Little children who do not yet know how to speak properly sometimes frighten their parents with sudden crying, screaming and tantrums. And if so they react to any sharp sound? Where to run: to a neurologist, psychologist, psychiatrist?
Here is what otolaryngologists and neurologists say about fear of sharp sounds in babies:
Question. A little child is afraid of sharp sounds. Gets hysterical when he hears them. Why does it happen? And how can I help him?
Answer. Reaction to harsh sounds is a defensive reaction. And the point is not so much in the volume and decibels of these sounds, but in their unexpectedness. That is, a sewing machine that knocks in the background in the next room is a familiar sound, but a suddenly turned on vacuum cleaner is like an alarm, and it can provoke crying or even hysteria.
The child can be frightened even by the banal sneeze of the mother. As a rule, children freeze in such situations: this is an innate defense reflex. But there are those who start to cry.
Loud and harsh sounds – like any strong irritant – quickly exhaust the child. But here it is important to understand that all children are different: there are those who initially have some problems.
In English literature, you can find the term “witch hour”.
This is about children who are cheerful, active all day, smile all the time and sleep well, and at 9 pm they open their mouths and scream until 11 o’clock in such a way that nothing can calm them down. And this is considered the norm for children under the age of 3 months. Such children react more vividly to sharp sounds.
In addition, there is such a hearing impairment – hyperacusis. With this feature, people, regardless of age, perceive ordinary sounds as too loud.
And then they feel really loud sounds as something that brings pain. Note that ordinary children can also experience such a state at the time of fright, extreme overexcitation or nervous exhaustion.
Plus, little babies, like adults, can have a migraine attack. And then even a rustle will cause discomfort in the child, and a sharp loud sound can provoke screaming and crying.
The global cause of a too violent reaction to harsh sounds may be the sensory disintegration of the child. This, unfortunately, is the scourge of modern children. We live in a world of asphalt, clean floors and plastic.
The child simply lacks a natural sensory experience. He does not stroke animals, does not crawl on grass, sand, stones and other surfaces that differ in texture, does not fumble with his hands in the mud.
Sensory experience is kept to a minimum, including auditory experience. Instead of mother’s lullabies – the notorious interactive toys with mechanical sounds, instead of a live voice and communication – educational toys in a smartphone and tablet. And all this affects the perception of sounds in principle.
If you notice that the child reacts sharply to loud sounds, this is a good reason to seek the advice of a neurologist. Often, in addition to a violent reaction to harsh sounds, a child may also have other symptoms.
For example, he may demonstrate hyperexcitability, cannot calm down for a long time, it is difficult to persuade him or switch to something. All this should alert parents.
Another such reaction to harsh sounds may be part of some kind of genetic syndrome, but this is an extremely rare story.
Hearing heightened is often one of the symptoms of a number of diseases. But is this true, only a specialist will say after an internal appointment.
How to help a child at a particular moment? Protect him as much as possible from any sounds that frighten and cause crying or tantrums. And if you can’t protect yourself, in no case should you say: “Don’t scream now!” No need to try to discipline a child when he is ill.
It is very important for a child to understand that parents are people who are always on his side and will not scold him along with everyone in the store when he is lying on the floor in hysterics.
It is important that the parents do not have a rejecting position at this moment, that they do not exacerbate his problem. You just need to explain: “It’s okay, you heard this sound, you got scared, you will cry, and everything will pass. We’re going to wash our hands and drink some water.”
And then – go to an appointment with a specialist (otolaryngologist) who will help find the cause of such a reaction and build a route of help.
Otolaryngologists on hyperacusia:
Hyperacusis is a decrease in susceptibility to sounds of medium and high intensity in well-hearing people, painful sensitivity to ordinary environmental sounds. Basically, this is a loudness perception disorder.
In the practice of both an otolaryngologist and a neurologist, this is a big clinical task requiring diagnostics. It is important to clarify which sounds the child perceives painfully. True hyperacusis is when all sounds appear critically loud.
In the event that only some specific sounds seem loud, then we are usually talking about phonophobia. This is a fear of sounds that has been formed over the years and is associated with certain traumatic associations.
There is evidence that in people suffering from tinnitus (ringing noise in an ear), hyperacusis is present in 40% of cases. And in patients with hyperacusis, tinnitus is diagnosed in as much as 86% of cases.
Hyperacusis is most often associated with diseases such as Meniere’s disease, perilymphatic fistula, acute sensorineural hearing loss, otosclerosis, Ramsay-Hunt symptom, migraine, depression, facial nerve damage, Bell’s palsy, Lyme disease, post-traumatic stress.
However, only a face-to-face examination of a specialist (otolaryngologist and neurologist) will help answer the question of what is the true cause of the fear of sharp sounds and what should be done to deal with it.