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Poll: Do you have Hyperacusis (auditory sensitivity)?

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Do you have Hyperacusis (auditory sensitivity)?
Yes. I am highly sensitive to loud sounds 86%  86%  [ 25 ]
No. Sounds don't bother me. 14%  14%  [ 4 ]
Total votes : 29

tfw7
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30 Jun 2018, 7:47 am

Trogluddite wrote:
Yes, I have very acute hearing. On the other hand, it's not always the volume of the sound that is the problem for me, though whatever the source that does make it worse. It's more like I hear too much, especially as the number of conflicting sound sources rises; there's so much detail there, but I struggle to isolate or classify them as individual sources. Eventually it just becomes a mush that fills my head until I can't bear it any more. I suspect misophonia is involved as well, as there are certain sounds that can be intensely irritating even at very low volumes and others which are unbearable to the point of meltdown.
I would love to be tested like that myself. Throughout life, I've often been able to hear high frequency sounds which the people around me were unable to. In childhood, I can remember being made very uncomfortable by the extreme high frequency sounds made by some people's old tube TV sets etc. which no-one else seemed at all aware of. I have been driven nuts and lost sleep because of an ultra-sonic cat/pest repeller in a neighbour's yards, which again, no-one else could hear let alone were irritated by. Likewise with especially quiet sounds and at the low frequency end.


I have just (2 weeks ago) been diagnosed with hyperacusis and am awaiting (next week) my assessment for Aspergers. Very similar experiences to Trogluddite; I have very very good hearing, especially at high frequencies, and all the time "hear too much" with sends my brain into overload. I had to buy a new broadband router a whole back as I could hear the high pitched noises it gave out. My fridge drives me crazy at the moment!
At my appt with the hearing therapist the other week she fitted me with a wearable white noise generator (looks like a behind the ear hearing aid) which I need to wear for at least 6 hours a day. It's designed to desensitize the brain by making it believe that noise can be okay and not painful. Process can take up to 12 months, so obv very early days for me at the moment.


_________________
was self diagnosed aspie .... was awaiting formal assessment... now formally diagnosed - yay!


Giasone Leone
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30 Jun 2018, 11:00 am

Just a thought: your poll is a little flawed as mainly people with Hyperacusis will bother clicking the link, thus giving skewed results.



Exuvian
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30 Jun 2018, 12:06 pm

Giasone Leone wrote:
Just a thought: your poll is a little flawed as mainly people with Hyperacusis will bother clicking the link, thus giving skewed results.

True, there's going to be some self-section bias in all "Do you X" polls, even more so in similar (un-polled) topics.
It's a good reminder that we shouldn't just respond in the affirmative to help represent a scenario more accurately.



Magna
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12 Jul 2018, 8:52 pm

tfw7 wrote:
Trogluddite wrote:
Yes, I have very acute hearing. On the other hand, it's not always the volume of the sound that is the problem for me, though whatever the source that does make it worse. It's more like I hear too much, especially as the number of conflicting sound sources rises; there's so much detail there, but I struggle to isolate or classify them as individual sources. Eventually it just becomes a mush that fills my head until I can't bear it any more. I suspect misophonia is involved as well, as there are certain sounds that can be intensely irritating even at very low volumes and others which are unbearable to the point of meltdown.
I would love to be tested like that myself. Throughout life, I've often been able to hear high frequency sounds which the people around me were unable to. In childhood, I can remember being made very uncomfortable by the extreme high frequency sounds made by some people's old tube TV sets etc. which no-one else seemed at all aware of. I have been driven nuts and lost sleep because of an ultra-sonic cat/pest repeller in a neighbour's yards, which again, no-one else could hear let alone were irritated by. Likewise with especially quiet sounds and at the low frequency end.


I have just (2 weeks ago) been diagnosed with hyperacusis and am awaiting (next week) my assessment for Aspergers. Very similar experiences to Trogluddite; I have very very good hearing, especially at high frequencies, and all the time "hear too much" with sends my brain into overload. I had to buy a new broadband router a whole back as I could hear the high pitched noises it gave out. My fridge drives me crazy at the moment!
At my appt with the hearing therapist the other week she fitted me with a wearable white noise generator (looks like a behind the ear hearing aid) which I need to wear for at least 6 hours a day. It's designed to desensitize the brain by making it believe that noise can be okay and not painful. Process can take up to 12 months, so obv very early days for me at the moment.


If I may ask, how did your assessment for Aspergers go?

The audiologist that diagnosed my hyperacusis suggested the same type of behind the ear white noise generators. Alas, in the U.S. such devices aren't covered by health insurance and the cost of the units were laughably out of any realm of me affording to purchase them. If I recall correctly they would have been around $4,000.