Tinnitus & Hyperacusis ASSESSMENT only - £119
Tinnitus & Hyperacusis
Assessment Appointments
What is hyperacusis and how does it affect you?
Hyperacusis is a term for a sound intolerance that causes severe distress and impairment in social, occupational, recreational, and other daily activities. Uncomfortably loud, unpleasant, frightening, or painful sounds may be heard. Although hyperacusis normally affects both ears, according to a study published in the International Journal of Audiology (2017), roughly 13% of patients may only have hyperacusis in one ear (unilateral). When treating unilateral hyperacusis, special concerns must be taken into account.
What Are the Causes of Hyperacusis?
It appears that neurons that ordinarily respond to greater sound levels begin to respond to lower sound levels in patients with hyperacusis, resulting in a feeling of increased loudness. Hyperacusis is characterised by a negative emotional response to stimuli in the surroundings or sound in general. When a sound triggers unpleasant emotions like anxiety, fear, displeasure, or rage, the auditory system prioritises that sound and amplifies its perception, resulting in hyperacusis. In the majority of patients with hyperacusis, there is no other underlying health condition.
How can therapy assist?
The goal of the therapy is to assist the patient in modifying their cognitive response to sound in order to reduce hyperacusis-related suffering. The improvement in true sensitivity to sound will follow.
What is the rate of success?
According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Audiology (2018), patients who get hyperacusis-focused cognitive treatment had a significant reduction in the impact of hyperacusis on their lives, going from 50% to 30%. Once the impact of hyperacusis on the patient’s life is reduced, the actual sensitivity to sound will improve. See the research page for more information on hyperacusis-focused cognitive therapy.
What is Misophonia and how does it affect you?
Misophonia is a condition characterised by intolerance and a strong emotional and behavioural response to certain sounds, such as those associated with eating, breathing, lip smacking, sniffing, snorting, clicking, and tapping.
What Does Misophonia Have to Do With Mental Health?
Misophonia can have a significant impact on an individual’s life, and if left untreated, it can lead to excessive anxiety and sadness, lowering the quality of life for sufferers and their families. In partnership with the University of Cambridge’s Department of Experimental Psychology, pioneering research proposed the first mathematical model based on clinical data that explains how misophonia and hyperacusis contribute to depression. The sooner treatment begins, the lower the likelihood of acquiring other psychological disorders, which would necessitate more intensive psychiatric care.
What does the therapy entail?
The therapy’s goal is to assist the patient in modifying their cognitive response to sound to reduce misophonia-related suffering. When the misophonia-related suffering is alleviated, the real over-sensitivity to the trigger sounds will improve. According to our clinical experience and study, patients who received misophonia-focused therapy saw a 50% reduction in the impact of misophonia on their life and a 60% reduction in misophonia-related suffering in social settings. The frequency-specific pattern of their sound sensitivity, as well as its emotional and behavioural components, necessitate special considerations in the assessment and therapy of patients with misophonia.
A Complex of Neurological, Psychological, and Audiological Factors
The Hearing Journal, Volume 73, Issue 3 (March 2020), pp. 20,22,23
Misophonia is an intolerance and oversensitivity to particular noises that can cause wrath and aggravation, limiting a person’s ability to spend time with family and friends, as well as participate in social activities. Eating, clicking, sniffing, gum biting, lip-smacking, breathing, and tapping are some of the trigger sounds. In people who suffer from misophonia, this initial emotional reaction is usually followed by a vicious cycle of negative thoughts leading to more negative emotions, physical sensations, and evaluative thoughts, all of which feed back into the patient’s initial emotional reaction, exacerbating their negative feelings about the trigger sounds. Furthermore, observing specific motions or anticipating the trigger sounds can elicit strong unpleasant reactions like as anxiety, disgust, irritation, and rage, which can lead to increased focus on the sound source.
HIGHLIGHTS OF MISOPHONIA RESEARCH
- According to a recent study published in the International Journal of Audiology (2018), 33% of children with tinnitus and hyperacusis also have misophonia.
- Adults with hyperacusis are twice as likely to experience misophonia (International Journal of Audiology, 2018).
What is tinnitus and how does it affect you?
Tinnitus is a sound perception in the ears or brain that is not caused by actual sound. Tinnitus is not associated with any other ailment in the majority of patients. Tinnitus may be linked to auditory system abnormalities in some patients.
What should I do?
If you have tinnitus, you should consult us immediately to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus assessed and treated. If your tinnitus persists, you should seek complete treatment from us for your tinnitus.
What does the therapy entail?
People frequently benefit from various types of therapy that assist them in learning alternative ways of cognitively reacting to tinnitus, thereby reducing the emotional disturbances produced by their tinnitus. This allows the tinnitus perception to drift into the background rather than being the focus of attention.
What is the rate of success?
According to a study published in the American Journal of Audiology (2018), patients who received tinnitus-focused cognitive treatment had a significant reduction in their tinnitus loudness from 7 (on a range of 0 to 10) to 5 (on a scale of 0 to 10). (Tinnitus loudness on a 0 to 10 scale). Furthermore, the impact of tinnitus on patients’ lives improved considerably from 60% to 35% on average.