Hyperacusis

Excerpt

Hyperacusis is a rare disorder of loudness perception, where sounds that are ordinarily considered innocuous become intolerable. Patients may perceive this sensation as painful, frightening, unpleasant, or excessively loud. Hyperacusis often co-exists with tinnitus and can cause significant distress, with patients regularly reporting impairment in their social, occupational, and recreational activities. Avoiding sound sources and seeking medical attention are common behaviors. The terms phonophobia (fear of sound) and misophonia (dislike of sound) can be associated with intolerance to specific sounds and may have an emotional component with the former mostly associated with migraine.

Although a definitive cure is yet to be identified, research in this field is accelerating, and there has been a 10-fold increase in the number of peer-reviewed studies on the condition in the past four decades.