Anyone with acquired hearing loss and distortion?

#2
I have some weird sound distortions but no measured hearing loss. Not sure what that's about.
 
#3
Same situation with me, my audigram is very normal basically not passing above the 10db HL threshold, however I have some sound distortion too, cullenbohannon, can you try to describe the type of distortions that you have?
 
#4
It's weird. Like certain sounds on the tv like. Bells or light background sounds seems to pop. Hard to explain like it's coming from my ear and not the tv. Also running water sounds a bit weird again almost like it's coming from somewhere else. Really tough to explain.
 
#6
It's hard to say. I do hear something but I wouldn't call it Morse code. I think it maybe similar to what your talking about.
 
#8
I would go out occasionally and the occasionally wedding but I don't believe anything about my t is noise induced . How did yours start?i never listen to anything loud never loud headphones no concert nothing that would have damaged my ear.
 
#9
Mine started one night after spending a few days watching movies with my headsets on my vacations, I started hearing a strange noise that sounded like the noise from the swords of star wars!I felt a sleep and in the morning was gone. No damage spotted. I continued to use my headsets during long periods of time I cannot say they were or not too loud. But the fact is that the strange noise continue to appear for another two times, and then I got real anxious about and start noticing some distortions in music, getting weird echo sounds, amplifying some tones tv like you described, computer fans,ventilators, refrigrators, water running, making strange digital noise like morse code. Did some hearing tests that doesn't show hearing loss. since then, I never use headsets anymore unless to work and in a lower volume. Neverthless, the permanent tinnitus only appeared after a cold in December. My tinnitus is a mixed of hissing and high pitch in left hear very well notice at night and in quite places and only high pitch on the right but barely noticed. I've notice that the distortion is seeming to be getting worse as time goes by. How can you describe your tinnitus?
 
#10
Only one guy with this sympthoms? Now I'm getting worried!!!!!!My question is because I'm feeling lots of changes in my hearing, specially the distortions, which I believe is now affecting the way I'm interpreting speech, more specifically the high frequency consonants like "s". They are getting a prounonced and prolonged sound. I'm getting quite scared!!!Can any of you that have sensorineural hearing loss with distortion tell me if you had the same sympthoms?
 
#11
I have high pitch in both ears and some lower pitch sounds. Don't sress yourself out we prob are not the only ones with it. Their are so many threads not everyone gets a chance to see all of them. Also take a look at reactive t threads. I suspect it is some variation of that. Stay calm that's the most important part. When you stress and end up in the fight or flight mode as they say it will make things worse and you will preceive your t as being worse than it is.
 
#13
Thanks a lot guys, but right now I'm a little bit frustrated and scared at the same time because I thought that my problem was only affecting my well being or in other words, my quality of life, but right now, I'm noticing that it may be also affecting my speech understanding...
It would be helpful to listen from someone which their speech understanding has become somehow distorted , to check if my sympthoms resembles theirs.
 
#14
Hi MADMAX,

after my first of three sudden hearing losses, I had very distorted hearing in my left, which affected speechunderstanding. But distortion went away after 3 years and now it's better
But I have zick zack hearing loss, so some in the 1,5khz and 8khz.

Do you have hearing loss? if not, I think your chances to recover should be better.
Just avoid loud places without hearing protection.
 
#15
I had massive distortion after following acoustic trauma (a .357 magnum in an enclosed space without hearing protection). The gunshot also gave me permanent tinnitus.

For about 4 - 6 weeks following the gunshot the world sounded like a "blown speaker." High frequencies were distorted, and I had a lot of trouble understanding people in crowds. As my inner ear parts recovered the sounds returned to normal, but every once in a while I hear some mild distortion. Oddly enough I notice it most when listening to "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters.

You should go see an ear specialist. You may have experienced trauma from the headsets (I don't use headsets any more).
 
#16
Hi guys,

tomytl according to the last audiometric tone and speech, plus the tympanogram exams that I did in last December, every thing was nomal, however my ENT prescribed me a high freq audiogram that I will do at the end of the month to see if I have hearing loss beyond what's considered normal. Does any body knows the normal threshold for a high freq audiogram?I know that the normal threshold in conventional audiogram is 20-25 db.
pef in fact I believe that this all started due to my excessive use of headsets during my vacations, however I stopped using them, and these sympthoms seem to be getting worse!
Your words are so good at this difficult moments...God bless this website!
 
