What are the symptoms of hyperacusis

The most common allergies we have heard of are skin allergies, allergies to cosmetics, allergies to pollen, and allergies to certain foods, but there is another type of allergy that does exist, and that is auditory allergy. As the name suggests, it is the resistance and discomfort of hearing to certain things. Auditory allergy can cause hearing damage, and severe cases may cause hearing impairment and other diseases. The most common tinnitus is also a type of auditory allergy. So, what are the symptoms of auditory allergy?

If the tolerance for loudness collapses (a collapse of loudness tolerance, Vernon & Press 1988), making sound stimuli extremely sensitive, any sound becomes uncomfortable, even a whisper feels harsh, we call it "hyperacusis".

Auditory hypersensitivity is different from recruitment. People with recruitment are often accompanied by cochlear hearing impairment, and the dynamic range of hearing becomes narrower due to cochlear lesions, especially damage to the outer hair cells. The hearing tests of people with hyperacusis are generally normal because the gain of the central auditory system is enhanced and the inhibition is weakened, which reduces the loudness discomfort level (LDL).

The cause of the disease is a malfunction in the auditory pathway, and the specific cause has not yet been determined. It is not ruled out that topics related to allergic constitution (related to allergic reactions) may be difficult to carry out. This disease can be found in traditional Chinese medicine literature.

Clinically, hyperacusis is not uncommon, and there are many diseases that may be complicated by this symptom:

The most commonly mentioned is tinnitus. The so-called subjective idiopathic tinnitus (SIT) generally refers to hearing unknown sounds originating from one's own head, which is an illusory auditory cognition. As the gain of the central auditory system is enhanced, silence becomes sound and tinnitus is felt. Some people believe that hyperacusis is the precursor (pretinnitus) of this type of tinnitus and the two are related.

Patency of the Eustachian tube: The Eustachian tube is not completely closed, the middle ear cavity is connected to the nasopharynx, the resonance cavity becomes larger, and there is a feeling of blockage in the ears. Sounds sound like an echo, and the so-called "autophony" phenomenon occurs. Patients often complain of hearing hypersensitivity.

Do not use earplugs frequently and avoid overprotecting your ears.

In addition, patients with hyperacusis should also pay attention to the relationship between hyperacusis and tinnitus: Many people are only hyperacusis at the beginning, but gradually develop into tinnitus in the end (real tinnitus is a continuous sound heard at any time, which will cause great psychological distress to patients. Moreover, there is no effective treatment at present. Some say that it may be cured by itself, which has nothing to do with the treatment. It is internationally recognized that there are no effective drugs and treatments at present, except for the use of TRT for adaptation. About 90% of patients with hyperacusis have tinnitus. About 50% of patients first suffer from hyperacusis, and then gradually develop into tinnitus, and the time interval between them is also irregular. Therefore, some experts call hyperacusis the pre-tinnitus condition, and believe that hyperacusis and tinnitus are two symptoms of the same disease. In terms of prognosis, 85% of hyperacusis may be cured, but once tinnitus is contracted, it is almost impossible to cure it. Remember this.