A Simple Guide to Hyperacusis, (Hypersensitivity to Sound) diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Hyperacusis (Hypersensitivity to Sound), Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Hyperacusis is a hearing disorder that makes it difficult to manage everyday sounds.

The patient might also called it sound or noise hypersensitivity.

If the patient has it, certain sounds may appear unbearably loud even though people around the patient do not appear to notice them.

Hyperacusis is a disorder of loudness perception, where sounds that are ordinarily considered normal become intolerable.

Patients may feel this sensation as painful, frightening, unpleasant, or excessively loud.

Hyperacusis is rare.

It affects 1 in 50,000 people.

People who have it also have another disorder called tinnitus which is buzzing or ringing in the ear.

Hyperacusis often co-exists with tinnitus and can cause considerable distress, with patients regularly reporting reduction in their social, occupational, and recreational activities.

Avoiding sound sources in Hyperacusis and seeking medical attention are frequent behaviors.

The terms phonophobia (fear of sound) and misophonia (hatred of sound) can be linked with intolerance to specific sounds and may have an emotional component with the former mostly linked with migraine.

While a definitive cure is yet to be identified, research in this field is increasing, and there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of peer-reviewed studies on the disorder in the past 4 decades.

People are not typically born with hyperacusis.

It normally results from certain diseases or health disorders.

The most frequent causes are:

1. An injury to the head (one caused by a knock on the head)
2. Damage to one or both ears because of medications or toxins
3. A viral infection that affects the inner ear or facial nerve (Bell's palsy)
4. Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder
5. Lyme disease
6. Tay-Sachs disease
7. Migraine headaches
8. Using Valium regularly
9. Certain kinds of epilepsy
10. Chronic fatigue syndrome
11. Meniere's disease
12. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
13. Depression
14. Autism
15. Surgery on the jaw or face
16. Williams syndrome

The most frequent cause of hyperacusis is high noise exposure without hearing protection.

Exposure to a loud noise also can produce hyperacusis.

Some sound such as a single loud gunshot can trigger the disorder.

But it also can result from being near loud noises over a long period.

Phonophobia and misophonia are disorders linked with the limbic system in the brain and there is no abnormality in the peripheral or central auditory system.

Phonophobia is a psychiatric disorder where there is a fear of a definite sound.

Misophonia is a psychological disorder in which a specific sound activates emotional and physical reactions.

Hyperacusis is the sound sensitivity developing from within the auditory system and can be activated by any generic, low-intensity sound.

The diagnosis of hyperacusis involves determining LDL using pure-tone audiometry and questionnaires to determine disease severity.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective parts of hyperacusis therapy together with counseling and education.

Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) involves educating the patient about their disorder alongside gradual sound enrichment.

Prolonged low-level noise exposure has been proven to have a reversing effect on the enhanced neural gain, which is believed to be the underlying mechanism of hyperacusis.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Hyperacusis
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Misophonia
Chapter 8 Presbyacusis
Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463308530

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

To

Hyperacusis,

(Hypersensitivity to Sound)

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2021 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Hyperacusis (Hypersensitivity to Sound), Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Hyperacusis)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Hyperacusis

What Is Hyperacusis?

Hyperacusis is a hearing disorder that makes it difficult to manage everyday sounds.

The patient might also called it sound or noise hypersensitivity.

If the patient has it, certain sounds may appear unbearably loud even though people around the patient do not appear to notice them.

Hyperacusis is a disorder of loudness perception, where sounds that are ordinarily considered normal become intolerable.

Patients may feel this sensation as painful, frightening, unpleasant, or excessively loud.

Hyperacusis is rare.

It affects 1 in 50,000 people.

People who have it also have another disorder called tinnitus which is buzzing or ringing in the ear.

Hyperacusis often co-exists with tinnitus and can cause considerable distress, with patients regularly reporting reduction in their social, occupational, and recreational activities.

Avoiding sound sources in Hyperacusis and seeking medical attention are frequent behaviors.

The terms phonophobia (fear of sound) and misophonia (hatred of sound) can be linked with intolerance to specific sounds and may have an emotional component with the former mostly linked with migraine.

While a definitive cure is yet to be identified, research in this field is increasing, and there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of peer-reviewed studies on the disorder in the past 4 decades.

Hyperacusis is a hearing disorder.