You know that it can be a challenge to get your partner’s attention if they have neglected hearing loss. First, you try to use their name. “Greg”, you say, but you used a regular, indoor volume level, so you get nothing. You try saying Greg’s name a bit louder and still nothing. 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 interaction. People with hearing loss often report hypersensitivity to loud sound. And this sensitivity to loud noises can help illustrate why Greg doesn’t hear his name at a normal volume but gets aggravated when you shout at him.
Can hearing loss make loud sounds even worse?
So, hearing loss can be sort of curious. Usually, hearing loss will cause your hearing to decline, particularly if it goes untreated. But things can get really loud when you’re out at a packed restaurant or watching a Michael Bay movie. So loud that it can become uncomfortable. Maybe the movie suddenly gets really loud or somebody is shouting to get your attention.
And you’ll think: What’s causing this sensitivity to loud noise?
Which can also make you feel a bit cranky, honestly. Many people who experience this will feel like they’re going mad. That’s because they can’t get a handle on how loud anything is. Imagine, all of your family, friends, and acquaintances seem to confirm you’re losing your hearing, but you have this sudden sensitivity to loud sound. It feels like a contradiction.
Auditory recruitment
The cause of this sound sensitivity is a condition called auditory recruitment. Here’s how it works:
- There are little hairs, called stereocilia, that cover the inside of your ear. When soundwaves enter into your ears, these hairs vibrate and your brain translates that signal into sounds.
- Deterioration of these hairs is what produces age-related sensorineural hearing loss. Over time, these little hairs are permanently damaged by frequent exposure to loud sounds. As a result, your hearing becomes less sensitive. Your degree of hearing loss will be progressively more severe the more hairs that are compromised.
- But this isn’t an evenly occurring process. There will be a combination of healthy and damaged hairs.
- So when the damaged hairs are exposed to a loud noise, the healthy hairs are “recruited” (hence the condition’s name) to send a signal of alarm to your brain. Suddenly, all of the stereocilia fire, and everything becomes very loud.
Think about it this way: That Michael Bay explosion is loud but everything else is quiet. So it’s going to seem louder, when that Michael Bay explosion occurs, than it normally would.
Sounds a lot like hyperacusis
You may think that these symptoms sound a little familiar. That’s probably because they’re often confused with a condition called hyperacusis. At first glance, this confusion is understandable. Both conditions can cause sounds to get very loud all of a sudden.
But here are a few considerable differences:
- Hyperacusis isn’t directly caused by hearing loss. Auditory recruitment certainly is.
- When you have hyperacusis, noises that are at an objectively normal volume seem really loud to you. Think about it this way: A shout will still sound like a shout when you have auditory recruitment; but a whisper could sound like a shout with hyperacusis.
- Hyperacusis causes pain. Literally. Feeling pain is common for people who have hyperacusis. That’s not necessarily the case with auditory recruitment.
At the end of the day, auditory recruitment and hyperacusis have some superficially similar symptoms. But they are not the same condition.
Is there any way to treat audio recruitment?
There isn’t any cure for hearing loss and that’s the bad news. Your hearing will never return once it’s gone. Treatment of hearing loss can largely prevent this.
The same goes for auditory recruitment. But here’s the good news, auditory recruitment can successfully be treated. Normally, hearing aids are part of that treatment. And there’s a specific calibration for those hearing aids. So it will be necessary to schedule an appointment with us.
We’ll be able to determine the particular wavelengths of sound that are causing your auditory recruitment symptoms. Then your hearing aids will be dialed in to decrease the volume of those wavelengths. It’s kind of like magic, but it’s using science and technology (so, not really like magic at all, but it works really effectively is what we’re trying to communicate here).
Effective treatment can only work with certain types of hearing aids. Over-the-counter hearing aids or sound amplifiers, for instance, don’t have the required technological sophistication and built-in sensitivity, so they will not be able to deal with your symptoms.
Make an appointment with us
If you are experiencing sensitivity to loud sounds, it’s important to realize that you can get relief. The bonus is that your new hearing aid will make everything sound clearer.
But it all begins by scheduling an appointment. This hypersensitivity is a normal part of the hearing loss process, it happens to many, many people.
It doesn’t have to keep making you miserable.
