If you have a partner with neglected hearing loss, you realize that getting their attention can be… a struggle. First, you try to use their name. “Greg”, you say, but you used a standard, inside volume level, so you get no reply. You try raising your volume and saying Greg’s name again but he still doesn’t hear you. So finally, you shout.
Well this time Greg hears you and crossly asks what you’re yelling for.
It’s not just stubbornness and impatience that create this situation. Hypersensitivity to loud sound is frequently reported in those with hearing loss. So it seems logical that Greg gets cranky when you shout his name after he repeatedly fails to hear you when you talk to him at a normal volume.
Can loud sounds seem louder with hearing loss?
Hearing loss can be a peculiar thing. Normally, hearing loss will cause your hearing to decline, especially if it goes untreated. But things can get very loud when you’re out at a busy restaurant or watching a Michael Bay movie. Uncomfortably loud. Maybe it’s someone yelling to get your attention or one of the explosions in the newest Transformers movie, it just becomes really loud really fast.
And you’ll wonder why you’re so sensitive to loud noise.
Which can, honestly, put you in an irritable mood. Many people who notice this will feel like they’re going crazy. That’s because they can’t determine how loud things are. Imagine, all of your family, friends, and acquaintances seem to validate you’re losing your hearing, but you have this sudden sensitivity to loud sound. It feels like a contradiction.
Auditory recruitment
A condition called auditory recruitment can trigger these symptoms. It works like this:
- There are tiny hairs, called stereocilia, that cover your inner ear. These hairs vibrate when soundwaves enter your ears and this vibration is then translated to sounds by your brain.
- Age-related “sensorineural” hearing loss takes place as these hairs are damaged. Loud sounds can damage the hairs over time, and once they are injured, they never heal. Your hearing becomes duller as a result. The more damaged hairs you have, the less you’re able to hear.
- But this process doesn’t happen evenly. There will be a mixture of healthy and damaged hairs.
- So when the impaired hairs are exposed to a loud sound, the healthy hairs are “recruited” (thus the condition’s name) to send a message of alarm to your brain. All of a sudden, all of the stereocilia fire, and everything gets very loud.
Think about it this way: That Michael Bay explosion is loud while everything else is quiet. So it will seem louder, when that Michael Bay explosion happens, than it normally would.
Isn’t that exactly like hyperacusis?
You may think that these symptoms sound a bit familiar. There is a condition called hyperacusis that has comparable symptoms and the two are often confused. When you first compare them, this confusion is understandable. Auditory recruitment is a condition where you have a sensitivity to loud sounds, and hyperacusis is a condition in which sounds very abruptly get loud.
But here are a few significant differences:
- While hyperacusis has no connection to hearing loss, there is a direct link between auditory recruitment and hearing loss.
- Noises that are normal objectively will sound really loud for somebody who has hyperacusis. Think about it this way: A shout will still sound like a shout with auditory recruitment; but when you have hyperacusis, a whisper might sound like a shout.
- Hyperacusis is painful. Literally. Most people who cope with hyperacusis report feelings of pain. That’s not necessarily the case with auditory recruitment.
Overall, auditory recruitment and hyperacusis have a few superficially similar symptoms. But they aren’t the same condition.
Can auditory recruitment be treated?
The bad news is that there’s no cure for hearing loss. Your hearing will never return once it’s gone. Treatment of hearing loss can largely prevent this.
This also is true for auditory recruitment. But the good news is that auditory recruitment can successfully be treated. Normally, hearing aids are at the center of that treatment. And those hearing aids need to be specifically calibrated. So it will be necessary to schedule an appointment with us.
The exact frequencies of sound that are triggering your auditory recruitment will be identified. Your hearing aids can then be adjusted to diminish that wavelength of sound. It’s a very effective treatment.
Only specific types of hearing aid will be effective. The symptoms can’t be addressed with over-the-counter hearing devices because they lack the technological sophistication.
Reach out to us for an appointment
It’s essential that you recognize that you can find relief from your sensitivity to loud sound. You will also get the extra benefit of using a hearing aid to improve your life’s soundscape.
But it all begins by making an appointment. This hypersensitivity is a normal part of the hearing loss process, it happens to many, many people.
You can get help so call us.