What it can do
Graduated exposure paired with regulation skills can widen comfortable dynamic range for many hyperacusis presentations, when pacing respects pain and anxiety.1
Misophonia-focused protocols can shrink family conflict and avoidance when individualized; semantic control and inhibition work helps explain why skills, not only decibels, matter.4
Neural timing and plasticity research supports the broader idea that safe, repeated practice can update auditory processing, without endorsing reckless loudness.2
What it cannot do
It should not force pain-level sound “to toughen you up.” That risks worsening threat appraisals and after-effects.1
It cannot skip assessment for otologic or neurological emergencies when symptoms are acute.1
It cannot pretend sensory limits are irrelevant when cognitive testing or communication fails. Listening effort interacts with tolerance.3
What it depends on
Pacing, sleep, anxiety, migraine overlap, and sometimes hearing technology. Plasticity needs safe repetition, not hero days.2
Training that engages linguistic and cognitive systems may generalize better than passive playlists, parallel lesson from auditory training reviews.5
Where clinicians still fit
Sound sensitivity labels overlap. A good team triages hyperacusis, misophonia, phonophobia, and migraine, then sequences exposure, devices, and therapy accordingly.13
