IMAGINE waking up one day to find that the world has become louder. Sounds that once were tolerable – running water, footsteps, a ringing phone – are suddenly deafening. It’s as if someone has turned up the volume. You want to run and hide but it follows you everywhere.
“To a sufferer, even the sound of their own voice can be intolerable”
This is the world experienced by sufferers of hyperacusis – literally, excessive sensitivity to normal sounds. It can range from an annoyance to a completely debilitating disorder. Sufferers don’t have better hearing than everyone else; rather, they perceive sounds to…