#17
Hi,

Another day is coming to an end, and unfortunetely I'm noticing more distortion in the listening to speech...I'm scared, devasted, angry, said.....lost... I cryed today for the first time as I realised that maybe I'm becoming deaf, and affraid of the implications that's gone bring to my life. This is coming so fast that I lost the pace, don't know what to do anymore...
 
#18
Since your hearing test were normal it might not be that your going deaf but make sure to see the ent again let him know your worries to many people let the doctors do most of the talking make sure he listens more then he talks. And if it is hearing loss maybe some type of hearing aid will help. It's also possible you just need time to relax your ears. Other posters have had distorted hearing and they got better. Don't jump to conclusions and stress over something you don't know for sure.
 
#19
Good evening,

Just a quick update on my situation, today I went to do a normal audiometry test, vocal and tonal and impedance. Guess what, no hearing loss higher than 10db !!!I should be happy but I aint, because my hearing is so mixed up, the level of distortion is getting higher as time goes by, in fans,refrigerator,etc, and more annoying and incapacitating the distortion in speech, in words like s's, f's, t's !!! The audiometrist could not believe in my sympthoms, saying that the distortion could not be from the inner hear, because I don't have any loss beyond normal range and not even at the limit of normal range!!!T is still present like a hissing sound but it seems a little bit more quiet, or maybe I have this impression because I'm paying to more attention to the distortion! Tomorrow I'll do an MRI because the doctors thinks that this is a very strange situation and he wants to now if maybe a case of retrochoclear patology could be pressing the auditory nerve and giving this symptoms.

What could this be? Anyone with normal hearing and speech distortion like me? Please read my thread, I'm getting crazy with all this!!!
 
#20
I'm sorry @MADMAX, I have never experienced what you are going through. I must admit this does sound a strange situation because your hearing loss does not seem extreme enough to give you these symptoms. I think an MRI is a good idea, best to make sure that nothing is abnormal.

Unfortunately I cannot really suggest anything else? Are you listening to something that could make your hearing like this? Are you on medication that could cause these symptoms? Otherwise I would just try and remain calm, perhaps ask for some anti-depressants/relaxants?
 
#21
citigirl13 said:
I'm sorry @MADMAX, I have never experienced what you are going through. I must admit this does sound a strange situation because your hearing loss does not seem extreme enough to give you these symptoms. I think an MRI is a good idea, best to make sure that nothing is abnormal.

Unfortunately I cannot really suggest anything else? Are you listening to something that could make your hearing like this? Are you on medication that could cause these symptoms? Otherwise I would just try and remain calm, perhaps ask for some anti-depressants/relaxants?
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for your kindness, in fact I belive that the distortion is somehow related to hearing loss in some frequencies, specially high frequencies, affecting at this time not only some sounds but also the speech frequencies which are giving me the distortion sensation, but this is only my opinion from what have been reading and feeling. I just can't not understand why this is not refected in my audiogram, because my hearing is changing a lot due to the distortion, however the audiogram basically remains the same.
 
#22
Is your MRI clear? I believe the distortion may not be in the input - the ear, the nerve etc. It may very well be with the brain interpreting the sound. I also hear distortion, or what I believe is my t competing against fans and static noises at the same frequency of my t. My audiogram and OAE tests came back normal, above average. But just had MRI without contrast and hyperintensity came up on the brain. Further investigating that. But the nerve and ear canals on that MRI are clear.
 
#23
Lisa88 said:
Is your MRI clear? I believe the distortion may not be in the input - the ear, the nerve etc. It may very well be with the brain interpreting the sound. I also hear distortion, or what I believe is my t competing against fans and static noises at the same frequency of my t. My audiogram and OAE tests came back normal, above average. But just had MRI without contrast and hyperintensity came up on the brain. Further investigating that. But the nerve and ear canals on that MRI are clear.
Click to expand...

