Autophony is the unusually loud hearing of a person's own voice.
Possible causes are:
* The "
occlusion effect The occlusion effect occurs when an object fills the outer portion of a person's ear canal, causing that person to perceive echo-like "hollow" or "booming" sounds generated from their own voice.
The bone-conducted sound travels to the cochlea thro ...
", caused by an object, such as an unvented hearing aid or a plug of ear wax, blocking the
ear canal and reflecting sound vibration back towards the eardrum.
">The "Occlusion Effect"
* Serous otitis media
Otitis media is a group of inflammatory diseases of the middle ear. One of the two main types is acute otitis media (AOM), an infection of rapid onset that usually presents with ear pain. In young children this may result in pulling at the ear, ...
* Open or patulous Eustachian tube
Patulous Eustachian tube (PET) is the name of a physical disorder where the Eustachian tube, which is normally closed, instead stays intermittently open. When this occurs, the person experiences autophony, the hearing of self-generated sounds. ...
, allowing vocal or breathing sounds to be conducted into the middle ear
* Superior canal dehiscence
Superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome is a set of hearing and balance symptoms, related to a rare medical condition of the inner ear, known as ''superior canal dehiscence''. The symptoms are caused by a thinning or complete absence of ...
, which can lead to an abnormally amplified bone conduction of sound into the inner ear. Persons with superior canal dehiscence syndrome
Superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome is a set of hearing and balance symptoms, related to a rare medical condition of the inner ear, known as ''superior canal dehiscence''. The symptoms are caused by a thinning or complete absence of ...
(SCDS) typically hear not only their own voice but also heartbeat, footsteps, chewing, intestinal sounds and possibly even the sound of their eye movements when reading.
References
External links
* {{cite journal, pmid=7346684, year=1981, last1=O'Connor, first1=A. F, title=Autophony and the patulous eustachian tube, journal=The Laryngoscope, volume=91, issue=9 Pt 1, pages=1427–35, last2=Shea, first2=J. J, doi=10.1288/00005537-198109000-00003 , s2cid=27024279
Definition of Autophony
Painhealth.com - Definition of Autophony
SCDS with Autophony - animation
"Doctor, I can hear my eyes" - W Albuquerque, A M Bronstein
* ABC News - Health
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