions to accommodate him, such as removing all jewellery and footwear, and switching their phones to silent. Even when they are 29 stories above street level, they still have to briefly stop the interview when vehicle with a siren drives past the building on ground level.
In other cases hyperacusis has had an even more serious effect on those who are unlucky enough to develop it. A few years ago two young musicians who were seriously affected by the condition tragically committed suicide. Meltzer has since set up an online support group, Hyperacusis Ear Pain, in memory of the two.
What can be done to cure it?
Unfortunately, there is no specific medical treatment to help cure hyperacusis. However, there are certain therapies that have proven useful for some who suffer from the condition. CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), according to the British Tinnitus Assocation, is used to “recognise what is helpful and/or unhelpful in your everyday life when it comes to living with hyperacusis”. The therapist that works with the patient then tries to help find ways to manage the condition and reduce the impact it has on day-today activities.
There is also more specific therapy that is occasionally used for the condition, often delivered by therapists that also work with conditions such as tinnitus. They will usually work with the patient to gradually introduce aspects of noise into their life in a process known as sound therapy. The patient will be given a small device that plays quiet amounts of background noise, which is often something similar to white noise. They monitor how this affects the patient and then continue from that point as required. In a lot of cases this will be successful however there have definitely been cases where this hasn’t worked and the patient has kept suffering from the symptoms.
Bibiliography
- nhs.uk. 2019. Noise sensitivity (hyperacusis). [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hyperacusis/> [Accessed 29 April 2022].
- Deutsch, G., 2014. On the Quest for Silence: Living With Hyperacusis. [online] ABC News. Available at: <https://abcnews.go.com/Health/quest-silence-living-wth-hyperacusis/story?id=22284805> [Accessed 29 April 2022].
- ENT Health. 2019. Hyperacusis – ENT Health. [online] Available at: <https://www.enthealth.org/conditions/hyperacusis/#:~:text=There%20are%20no%20specific%20surgical,affected%20ear%2C%20or%20both%20ears.> [Accessed 29 April 2022].
- Baguley, D. and McFerran, D., 2019. Hyperacusis. [online] British Tinnitus Association. Available at: <https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/hyperacusis> [Accessed 29 April 2022].
- Swft.nhs.uk. n.d. Hyperacusis information for audiology patients at Warwick Hospital. [online] Available at: <https://www.swft.nhs.uk/our-services/adult-hospital-services/audiology-hearing/hyperacusis> [Accessed 29 April 2022].