Isobella

Many people are sensitive to noise and find it hard to relax in the sort of noise that other people hardly seem to notice. And modern life IS noisy, with music and TV blaring at ear-splitting volume, vehicle noise, people yelling, etc. I know that in some cases (my own among them) the sensitivity to noise begins when someone is subjected to noise over which they have no control, such as noisy neighbours. When you can't escape from noise such as bass music or dogs barking it can truly become unbearable and you eventually end up hypersensitive to practically any slightly-above-average sounds.

I've found that white noise machines are wonderful. These are little machines that either have pure white noise (a whooshing sound) or a range of sounds such as waves, a babbling brook, rain, birds singing, etc. The idea is you turn on your machine and adjust the volume until it drowns out the noise that's annoying you. Believe me, it's much more pleasant to listen to waves or a brook than to listen to someone else's choice of music or dogs barking. Most of these machines are inexpensive, run on mains electricity or battery, and have a timer so that you don't need to worry if you fall asleep while listening.

If you find, though, that you can't tolerate even this pleasant sort of noise then perhaps you should consult your doctor, as you may have an ear problem or something else that needs evaluation. In any case, I hope you get relief.