One of the more ironic aspects of my hearing loss is that I also have something called hyperacusis.  I know, I hadn’t heard of it either.  It basically means a hyper-sensitivity to some normal everyday sounds, so that they become distressing or literally painful.  I over-react alarmingly to the sounds of crockery or cutlery being put back in our kitchen drawers, for instance, or the clatter of pots and pans being stacked for drying on the draining board (especially if they slip and crack against each other – aaargh).  To me these everyday noises sound deafening, but more than that they induce real pain in my ears.  I’ve trained myself to refrain from yelling at my husband to STOP, because he’s not making a clatter deliberately.  Indeed, other people wouldn’t think it was a clatter at all.  Instead I take my hearing aids out (just for a few minutes). Continue reading →