I'm trying to better understand the difference between hyperacusis and autophony, as some of what I read and and what my doctor said seems ambiguous or contradictory.
As I understand it, hyperacusis is an increased sensitivity to everyday environmental sounds, often resulting in pain and/or vestibular symptoms. Some people report being sensitive to the sound of their own footsteps, which they seem to hear loudly or feel in their ear.
Autophony, on the other hand, is often described as hearing your own voice loudly, although some places I've seen it described as also hearing other "self-generated" sounds, such as heartbeat, footsteps, chewing/swallowing, breathing, and eye movement.
So I don't know how to interpret my own symptoms, which are primarily in one ear. I have pulsatile tinnitus, a chiming type of noise that occurs in sync with every heartbeat. (They've done all the typical tests--MRI, MRA, CT--and all came back normal.) Chewing sounds louder than before, and I can't chew gum anymore because the squelching sound drive me nuts. When I shake my head back and forth or tap on it, it rings. If someone pats me on the back my whole head rings, like my back is the pedal and my head is the drum. When I close my eyes, I hear a creaking type noise, like the sounds of my eye muscles moving. But most annoying of all, I get a clanging noise in my ear with every footstep--it sounds as if I'm walking by a shelf full of glassware that's rattling with each step. Do people get this with hyperacusis? It doesn't seem like I'm hearing it loudly from the outside though, but more like it's being transmitted from my heel, through my body, and crashing into my ear.
To me, these sounds all feel internal...but my doctor considers this to be hyperacusis, not autophony. Maybe because my voice doesn't sound loud? Other than a kind of an echo or "kazoo-like" sound when I hum low notes or speak m's or n's, my voice sounds pretty normal to me. And I do have some increased sensitivity to external sounds, so maybe hyperacusis is accurate? For example, the ventilation system in my favorite grocery store suddenly bothers me (annoying, but not uncomfortable), and my husband's sneezes sound so loud now they make me jump.
But on balance, I'd say the internal sounds are much more prevalent and bothersome than the outside sounds, so I don't know what to make of the "hyperacusis" label. Is this consistent with what others experience as hyperacusis? Maybe mild hyperacusis? Is it maybe also autophony? Or are there different terms to describe some of these? I guess labels don't really matter, but since there don't seem to be any answers as to why I have these symptoms, at least knowing what to call them would be something!
As I understand it, hyperacusis is an increased sensitivity to everyday environmental sounds, often resulting in pain and/or vestibular symptoms. Some people report being sensitive to the sound of their own footsteps, which they seem to hear loudly or feel in their ear.
Autophony, on the other hand, is often described as hearing your own voice loudly, although some places I've seen it described as also hearing other "self-generated" sounds, such as heartbeat, footsteps, chewing/swallowing, breathing, and eye movement.
So I don't know how to interpret my own symptoms, which are primarily in one ear. I have pulsatile tinnitus, a chiming type of noise that occurs in sync with every heartbeat. (They've done all the typical tests--MRI, MRA, CT--and all came back normal.) Chewing sounds louder than before, and I can't chew gum anymore because the squelching sound drive me nuts. When I shake my head back and forth or tap on it, it rings. If someone pats me on the back my whole head rings, like my back is the pedal and my head is the drum. When I close my eyes, I hear a creaking type noise, like the sounds of my eye muscles moving. But most annoying of all, I get a clanging noise in my ear with every footstep--it sounds as if I'm walking by a shelf full of glassware that's rattling with each step. Do people get this with hyperacusis? It doesn't seem like I'm hearing it loudly from the outside though, but more like it's being transmitted from my heel, through my body, and crashing into my ear.
To me, these sounds all feel internal...but my doctor considers this to be hyperacusis, not autophony. Maybe because my voice doesn't sound loud? Other than a kind of an echo or "kazoo-like" sound when I hum low notes or speak m's or n's, my voice sounds pretty normal to me. And I do have some increased sensitivity to external sounds, so maybe hyperacusis is accurate? For example, the ventilation system in my favorite grocery store suddenly bothers me (annoying, but not uncomfortable), and my husband's sneezes sound so loud now they make me jump.
But on balance, I'd say the internal sounds are much more prevalent and bothersome than the outside sounds, so I don't know what to make of the "hyperacusis" label. Is this consistent with what others experience as hyperacusis? Maybe mild hyperacusis? Is it maybe also autophony? Or are there different terms to describe some of these? I guess labels don't really matter, but since there don't seem to be any answers as to why I have these symptoms, at least knowing what to call them would be something!
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