Reply To: Share Your Tips for Coping with Misophonia

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#4048
Beth

    Okay, it’s Beth again. I wanted to update you all!

    Guys, it’s incredible. Sound therapy is working! The main gist of sound therapy is that you’re trying to focus on something other than the trigger sound. So even when I’m stuck in a situation without earbuds, I try my hardest to focus on something going on around me other than the trigger sound. It’s still hard, and it’s a process that takes a little while, but I’ve already been noticing some improvement! My family knowing that I have it also helps immensely, because I can ask them to take out their gum or wait until I’m out of a room to eat, and they understand and appreciate me stopping it before it already drives me crazy. The thing I’m trying to remember is that just because my family knows that I have misophonia doesn’t mean that they always remember, because sometimes I feel more frustrated because they even know now and still freely produce trigger sounds around me. But they’re people, and they forget, and I’m working on remembering that.

    But back to sound therapy! I have a dab wireless earbud that doesn’t show as well: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N32WW6S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, and it’s a great little earbud! The main thing about sound therapy is that you DON’T want to mask the trigger sounds. I know it automatically makes you think, “WHAT?! No!” But it’s a longer-lasting solution. What your looking for is a discreet earbud that can help you listen to your favorite music while still able to hear everything going on around you.
    I haven’t found the perfect earbuds yet. You’re looking for something subtle enough that nobody will notice and think you’re being disrespectful, but something that you can still hear everything around you while listening. I chose to start dabs wireless earbud because it’s only in one ear, so you can still hear a lot of what’s going on. The downside to this is it still covers up one ear, so sometimes it sounds like I have hearing loss in one ear (louder talking, asking someone to repeat themselves).

    While these work very well and I’ve been pleased with them, my audiologist said she wants me to wear bi-neural (in both ears), open earbuds. That’s when I found bone conduction earbuds: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XK29X4F/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. These earbuds use vibrations instead of shooting the sound waves into your ear. They’re incredible! The one downside to them is they’re not as invisible. They don’t look like earbuds at all, but they’re visible and people will probably ask about them. I wear my hair down, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to hide them more that way. I have yet to find perfect earbuds, but for now, this is the best I’ve found.

    I hope this helps you! Misophonia’s a battle, but you’re doing a great job fighting it!