Hyperaesthesia is a characteristic ofgifted personsandhypersensitive.It is about increased sensitivity to the 5 senses: touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell. A hyperesthetic individual therefore has sensory hypersensitivity. Its sensory integration is too strong which turns its sensations into pain.
Hyperesthesia: What is it? What is it?
Hyperaesthesia is a complex phenomenon that can make life complicated. I will try to give you the key points and characteristics of sensory difficulties in people with disabilities.
Hyperesthesia: definition
The sensitivity of the five senses of a hyperesthetic person is exaggerated. This hypersensitivity activates – wrongly – the harmful body system. To make it simple, the nociceptive system is the one that takes care of the pain in our body. It's our alarm system. It is present when one touches a surface too hot (and it will burn), or when the music is too loud and it hurts our ears for example. He is a surgeon from Amsterdam who, for the first time, proved this relationship between hyperaesthesia and pain. Since then, many researches have supported this view. Hyperaesthesia is therefore a painful exacerbation of the senses. For example, in my case:
- Tactile hyperaesthesia I feel attacked when I'm touched. And some anodizing sensations are terrible. For example, the sewing of socks hurts me extremely and I am forced to turn them (to wear them upside down).
- Visual hyperaesthesia You are often dazzled by the light? Even when there are few? Me too. If you ever meet me, it's very likely I'm wearing sunglasses!
- Hearing hyperaesthesia Since I lived in Paris, I have had huge migraines because of the noise pollution in the city. I love going home to my parents in the country, and listening to the silence of the night.
Finally, know that hyperaesthesia is part of the spectrum disorders of autism.
What causes hyperaesthesia?
The causes of hyperaesthesia are multiple. In my case, it's because I'm generally hypersensitive because I'm a person to High Intellectual Potential (a zebra). Otherwise, the following is a non-exhaustive list of factors that may cause hyperaesthesia:
- Overconsumption of exciting substances (such as coffee or alcohol) can temporarily stimulate the nervous system. Temporary hyperaesthesia is then spoken;
- The thalamic syndrome: when our thalamus is reached. The thalamus is within the encephalus receiving the nociceptive signals;
- Menopause (still temporary hyperaesthesia);
- Lack of sleep or food imbalance;
- An infection that causes increased sensitivity on the skin (thus skin hyperaesthesia). This also involves temporary hyperaesthesia;
- Diabetes because it increases blood glucose which can lead to peripheral neuropathy and in turn damage nerves;
- Nerves damaged by injury or compression;
- Polyneuritis: is an inflammatory disease that causes damage to peripheral nerves by affecting its nervous system;
- Vitamin B12 deficiency:
- The High Intellectual Potential.
What is the diagnosis of hyperaesthesia?
Hyperesthesia is often not the source of a problem, but rather a symptom. Thus, in order to treat it effectively, the doctor will have to diagnose the root cause (e.g. the list above). In my case, it's related to my gift. A gifted adult will generally have hyperaesthesia. But then hyperaesthesia is a symptom of high potential. To "cure" it would be necessary to deal with the management of the gift. It is also the subject of this website.
Categories of hyperaesthesia
There are 5 categories of hyperaesthesia:
- Tactile hyperaesthesia: the sensation of the touch is exacerbated. Skin hyperaesthesia is also referred to;
- Visual hyperaesthesia: visual stimulation is more sensitive;
- Hearing hyperaesthesia: hearing is more delicate;
- Olfactory hyperaesthesia: it is the smell that is more sensitive;
- Gustative hyperaesthesia: the sensory receptors of taste are exacerbated.
The hyperesthetic person does not necessarily have these 5 sensory hypersensitivity categories. However, this is more the case in Surpassed adults. We will now see, point by point, how these hyper-sensations can be complicated to manage in everyday life.
Tactile hyperaesthesia: when touch becomes allodynia
It is thanks to the touch that we are in contact with our environment. You're going to tell me that having a more sensitive touch should be a good thing. Not at all. In fact, the problem is that this skin sensitivity is quickly painful and/or problematic. For example, I quickly get too hot, to the point of having a rotating head. Same for the cold: I get cold very quickly and feel very sensitive feet when I don't wear socks. Besides, speaking of socks: I wear them backwards because the seam on my toes itches me. I can't stand being touched, let alone hugging. Kissing is a torture for me.
