Exploding Head Syndrome
Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is classified as a sleep disorder or headache disorder. It occurs when someone falls asleep or wakes up to loud auditory hallucinations. These noises don’t tend to last long, but they can still be frightening. While in general EHS is a rare occurrence, some people hear the loud noises multiple times a night. Other symptoms of EHS include seeing a light flash, feeling a tingling sensation run through the body, and suddenly feeling hot. EHS is typically painless and is generally not considered a serious health concern.
While the cause of EHS is unclear, links between ear problems, temporal lobe seizures, nerve dysfunction, sleep position, supernatural beliefs, specific genetic changes, and EHS have been investigated. One potential risk factor for EHS is psychological stress. People often go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
There is generally no reason to treat EHS since it is not usually a serious health condition. There is also no high-quality evidence to support treatment of EHS, though several treatment methods have been studied. Clomipramine, calcium channel blockers and anticonvulsants were tried as a method to alleviate EHS symptoms. In some cases, these treatments did see positive results, but those results could have been due to something else. Another possibility for reducing the occurrence of EHS is treating other sleep problems before treating EHS. A non-medical treatment route could be making sure EHS patients know the condition is generally not medically concerning.
While the percentage of the population with EHS is not well studied, some have estimated that it occurs in about 10% of people. Women may be more commonly affected, and the median age of EHS patients is in the 50s.
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