Repeated exposures to certain sounds can directly affect your health. Whether this is the noise of children screeching, screaming, and stomping their feet as they run around. Or that neighbour that plays music at too high a decibel can give you a headache. Being sensitive to noise can lead to migraines, or can happen because of pre-existing conditions, like migraines. Noise sensitivity is a spectrum. And you need to know when your noise sensitivity needs medical attention. From Migraines To Cluster Headaches – These Are The Headaches You Should Be Worried About
Types of noise sensitivity
There are many types of noise sensitivity.
Hyperacusis
This is when normal sounds seem louder than usual. Something like a moving car, a barking dog, or a printer can sound too loud and make your ears hurt. It can also happen after sudden loud noises like fireworks or an explosion. Some medications can lead to hyperacusis. It’s also a symptom of tinnitus, head trauma, or autism. Dealing With Tinnitus: That Annoying Sound In Your Ears
Hyperacusis can be caused by other diseases like migraines or Lyme disease. Once these conditions are managed, the hyperacusis can dissipate. Other conditions that also cause hyperacusis include Meniere’s disease which is a rare inner ear condition that affects balance and hearing. Bell’s palsy is a lack of movement that affects one side of the face. And finally, William’s syndrome is a developmental genetic condition that leads to heart problems, intellectual disability, and distinct physical features.
Other treatments for this noise sensitivity include sound therapy which helps you get used to everyday sounds. There is also cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to reduce how much noises affect you. Relaxation techniques, when it isn’t a symptom of a more serious condition, like breathing techniques can help reduce the sensitivity.
Avoid using ear muffs or ear plugs unless you’re around extremely loud noises. In addition, don’t try to avoid everyday noises, this will increase your sensitivity.
Misophonia
This is when certain sounds make you irritable, such as slurping and chewing noises. These noises don’t usually bother other people. Misophonia is considered a disorder when normal noises trigger psychological responses. Other sounds that can bother people with misophonia are the noises of too many people talking, keyboards clicking, or fidgeting.
Symptoms of misophonia include disgust, a flight response, panic, discomfort, anxiety, and irritability whenever patients hear triggering noises. In more severe cases, misophonia can lead to rage, anger, fear, and emotional distress.
Misophonia appears to be an idiopathic condition. There are no known causes. It usually develops spontaneously but doctors believe it’s not caused by the ears, but rather by the brain. Your mental reaction to trigger sounds is what leads to misophonia. This condition can often be misdiagnosed as other mental health conditions, such as anxiety.
Treatments for misophonia include hearing aids that play white noise to disguise triggering noises. Your lifestyle can also contribute to misophonia. Learning to manage how you respond to triggers can help you reduce the responses to annoying noises. Talk therapy can also help.
Phonophobia
This is an irrational fear of sounds. It can be triggered by loud noises. It’s also known as sonophobia and can be a very debilitating condition. Phonophobia is more likely to appear among people who have anxiety and are on the autism spectrum. Loud noises can be annoying but people with phonophobia experience highly intense emotional reactions. For instance, constant hooting or fireworks can lead to nausea, panicking, sweats, dizziness, chest pains, or fainting.
People on the autism spectrum can experience phonophobia because of sensory sensitivity. Normal sounds can sound a lot louder which can lead to increased anxiety. It can also happen among children with relatives with phonophobia. It can happen because of trauma. Other conditions that can cause phonophobia are migraines, brain trauma, and Kleine-Levin syndrome which is a condition characterised by periods of excessive sleepiness.
The most effective treatments for this kind of noise sensitivity are exposure therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, and relaxation techniques. Therapy and CBT can show positive results within five months.
Hearing recruitment
This is when your ears can’t differentiate between loud and low sounds. It’s characterised by abnormal growth in loudness for people with hearing loss from cochlear damage. If you have this condition, you can feel like you’re hearing too much. The symptoms of this noise sensitivity condition include being unable to hear soft sounds, moderate sounds are very quiet, and loud sounds sound too low then too loud. People with recruitment often ask people to speak louder and then complain that they’re shouting.
This is a condition that needs professional diagnosis. Doctors usually recommend hearing aids, amplifiers, and cochlear implants to help with regulating audio.
Health: How To Care For Your Ears And Protect Your Hearing
What to do about noise sensitivity
If you just have noise sensitivity that’s not a diagnosable condition, what should you do? If you get a hearing evaluation and doctors identify no issue with your mental health or ear trauma, how can you stop the sensitivity? You can start by turning down the volume. Repeated exposure to loud noises changes how your ears respond to sounds. When there are loud noises, you can’t avoid like babies crying or children screaming, it feels like someone is clawing your ears. Try to avoid loud noises for most of your day. Use noise safety gear when you’re operating noisy machinery.
Repeated exposure to loud noises also affects how you react to other loud noises. For instance, if you work in a club, noises in the normal day-to-day can trigger stress. Use noise-cancelling headphones when you’re in loud environments.
Try to change your current environment to avoid loud noises now rather than having to get corrective treatment later. You can install fabric art on your walls to absorb sound. Acoustic ceilings and absorbent carpets can also regulate noise. A white noise machine can drown out disruptive sounds.
Improving your self-care routine such as relaxing, taking walks in nature, exercising, and enough sleep also helps with regulating how you respond to noise.
Check out:
Health: How To Care For Your Ears And Protect Your Hearing
7 Ways To Prevent Ear Infections
Surprising Causes Of Hearing Loss You Probably Didn’t Know
Health Complications: Here Is Why You Should Be Careful About Removing Earwax From Your Ears
