Hyperacusis-Tinnitus
Tinnitus and Hyperacusis
Hearing loss often triggers an in escapable buzz (tinnitus) and causes everyday sounds to become intolerably loud (hyperacusis), but exactly where and how this occurs in the brain is unknown.
Your ears detect sounds as vibrations. If you have hyperacusis, your brain confuses or exaggerates certain vibrations. So even if you get the same signals as someone else, your brain reacts differently to them. That’s what causes the discomfort.
As many as 63 percent of tinnitus patients also suffer from hyperacusis.
References
- Fife TD, Tourkevich R. Tinnitus, Hyperacusis, Otalgia, and Hearing Loss. Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2021 Apr 1;27(2):491-525.
- Wigansari GPA, Sani AF, Kurniawan D, Qimindra FR. Chronic pulsatile tinnitus and continuous vertigo due to very delayed diagnosis of single slow-flow dural arteriovenous. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2023 Jan-Mar;14(1):140-142.
- Jahn KN, Polley DB. Asymmetric hearing thresholds are associated with hyperacusis in a large clinical population. Hear Res. 2023 Sep 15;437:108854.