Hi Lisa88,

Just receive my MRI with the report today and according to the doctor everything is ok, no signal of nerve damage, inner ear structure looks normal, all brain structure with no visible lesion.
Went to the ENT today with the results. Without seeing the report, he was able to reach the same diagnostic just from looking at the images. This is good but at the same time bad news. Good news because he was able to rule out some very bad degenerating diseases like multiple esclerosis, tumor,etc. Bad news, because the symptoms still here, and are affecting more and more my ability to hear speech clearly. He basically admitted that he was getting without answers. I asked him if it wasn't wise to do a electrocochleography or a VEMP or even a ABR to find if this problem could be related with a inner ear damage damage that could not be seen in a normal audiogram or something like that. He said that maybe this could be in fact related with the brain reception of the electrical impulses caused by a strange disorder but according with the normal audiogram he could not see how I was having problems with speech clarity...He recommended me to look for a neurologist to see what he says about this, because he 's starting to think that this is not related with the ear but with the brain.
Right now I'm again on ground zero, today I'm unable to say if my situation is worst than it was last week, but I'm just feeling the difficulties of how hard it is to live like this...

Short flashback of this ongoing situation :
  • Temporary Tinnitus (low pitch pulsatile sound in left ear, duration one night) started in 16th october 2013 after exposing myself to headsets during some long periods of time and most of the times at higher volume, no detectable changes in hearing;
  • After two days without exposure started to use headsets again for long periods of time, after one week noticed again same temporary tinnitus (duration one night), left the headsets for a week and a half, detected some small changes in hearing, thought it was due to sensibility;
  • Went to the doctor and explained the situation, no problem in the outer and middle ear, requested audiometric tests (tonal and vocal audiometry; acoustic reflexes and tympanogram) and also asked for a doppler of the neck veins. He said that it could be a inner ear problem;
  • 4th November no symptoms remained, just a strange sensitive in the left ear reagrding low pitch freq. So, decided to test the headsets to rule out any possiblity of the problem being related to the use of it. After approximatelly one hour of exposure I turned of the computer off and started hearing the same pulsatile noise, like the other times again in the left ear, did some valsalva manouvres but with no effect, just noticing that for a few seconds the sound also appeared in the other ear. Next day when I awoke up it was gone. Then I was sure this problem was related with the use of the headsets so I stopped using it. Started to notice a strange noise inside my car, thought it was related to something that wasn't well screwed up.
    At the same night, I was watching a movie but without heasets at a lower volume and I started to notice again the same pulsatile noise. In the morning again after a few hours of sleep it was gone. But while listening to the radio I started noticing some little distortions in the music, I got scared and started noticing also some distortion while watching tv and the noise of the electrical equipments, dishes and glasses were sounding louder than usual.No tinnitus was observable, but apparently there was a strange sound that was attached to other sounds.
  • Did the exams and went to the ENT, I told him of the last episode and he looked at my audiogram and said that I had sensorineural hearing loss induced by noise, and the distortions that I was listening since the audiogram didn't show a big loss, my brain would get use to it.Should get away from noise.I notice that after telling him about my last episode he didn't take a deep look at my exams and right away gave the diagnostic.
    I was devasted with this, went home and started to search on net how to read an audiogram and I notice that my audiogram was just normal! The max loss was 10db!
  • So I decided to go a different ENT (13th November), which passed me the same exams, didn't talk about the headsets just to avoid any early conclusion. I still had the same symptoms. The exams were all normal and the ENT even said that my hearing was well above average for my age (34 years old) that I should relax and maybe this could be related to a vibroacoustic disease, and we should let time pass by to see how it would go.
  • One month later, no major changes, decided to go to another ENT, same tests passed, all came normal, Litlle bit different from the last (worst) but still normal, higher loss 15db. 3 days after, 30th December, started noticing a permanent ringing in my both rings, and I caught a cold so initially I associated with this but later started thinking if it wasn't caused by the ART tests. Since this time permanent tinnitus never left me. Also notice that distortion was get more noticable as time was passing by .
  • On the 13th of February I went to a small party with live music, I felt it was a bit loud, neverthless i decided to stay without protection but no close to the amps or the band.It lasted probably one hour and a half. There were also some firecrackets but not too noisy being throwned. 2 days later I noticed that the distortion was getting notice in places where after I wasn't able to detect. Sound from radio and tv seemed that someone had put more bass in to it.
  • Two weeks later, without exposing myself to noise, I started noticing same changes in hearing some words, specially those with s's. Three weeks later went to a new ENT (5th March), this time a ENT specialized in tinnitus, looking for an answer. She prescribed me an esteroid (cortisone) Anti-inflammatory to take between 10 days, just to rule out any type of allergy that could be causing the distortion. No luck, situation was continuing to get worst to a point that I was having difficulty to understand speech in crowed places.
  • Last week did a new audiogram tonal, vocal and impedance, I was thinking that lots of changes would appear taking into account the symptoms that I used to have and the ones that I have now. Just for my surprise, basically no changes, higher loss 10 db!!! If what I'm feeling was created by noise induced, wasn't it supposed to be visible in a normal audiogram, specially if I'm detecting changes in the speech frequencies band???????????
  • This week received also the MRI that I did last week and everything is also normal. So now my ENT, wants me to look for a neurologist.
Symptoms at this time (02nd April 2014):

