On this Veterans Day and every day, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) thanks our U.S. service members and veterans for their sacrifices. This group is disproportionately at risk for hearing damage, but earlier this year changes to how tinnitus is rated as a compensable disability were proposed.
Unraveling the Pain of Sound: New Insights Into Hyperacusis
Our partner Hyperacusis Research recently hosted a webinar that highlighted both the human impact of hyperacusis—pain triggered by everyday sounds—and the scientific progress being made to understand and treat it.
Megan Beers Wood: How I Got My Start With ERG
My focus is studying pathologies following noise overexposure. This includes noise-induced hearing loss and pain hyperacusis. I specifically look at how the immune system interacts with the neurons of the ear after noise.
Studying a Genetic Cause of Hyperacusis Using Foxg1 Variant Mice
This study shows that a single variant in the Foxg1 gene can affect how the brain processes sounds and lead to a heightened sensitivity to noise.
Virus-Delivered Therapy Reduces Sound Damage in the Mouse Ear
Our data showed that introducing the mutated nicotinic receptor into otherwise healthy ears can prevent, to some extent, permanent auditory damage caused by loud noise and accelerate hearing recovery.
Join the Hyperacusis Heroes Book Project
What I have discovered is that unlike many other disabilities and chronic conditions, there are no anthologies or collections of personal stories published in book form about hyperacusis. So by publishing this book, I hope to develop greater awareness and understanding about hyperacusis.
Tech, Tapping, Tinnitus, and More
There has been a lot of news lately—in the hearing health space—that we want to highlight, from dementia research to ways to alleviate motion sickness and improve speech comprehension.
Brain Discovery Could Revolutionize Hearing Loss Treatment
The brain may help regulate the ear’s sensitivity to sound and compensate for hearing loss by sending signals to the cochlea, a structure in the inner ear. This discovery could pave the way for new treatments for challenging hearing disorders such as hyperacusis and tinnitus.
A Chance Encounter
After the marriage he confided to my mom that he had developed a mild to moderate sound intolerance from frequent loud exposures in his construction job, from bulldozers, claw hammers, jackhammers, etc.
The 5 Distinct Sound Hypersensitivity Disorders
Sound hypersensitivity disorders are conditions that disrupt a person’s ability to participate in normal daily activities due to physical discomfort, emotional distress, or excessive fear triggered by everyday sounds.