Additional recommendations about: Family and Friends - 3/3

This is the last part of the additional recommendations list related to Family and Friends (and others) when hyperacusis and tinnitus arise:

11. Other things that are difficult are coughing, sneezing, clapping, and loud laughing. Many people add sound to their sneeze. This sounds funny but is true. Many people also laugh extra loud to show their appreciation for how much they are being entertained.

12. If your spouse has hyperacusis and you are relaxing in bed together, keep a couple of things in mind. Rustling newspapers, tearing out coupons, loud yawning, belching, and snoring are all problems. If you question our ear problems because we snore, remember that we cannot hear ourselves when we are sleeping unless a sudden loud sound occurs. A difficult situation is when one spouse has hyperacusis and the other has hearing loss. Their ability to live and sleep together is summed up in one great word - LOVE.

13. No matter what, your condition cannot be hidden and must be explained to your employer. This supplement will help you do that. If you do clerical work and use a typewriter - ask to be retrained on a computer.

14. Check consumer-rating publications whenever you are shopping for a major appliance or automobile. Some magazines are finally including ratings for noise. These are very helpful and often allow us to select the best product without having to listen to it first, or measure it with a sound level meter.

15. It is very difficult when individuals with hyperacusis must have dental work done on their teeth. Most feel it would make good sense to wear foam earplugs while teeth need to be drilled so that the sound would not further affect their sound tolerances. Actually, the opposite is true. When dental drilling is done, most of the sound comes from bone conduction. It is more important to leave ear protection out but have the dentist take regular intermissions (every 30 seconds) so your ears can rest. Wearing ear protection traps the sound inside your head and this is more troublesome to your ears. Recent new technology has produced a tool which works like a miniature sand blaster rather than a drill. This procedure is much more compatible to our ears.

16. Some of us have problems with wax buildup in our ears. If you have sensitive ears, never have your ear doctor flush out your ears with water. The noise is far more than our ears can stand. Earwax must be removed manually. Ear doctors do not like removing wax manually, but there are so many people over the years that have come down with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis from their ears being irrigated to remove wax, it is a clear danger to our ears. Other methods include over-the-counter wax softening drops. Even this procedure, if directions are followed can work well. This will sound overwhelming, but remember - anything you and your family learn from this point will help a great deal. @

Texts extracted from The Hyperacusis Network web page (Supplement section), with the permission of its editor. (see “related links” in this blog)

Additional recommendations about: Family and Friends - 2/3

Continued recommendations list related to Family and Friends (and others) when hyperacusis and tinnitus arise:

7. Conversations must also be addressed. When adults and children talk, they frequently raise their voices to be heard. The problem starts when one person begins talking before the other one has finished. The only way to accomplish this is by raising your voice over the volume of the other person, which is a technique used when someone wants attention and insists on being heard. I call this "overtalking", and we are in trouble when this happens. Be very sensitive to this.

8. It shocks me how doctors, audiologists, and adults who treat and care for sound sensitive patients raise their voice or laugh at an unbearable volume while we are in their presence. Many times we have to be very assertive and remind these individuals to "be quiet." This is the only way these people become convinced that we have a problem.

Sometimes you need to ask them, "Why is it so hard for you to talk softly and be sensitive to the problem I have with my ears? You have no idea what I am going through as evident by the way you conduct yourself when you are with me."

At this point in time, the world is very sympathetic to the deaf or hearing impaired (as they should be) but no consideration is made for those of us who are sound sensitive. It is time doctors get off their pedestals and patients get off their knees. Remember that they are working for you and getting paid very well for it. Loud conversation is the reason why we find it very difficult to be part of family gatherings. We feel bad that others become constantly guarded when we are in their presence and yet we depend on their sensitivity to our condition.

9. Sometimes you may notice we are talking softer, sound hoarse, or even whisper. This can be for three reasons:

1. We may talk softly or become hoarse if our ears are particularly bad and we have incurred a recent noise injury. Sometimes it is even difficult for us to hear our own voice if our ears are having a bad time.

2. As mentioned before, our ears are most sensitive in the early morning and late evening. This has an effect on the volume of our voice.

3. We tend to talk softly because it often evokes a soft, low volume response from whomever we are speaking to.

10. Women and children's voices are usually an octave higher than men's.

(to be continued on the next posts)

Texts extracted from The Hyperacusis Network web page (Supplement section), with the permission of its editor. (see “related links” in this blog)

Additional recommendations about: Family and Friends - 1/3

As we saw the post before, when hyperacusis arise we need help from our family and friends. Here some additional recommendations about that:

1. Speaking to families of loved ones that have a collapsed tolerance to sound - we appreciate all you do for us. You are extraordinary people to handle our special needs. We wish you could attend a local support group in your community to help you cope with this, however hyperacusis is just too rare. Hyperacusis will have an impact on your social life. True friends will remain true - just don't shut them out. Start out slow by entertaining at home (one on one).

2. To those family members who question the difficulties we experience with our ears - you are our added misfortune in life and give us an additional cross to bear. Hyperacusis is an extremely rare disorder that may affect less than 1 per 50,000 people. It is no wonder so little is known about it. Most medical dictionaries do not even list the auditory disorder and most doctors have never even heard of it. What can be done? Is there currently a cure for hyperacusis? Where can I go to get help?

3. Don't get discouraged - you can still reach for the stars even though you have delicate ears. Sometimes it takes us a while to understand just how much potential we still have in us. Encouragement from others helps greatly.

4. The outer ear acts like a satellite dish that collects sounds. For us, the outer ear can be extremely sensitive to touch. Frequently, signs of affection involve hugging or rubbing hands through our hair can be loud on our ears. As unreal as this may seem to those who are caring for us, any contact with the outer ear can be upsetting. If you hug us, we love it, but be careful of our ears. If you run your hands through our hair or comb it - try not to make contact with the outer ear. The only "No Trespass" sign on our whole body is our outer ear. That leaves a lot of room for loving everything else (Smile).

5. Kitchens also have running water, dishwashers, and the dreaded garbage disposal. Please warn us when you are going to use the garbage disposal so we can plug our ears, or better yet - leave that end of the house when these appliances are being operated.

6. Never start your car or beep your horn when we are right next to the vehicle, this just blows us away. Close your car doors quietly, and do not use the automatic garage door unless we are in the car with the windows closed or we are in the house.

(to be continued on the next posts)

Texts extracted from The Hyperacusis Network web page (Supplement section), with the permission of its editor. (see “related links” in this blog)

Special cares and measures taken - 4/4: Family and Friends

Going back to describing my condition, and finishing the “Special cares and measures taken” section, I list here other measures taken when my hyperacusis and tinnitus got worse.

Family and Friends:

Since I live on a third floor house, and my sister and brother on the other ones, we made many arrangements in order to control and prevent some loud noise coming from their houses.

- Every time they were going to use the liquidizer, the vacuum cleaner, the polisher, or the hairdryer, they sent me a previous warning call in order to protect my ears or to go in to my bedroom (that was isolated).

- The same was done when they were going to make some repairs to their houses, especially when using hammers and drills.

- They reduced their meetings at home, and when these took place they tried to avoid raising their voices and/or raising the volume of music. Most of the time, music was not played.

- When they talked with me they did it whispering or by writing, depending on my need.

- By my request, they avoid physical contact (kisses, hugs) on my head, face and/or any surrounding area of the outer ears.

- They also helped me making all those things that involved too much noise and effort (cleaning and fixing the house, handling some electric and electronic equipment, etc.). @