I can certainly relate to this! I don't understand why we have to be inundated with background music everywhere and it is always so loud.

I used to enjoy the silence of a doctor's office. I could have sat and read magazines all afternoon. It was quiet, no distractions.... Unless I was waiting to have a root canal, I found it to be relaxing.

Now, they all have bad background music or worse yet, a blaring tv. And to me the volume is ear-splitting. It is the same in the grocery stores. I just try to get in and out of there as quickly as possible.

But worse than the sensitivity to the volume issue is the inability to determine where the sound is coming from. I can hear fine but I cannot tell where the sound is coming from.

It doesn't matter if it is a bird tweeting, a person talking, someone calling me, a mower running.....I don't know which direction the sound is coming from.

This is especially bothersome when I am driving and I hear a siren. I have no idea where the emergency vehicle is until I see the flashing lights!

This symptom bothers me more than the volume sensitivity. It can actually be frightening at times.