Visual hyperaesthetic: the vision that is exhausting
The hyperaesthetic person analyses the slightest detail of his environment, whether conscious or not. The lights quickly become too strong and dazzling. When I'm home, I like to have the curtains pulled to lighten the room a bit. And I always need the closets to be closed, the spaces to be tidy, and there's a minimum of things in sight. At home, I have always tended to leave white walls empty, without anything. It may be sad, but at least I don't feel exhausted visually. Today I live as a couple. My boyfriend has many I can't hide it. It wears out, and can help give me big headaches.
On the other hand, I am someone with a very good visual memory. I don't know if it's related. In any case, when I was at school I only had to write down the course in the form of a diagram or graph so that I could remember it without problems. Gradually, mental maps became my best friends.
Hearing hyperaesthesia: the hearing bruhaha
Again, having fine hearing might look like a blessing. Only nenni. I am constantlyTroubled by noises. The noise pollution of Paris gives me migraines of madness for example. It is impossible to concentrate on an open space at work because I can't not listen to everyone's conversations, the sounds of pens, computer keyboards, people's passages in the corridors, etc. As a result, I do telework to the maximum to "limit the break". When I'm in a noisy place – on the street for example – I can't really focus on a discussion.
Olfactory and taste hyperaesthesia
Now let's talk about tastes and smells. I put these two parts together because I find them linked. It happens more or less in the same place of our body, so it seemed logical. Maybe I'm wrong.
The idea is that hyperaesthetic will be very sensitive to tastes and smells – you have understood how it works now I hope. Taking public transport is a real mission for me. Seriously, I don't understand what the difficulty is for some people to take a shower before going to the subway, or just putting deodorant on. Anyway. I think I have a particular sensitivity to body odors: breath, sweating, creams, perfumes, hair, toilets... I weirdly have a lot of trouble with all this, and I prefer when the personfeel nothing. In my ideal world, everyone has a neutral smell and I am unable to feel them.
Unable to sort these stimuli: latent inhibition deficit
Latent inhibition is the ability to filter all the stimuli perceived via hyperaesthesia that has just been described in the previous section. Well, that's a good thing. When walking in the street, you don't need to pay attention to the colour of the chick's sweater on the sidewalk opposite, or to her phone talk or the smell of her dog. Thanks to latent inhibition, the brain does not store this information, and you only focus on the most important: the lamppost in front of you to avoid. So it's a good thing.
People with high potential have, however, latent inhibition deficit. Basically, their filter is broken. The hyperaesthesia causes every little (useless) detail to be perceived in the environment, but the brain is not able to select which one is relevant or not. And so I let you imagine the mess it can get in your head.
Treatment and prevention of hyperaesthesia
As we have seen at the beginning of the post, hyperaesthesia is a symptom and not a cause. Thus, to be able to deal with it at best, the underlying cause must be addressed. Finally, to prevent hyperaesthesia, here are some methods that do me good:
- I have reduced my consumption of caffeine and alcohol: I am a little less on the nerves because my nervous system is less artificially excited;
- I have a super healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle (5 fruits and vegetables a day, sleep, sport... you know the song);
- I do daily relaxation: every morning I have a stretching / meditation session when I wake up. That makes me feel crazy!
And sometimes, when I have big migraines related to all this, I plunge into the dark and do breathing exercises.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hyperaesthesia is sensory hypersensitivity. The sensations of the 5 senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste) are exacerbated and can be felt as painful for the hyperesthetic person and/or some autism. These sensations can be accompanied by a latent inhibition deficit: the brain's inability to sort between this information. Thus, the over-educated hyperesthetic adult can feel flooded with information and sensations about his environment.
It should be noted that I did not speak here about relational hyperaesthesia, which relates rather to hypersensitivity in social relations. Therefore, it is necessary to differentiate relational hyperaesthesia and sensory hyperaesthesia.
Sources
- Connolly C., (The Bone & Joint Journal), Problems Pertaining to the Transmission of Nerve Impulses which give rise to Pain, 1961.
- Degrange B., Freund P., Mathis F., Rouler E., Spicher C., (Somatosensory and Motor Research), Static mechanical allodynia (SMA) is a paradoxical painful hypo-aesthesia: Observations derived from neuropathic bread patients treated with somatosensory rehabilitation, 2008.
- Desfoux N., Spicher C., Sprument P., (Saurapps Médical), Atlas of the skin territories of the human body : Esthesiology of 240 branches (2nd Edition), 2013.
- Jalinière H., (Science and Future), Autism: sensory hypersensitivity better understood, 2015.
- Spicher C., (Somatosensory Rehabilitation), Hypoaesthesia paradoxically painful to the touch: The north face of neuropathic pain, 2011.
