Can Sensory Issues Cure Themselves?

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Every year I fear Christmas because my eyes hurt and my head hurts.

To be fair, I have done a lot of avoidance this year.

But sometimes I didn't. I went out tonight and it was Christmas lights everywhere in town and I went to see a show which had a lot of focus on lights (Mary Poppins Returns - I regard me telling you this as a health disclaimer rather than a spoiler) and it didn't hurt. That experience would usually result in a headache and eyes that stung.

I've been in pain from lights once this year and that's it. I got a headache rather than a stabbing pain in my eyes.

Considering the amount of lights which I've been exposed to, I 'ought' to have had more headaches and more eye strain.

But I didn't.

Is this wishful thinking or the result of careful planning on my part or is it possible that such things can cure themselves?

If my light sensitivity went away completely I'd have a situation where my autism is almost totally a force for good in my, admittedly eccentric and unusual, life.

Pretty sure they can't cure themselves, but they won't always be the same severity at all points in your life; they will get better and get worse in cycles.

Also, they can be affected by other factors like how stressed you are at a given time.

I think sensitivities won't reduce but there are things you can do. There's state of mind stuff like being well rested, there's things like applying your focus to another sense - mostly I find, shortfalls in the above are best addressed with physical fixes...

Sunglasses
Noise cancelling headphones
Ear plugs stashed here and there to be called on when needed

As one gets old year hearing, sight, taste and other senses deteriorate so I image those oversensitive in those areas can become "normal".

I have heard a psychiatrist claim that reducing exposure to sensory stimuli will keep those stimuli sharp, and that gradual (and not excessive) exposure trains the brain to somewhat tune out those stimuli - in other words, the brain gets used to them. This is known as habituation.

According to this view, protecting yourself too much from stimuli makes you more hypersensitive. So if you have exposed yourself to stimuli that used to bother you, and they are not bothering you now, then in a sense the sensory issues "cured themselves."

YMMV.

Mine have gotten better over the years.

I am thinking the oposite way to the psychologists on this one. If one keeps hitting the body in the same place the bruise getts bigger and it hurts more, and when it stops hurting it means that there is now serious damage, whereas if you don't hit it again and let the bruise heal....

And control the exposure to the the difficult sensory stuff so that it is restricted to the occasions where there is a good payoff from the whole situation it is probably possible to manage the bombardment of the sensory stuff better. or if one is not totally exhausted from dealing with teh bad sensory stuff Every Day then it is probably more bareable on the few occasions it is going to be encountered

I think people can learn to deal with sensory issues if it's an activity one really likes and wants to go to. You can learn to cope and the issues don't seem as bad.

I started charting mine along with other symtoms to keep track of my menstrual cycles and mine vary quite a bit with my estrogen levels. When I ovulated a few days ago all of my sensitivities decreased for a few days and now they’re back up again. I don’t know if any other women have similar experiences, I think I might be weird. My sensory sensitivities were super bad when I was a kid and then they were much more manageable from puberty till a few years ago when I entered perimenopause. I also had some chronic health conditions flare up when my senses went haywire a few years ago, but I’ve since gotten those under control and my senses are still bad. I know many women talk about how things got worse for them when they became teenagers but for me I got a break from some of my issues.

It doesn't 'cure' itself, but it does get better or worse depending what issues are and well, yourself -- your physical, mental, and emotional status can factor.

The issue can simply lies within someone's biology, some are neurological, and some are biochemical or more complicated than that.



My case isn't consistent in terms of sensitivity and intake. It either gets better or worse, largely depends on my own tolerance and thresholds second.
My early childhood mostly consists of high threshold and higher tolerance, sensitive and sensory seeking, and neither had been spoilt nor am deprived.
I'm was the complete opposite of sensory aversive, anxious, and withdrawn. But I'm not your reckless and restless kid either.

Then later childhood, there's high threshold but lower tolerance, just as sensitive but no longer sensory seeking.
Due to emotional delay and consequently signs of anxiety of years of unresolved bullying, my sensory issues gone bad. Therefore, aversive mainly due to lower tolerance despite high threshold to take the stimuli.

Fast forward for few years in teenage years. That's where everything gets worse and gets worse in every exposure. I was so intolerant, it is bad enough for a burnout and stop going to school.

Few years later or so, after being recluse I somewhat regained some tolerance. I 'grew up' a bit so to speak despite lacking 'exposure'.
Well, no. Quantity and intensity of exposure isn't the key, but figuring out how to take stimuli at every exposure. I 'figured'. I regained most of my tolerance and threshold except for a few.
And that is how I got better... How I got back to school, graduated, etc...



I still have the lack of filter. My sensitivities only change through the ages -- and still more sensitive than most people. And my processing remains the same if not getting worse somehow due to life changes -- this is my priority right now.
My tolerance is entirely depending on my psyche and will, my threshold is mainly about my physical health -- yes, that includes the brain itself and how tired it can get.


I've experienced low thresholds for few times. I think one can qualify it as a nightmarish scenario where everything you sense hurts, easy to get tired and fly off the handle because of the pain and constant exhaustion one had to cope.
My only work around is just tolerance. There's no 'desensitization' or anything to lessen the pain except; tolerate everything, or rest enough in a sancutary until one regains threshold to take everything.

I also experienced greater processing. It was damn amazing. My sensory 'issues' are not 'issues' but a full blown advantage at such state. If not, then the work arounds were great too. It's like enhanced EF. I'm looking for this state and why I couldn't attain it except on a random nights sleep.

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Whether or not sensory issues get better or worse or cure themselves or don't is entirely dependent on what is causing them. Just because you are Autistic does not necessarily mean that all of your sensory sensitivities have the same causes. I know that some of my sensitivities, like my teeth for example, have nothing to do with my Autism. I know that when my teeth are very sensitive it is because of physical things that I am doing. I can stop doing those things and my teeth will not respond in a sensitive way. I can also have the dentist do a lot of very expensive things to "cure" my dental sensitivities as well.

But, for example, my sensitivities to sounds are directly because of my Autism. They are also not trauma based so sensory integration therapy does not work for me. I will never be "cured" of them. They can get worse when I am stressed and overwhelmed and exhausted, but they will never go away. So whether or not your issues are curable is entirely dependent on what is causing them.

Yes. When we are dealing with sensory processing issues caused by our Autism, our stress levels can definitely change how tolerant we can be to them. The more stressed we are, the less we are able to tolerate sensory stimuli. I can also be very sensitive to lights but when I am not stressed out, I am not that sensitive to them. With sounds, I tend to be sensitive all the time. And with touch and texture it can vary as well depending on how stressed I am. Sometimes. if I am very stressed, I can't tolerate lights at all. Other times, if I am having a really good day as far as stress, I can be fine with lights even if they are a bit bright.