Just Because I Have A Disability It Doesn't Mean I Can't Work

 

November 3

Okay I freaked... I have a right to just break down and tell the doctor to do something about this ringing.. it's 24/7 none stop every day.. since two days before my surgery... I just want it to stop for 5 seconds.. I'd take that...just 5 seconds... for the love of god............ Grrrrrr

 

Bad day... with no job... the stress of job search is getting to me.. I handed in my medical which clearly stated I have Hpyeracusis. It also said I was able to work with limitation and documented the biggest danger to me is directional issues. I have a hard time not hearing the sounds but knowing where they are coming from. And noted that it would be best for me to do Tinnitusis Retraining Therapy and Directional Retraining.

 

Definition of Hyperacusis: is a health condition characterized by an over-sensitivity to certain frequency and volume ranges of sound (a collapsed tolerance to usual environmental sound). A person with severe hyperacusis has difficulty tolerating everyday sounds, some of which may seem unpleasantly or painfully loud to that person but not to others.

 

It can be acquired as a result of damage sustained to the hearing apparatus, or inner ear.Some come down with hyperacusis suddenly by firing a gun, having an airbag deploy in their car, experiencing any extremely loud sound, taking ear sensitizing drugs, Lyme disease, Ménière's disease, TMD/TMJ (Temporomandibular joint disorder), head injury, or surgery.  (Mine was caused by surgery)

 

Symptoms

Ear pain, annoyance, and general intolerance to any sounds that most people don't notice or consider unpleasant. Crying spells or panic attacks may result from cochlear hyperacusis. As many as 86% of hyperacusis sufferers also have tinnitus.

In vestibular hyperacusis, the sufferer may experience feelings of dizziness, nausea, or a loss of balance when sounds of certain pitches are present. For instance, people with vestibular hyperacusis may feel like they are falling and as a result involuntarily grimace and clutch for something to brace themselves with.  The degree to which a sufferer is affected depends not only on the overall severity of that person's symptoms but also on whether the person can detect sounds in that frequency range at the volume in question, as well as on the person's preexisting muscle tone and severity of startle response.

Anxiety, stress, and/or phonophobia may be present in both types of hyperacusis. Someone with either form of hyperacusis may develop avoidant behavior in order to try to avoid a stressful sound situation or to avoid embarrassing themselves in a social situation that might involve noise.

A person suffering from hyperacusis might be startled by very low sound levels. Everyday sounds like shutting doors, ringing phones, television, running water, ticking clocks, chewing gum, cooking, normal conversation, eating, dishes, and other sounds will hurt his/her ears.

Treatment

The most common treatment for hyperacusis is retraining therapy which uses broadband noise. Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), a treatment originally used to treat tinnitus, uses broadband noise to treat hyperacusis. Pink noise can also be used to treat hyperacusis. By listening to broadband noise at soft levels for a disciplined period of time each day, patients can rebuild (i.e., re-establish) their tolerances to sound.

All this information can be googled.