  • Bilateral permanent Tinnitus: Left ear hissing sound and sometimes high pitch. Barely noticeable during the day; Right ear lower intensity hissing sound and spikes of very high pitch (seconds); Sometimes seems like Tinnitus is reactive;
  • No sound hypersensibility;
  • Speech distortion mostly in words with s's. Then in words with f's/t's/sh's. This words sound raspy, edgy;
  • Sound distortion in fans; ventilators; refrigerators; car engines. Producing a sort of morse code effect;
  • Sometimes it feels like my right ear just closes like when your passing throught different pressure levels;
  • Something that I also notice is that my left ear is more sensitive to very low pitch sounds, since this all started, like I can hear things at lower freqs that earlier I wasn't able to.
Happily and deeply appreciate to receive any comments and suggestions on this, I'm getting out of answers...
 
#24
Great news about MRI. I wonder if you need to do the OAE which tests the hair cells.
My MRI showed hyperintensity in the centrum semiovole of the left frontal lobe - an 8mm plus 2 x 2mm right by it. It was an MRI without contrast, which means the hyperintensity is light showing either lesions, tumors, or just incidental white matter etc. Having an MRI with contrast and blood tests to rule stuff out. Very scary. My distortion still exists over frequencies the same as my t. Sounds like my t competes with fans, fridges, traffic, running water etc. I know how upsetting this is. Especially the fluctuation in sounds. Yes, I think seeing a great neurologist who might be familiar with t is the next step for you. For me, I think it is the brain interpreting the sounds, rather than the input of the ear, nerve etc, whether it is to do with the hyperintensity of the left temporal lobe or the central auditory cortex.
 
#25
Lisa88 said:
Great news about MRI. I wonder if you need to do the OAE which tests the hair cells.
My MRI showed hyperintensity in the centrum semiovole of the left frontal lobe - an 8mm plus 2 x 2mm right by it. It was an MRI without contrast, which means the hyperintensity is light showing either lesions, tumors, or just incidental white matter etc. Having an MRI with contrast and blood tests to rule stuff out. Very scary. My distortion still exists over frequencies the same as my t. Sounds like my t competes with fans, fridges, traffic, running water etc. I know how upsetting this is. Especially the fluctuation in sounds. Yes, I think seeing a great neurologist who might be familiar with t is the next step for you. For me, I think it is the brain interpreting the sounds, rather than the input of the ear, nerve etc, whether it is to do with the hyperintensity of the left temporal lobe or the central auditory cortex.
Click to expand...

Lisa88, do you notice any distortion in speech? Have been exposed to loud sounds? I've tried to influence my ENT to prescribed me a BERA or OAE but he does think is necessary because my PTA is still normal!!! Lets see if I get more lucky with a neurologist...
 
#26
I think neuro is the way to go.
No, speech, music and changing pitches are the only thing that seems to mask it. It just reacts to static frequencies around the same as the t.
 
#28
Madmax can you give an update on your situation now?Pef did your distortion go gradually during that time or just went one day.I ham a noise trama 3 weeks ago and when I hear moderate to loud sounds,even mine and other peoples talking I hear/feel a rattly tinny dry bell like sound in my left ear.Its very annoying.My audiologist says I have mild hearing loss in the high frequencies and your ears will be sensitive for a while.
 

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