Hyperacusis
July 19th 2006 00:00
Hyperacusis
Hyperacusis (hyper = excessive, acusis = acoustics) is excessive sensitivity to normal sounds such as running water, footsteps or a ringing phone. Hyperacusis sufferers dont have better hearing that anyone else but perceive sounds to be at a much greater volume. They can only tolerate sounds up to 60 decibels, the level of normal conversation (which will sounds like gunshots to them), whereas average listeners can tolerate up to 100 decibels the equivalent of a car horn blasting in your ear.
It is unknown what causes hyperacusis but it can be brought on by events such as head injuries, exposure to extremely loud sounds or autism. It can also be linked to tinnitus, where people can hear buzzing or ringing in their ears. Some researches believe that hyperacusis is caused by the modern lifestyle with loud noises from traffic, aircraft and personal music players.
The most successful treatment available is using pink-noise therapy, where sufferers listen to sounds with the amplitude gradually decreasing as the frequency increases so low notes are louder than higher ones, supposedly a model for everyday sounds. The aim is to gradually be desensitised to this noise so sufferers can better tolerate normal sounds.
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Information obtained from The Word - Hyperacusis, New Scientist, 15 July 2006
Hyperacusis (hyper = excessive, acusis = acoustics) is excessive sensitivity to normal sounds such as running water, footsteps or a ringing phone. Hyperacusis sufferers dont have better hearing that anyone else but perceive sounds to be at a much greater volume. They can only tolerate sounds up to 60 decibels, the level of normal conversation (which will sounds like gunshots to them), whereas average listeners can tolerate up to 100 decibels the equivalent of a car horn blasting in your ear.
Hyperacusis involves hearing things louder than they actually are...
The most successful treatment available is using pink-noise therapy, where sufferers listen to sounds with the amplitude gradually decreasing as the frequency increases so low notes are louder than higher ones, supposedly a model for everyday sounds. The aim is to gradually be desensitised to this noise so sufferers can better tolerate normal sounds.
Information obtained from The Word - Hyperacusis, New Scientist, 15 July 2006
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