Hyperacusis Daily Life modifications

People who don’t have hyperacusis don’t realize how many things in their daily lives have noise. From waking up to an alarm clock, to flushing the toilet, to running water, to using the microwave almost everything makes noise. For some people with severe hyperacusis, several if not all those things cause them pain. I have seen the topic of the problem with the noise involved with activities of daily living, come up many times in hyperacusis online groups. I have also spoken with various other people with severe hyperacusis who struggle with these things. Having basically grown up with severe hyperacusis, there are unfortunately many daily life activities that I am not able to do, and others I have had to greatly modify to make them quiet.

First let’s talk about ways of finding and creating a quiet place at your home. This is so important because no matter how much you modify activities, if you’re in the environment you are in is painfully loud for you. Depending on where you live: city, suburbs, country. How many people you live with, and whether you have neighbors above and below you can make a big difference in how you go about making or finding a quiet place.

Wherever you live though there are some basic things you can do to try to create a quiet place for yourself. You can purchase acoustic panels, soundproof foam, door sweeps, green glue all on Amazon. Understandably you likely can’t afford to soundproof your whole home, so I recommend soundproofing a closed in room because that will be easiest. If you cannot afford to fully soundproof a room, try soundproofing a closet, large tent, or other small enclosed space.

Your other option is to soundproof the main sources that act as medians for noise to travel through. This usually includes windows, walls, and doors. Try to figure out what most of the noise is getting into the room from and soundproof those sources. In my bedroom, the entire outside facing wall has been soundproofed and I have a closet inside my bedroom with no window or vents that I go into when I need extra quiet.

In terms of ideas for modifications of daily living, I will tell you some of the things that I have found work for me personally. In terms of the bathroom there are several things that I do that are different from most people. When I flush the toilet I cover my ears and run out of the bathroom, it still hurts though so if anyone else has found a better solution please let me know.

The sink water running causes me pain, so to wash my face I use facial cleansing wipes and micellar cleansing water. I have a special quiet fan that I use in my room, because the noise of most fans causes me pain. I eat all of my food on paper plates with plastic silverware, as the porcelain hitting the metal is like being stabbed. I have used craft foam as well as felt mats to put in the bottom of my drawers that have my school supplies, because scraping against the hard surfaces is painful for me. My phone is set to flash instead of ring.

I use the google voice app to make most of my phone calls, because it allows me to mute the noise coming from the other person’s end. If you have any topics that you would like to see me cover in terms of hyperacusis, send me an email: [email protected]. I hope that you find some of these ideas helpful in making your life more quiet and less painful.