Sensitivity to Sounds (Hyperacusis): causes and how to help yourself

Does the sound of cars, motorcycles, and trucks bother you?  Do you get irritated by some voices or sounds, like the blender?  Does the sound of silverware, plates, etc., bother you?  Hyperacusis is a special sensitivity to sounds that, for some people, would be normal.  For those that suffer from hypersensitivity to sounds, it becomes annoying and irritating.

Individuals that suffer from this sensitivity often times isolate themselves, they abandon certain activities because they can’t stand the noises outside or in the area they’re going to be or work.  So they stop driving, they stop going out for walks, they stop talking on the phone, and they even stop working.  Sometimes using earplugs could reduce the noises, especially when it is very loud, acute or rumbling, like domestic electrics, like a hair dryer, the vacuum cleaner, the washing machine, etc.

Hyperacusis generally appears in individuals with normal or slightly reduced hearing (minor hypoacusis), and is generally accompanied by ringing, noises or buzzing in the ear that are not caused by any external source.

Symptoms of hyperacusis

• Constant stress or irritability 
• Ringing that generally becomes stronger or weaker in intensity
• Sleep disorders
• The patient’s life is affected due to the hypersensitivity

Causes of sensitivity to noise or hyperacusis

There could be several causes.  Intense and constant stress combined with being exposed to loud noises, constantly listening to loud volumes or working close to acute and constant noises.  Another deeper cause related to emotions consists of being intolerant to listening to certain things that you don’t like.  This sensitivity is created when the individual resists listening to certain “truths” that they consider to be “noises” in their life.  The ear degenerates into this condition and becomes more sensitive to “normal” noises.

What to do?

If you feel like you are very sensitive to noises that are normal to other people, consider that there are several different ways to treat this.  You could use sound generators to combine wide band sounds, which helps a lot of people.  Another way would be to use very gentle sounds that slowly increase day after day, until you perceive them as normal.

Diet

The majority of diseases or imbalances in the body are due to the body having a heightened level of toxins, which could be caused by several different things.  This could be due to a intestine that doesn’t remove wastes appropriately, due to a deficient diet and consuming a lot of processed or refined products, like white flour.  These rob the body of minerals and create unnecessary wear and tear.  Spend one day eating just papaya to start a natural treatment.  Follow the diet for one or two days, eating solely papaya.  Start your day by drinking horse tail tea before breakfast to help the body balance the ears out, which are associated with the kidneys.

After this diet, try to avoid sugars and flour, cow’s milk in any form, and red meat.  Drink at least two liters of water a day and practice the following meditation: in a peaceful place, put of soft and pleasant music and focus on the sounds.  Try to stay away from vocal music, and listen only to instrumental.  Make sure it is soft, try to enjoy the music and feel the pleasure of listening.  This will help relax your ear, making it more receptive to what it hears in daily life.

Other forms of treatment:

• Try to go out and exercise in peaceful areas to blow some steam off.
• Possible accumulated stress or anxiety.
• If you feel stressed or angry, you should definitely try to rest.  Meditate on the things that you don’t like or the things that bother you, and see ways to change them.
• If you are irritated by things in your life and you don’t know how to change them, and your ears are sensitive, you can make them less sensitive in this way.  It is very important that you learn to release your anger and not expect things from others.  Remember that your happiness is your responsibility.  Get to know yourself a little more every day and learn about the things you don’t like.  Learn to listen to your own noises (guilt, insecurity, and interior weaknesses), and this condition might very likely start to go away.

Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 10/08/2022

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