Introduction

The Hyperacusis Network contains some very useful information about hyperacusis symptoms and treatment options.  You will find this information by clicking on “The Hyperacusis Network” link at the top of this page, which will take you to the Home page, and then selecting the various links from the left panel of the Home page.  You will also find some very kind, thoughtful and helpful folks on the support board. 

Because you are participating on an Internet site, you will soon discover that accurate information competes for space on the support board alongside inaccurate information.  Thus, you will hear about viable treatments for hyperacusis, such as broadband pink noise therapy and Tinnitus Retraining

Therapy (TRT), but you will also read about unproven treatments, such as laser therapy, as well as the overuse of earplugs, which represent the dominion of hope over common sense. 

If you are new to this site, no matter how out-of-sorts and scared you may feel, always remember hyperacusis is treatable, and if you educate yourself and take action you will likely improve over time.  You will hear about viable treatments for hyperacusis, such as and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) and broadband Pink Noise therapy but you will also read about unproven treatments, such as laser therapy, as well as the overuse of earplugs, which represent the dominion of hope over common sense. When used consistently, the broadband noise emitted by the wearable generators used in TRT, or by the pink noise CD or flashdrive available from the Hyperacusis Network, will help you to tolerate more and more sound over time.  Even folks with severely collapsed sound tolerance can make progress, if they only work at it.  And you can too.  
 
As a first step, it is very important to be diagnosed by a neurologist or audiologist who is experienced in successfully diagnosing and treating hyperacusis.  Here is a list of clinicians who may be able to help.

A test that can help your clinician determine whether you have hyperacusis and its extent is called a Loudness Discomfort Level (LDL) test.  LDLs are audiological measurements used to determine the sound levels that are uncomfortable to a prospective patient due to their loudness.  If you are diagnosed with hyperacusis, it is important to get into therapy with a professional with whom you feel comfortable.  Learn about tabletop devices and how they can be helpful to a hyperacusis patient even during sleep.  Learn about music and environmental sounds CDs, which can also be used as a part of therapy.  Go outside and re-involve yourself in life to the best extent you can.    
 
If you are not new to the site, and are not treating your hyperacusis, get off the fence and get busy.  When done correctly, under the guidance of a hearing healthcare professional, therapy isn’t hard and doesn’t hurt.  But it can take a long time, as well as knowledge, commitment and patience.  Don’t wait any longer. 
 
Some people join a forum like ours for support and guidance, while others come here to offer practical suggestions that will help you from Point A to Point B in treating hyperacusis.  Still others come here to work through issues that have no connection to hyperacusis.  The best way for newcomers to distinguish practical, worthwhile information about hyperacusis from happy talk and misinformation is to take the needed time to read books and articles about it and find a clinician who is knowledgeable about hyperacusis.  It could be well worth your time to read the following texts on hyperacusis.
 
– Tinnitus Retraining Therapy — Implementing the Neurophysiological Model by Pawel J. Jastreboff and Jonathan W.P Hazell 

– Hyperacusis Mechanisms, Diagnosis, and Therapies by David M. Baguley and Gerhard Andersson, 

– The chapter on hyperacusis in Tinnitus: Questions and Answers by Jack A. Vernon and Barbara Tabachnick Sanders.  
   
Most hyperacusis patients are successfully treated by working with some form of broadband noise (e.g., Tinnitus Retraining Therapy or broadband pink noise).

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