Julie Redfern recently underwent surgery to partially correct an odd disorder – her ability to hear everything, including her own body. Each day, she has to endure the sound of her heart beating and her eyes moving. The Sun reports that the 47-year-old receptionist from Padiham, England suffers from a rare inner ear condition that allows her to hear internal noises remarkably loud.

“It’s very frustrating being able to hear everything. You think you wouldn’t mind and maybe I wouldn’t if it was just a bit of gossip but nobody wants to be able to hear their body constantly,” she told reporters.

The symptoms began shortly after her 40th birthday in 2006. Redfern claims that she first noticed something was wrong while playing Tetris at home. As her eyes moved back and forth across the screen, she suddenly began to hear a strange squeaking sound. Unable to determine the source, Redfern concluded that the sound she was hearing was the sound of her own eyeballs moving in their sockets.

At first, doctors put it down to her age. The symptoms continued over the years, and she suffered in silence, unable to eat certain crunchy foods due to the unbearable noise they produced.

Then one day, she came across an article on the internet about a man suffering from identical symptoms. She brought the article with her to her physician, who referred her to Manchester Royal Infirmary. There, she underwent MRI and CT scans. She was finally diagnosed with Superior Canal Dehiscence syndrome – a very rare condition cause by tiny perforations in the inner ear.

Despite the risks of impaired hearing or facial deformities, Redfern decided undergo the five hour procedure necessary to correct the damage.

“I couldn’t have coped with it for another 40 years, seven was enough. I know when I have the other ear done I’ll be cured - but you never know I might miss not hearing all these strange little things,” she told reporters.

The surgeon reportedly described her ear canal as a “honeycomb” rather than “cinder toffee” – which, presumably, is what an ear canal usually looks like.