Are Crackling and Distortions Symptoms of Loudness Hyperacusis?

[Benjaminbb]

Hi guys,

A little background: I've had pain hyperacusis twice in my life - one being now. However, I've never really considered the "sound" of loudness hyperacusis like many of you describe. I always just thought things were loud in one ear because one frequency that would distort or whistle when people spoke very loudly near my left ear, etc. That was pretty stable for 15 years and didn't notice it much.

Now things have changed as my pain hyperacusis came back. I've seen some of you describe plastic bag crinkling as little explosions which I've had when it's bad. But now I also notice at dinner parties people's voices sound more broadly crackly and distorted across multiple frequencies and more centrally (a bit in both ears), like the internal amplifier is turned up too loud and clipping everything above a certain volume.

Is this the definition of loudness hyperacusis, or is it just a symptom of permanent hearing loss?

It seems crazy to me that I walk into a louder restaurant and it's basically a 100 explosions and crackles while everyone else is fine; it doesn't seem like older people are plagued by it.

Can I treat this if I desensitize? And how do you desensitize when you're fine up to 75 dB? I'm assuming no one is playing white noise that loud.

I have no measurable hearing loss in the band that it seems to distort, 1-3 kHz.

Would love to hear your experience.

 

[Sadnoise]

My experience is somewhat similar in that my hearing distorts significantly.

Low, mid, and high frequencies all have points where there is distortion and reverb. I performed a tone generator test on my PC speakers, starting from low and moving to high frequencies. Specific frequencies were 2-3 times louder. You can imagine if someone speaks and that frequency briefly hits, it distorts the entire experience. The same happens with bass sounds. What should be a nice bass rhythm, only changing in frequency, goes like bum bum BUUUUUM (3x louder) bum bum bum BUUUUUM. Certain voices and letters also produce a crackling sound.

While I don't think I experience the same pain most others here do, the distortions cause my ears to tense up, leading to a painful experience nonetheless. For me, it has been like this for years in a much milder form, and the distortions subsided by 70-80% but have returned multiple times (the last time in August 2023). So I do have hope my current experience will also improve. But for the past month, it has been very intense.

I am exhausted.

Regarding your question:

Hyperacusis is not very narrowly defined; there isn't a specific committee that owns its definition. So, I guess you can call all these symptoms hyperacusis, with the distortions being either a consequence or an additional symptom (dysacusis). This complexity makes it harder to identify similar patterns and research solutions. It doesn't help that most ENTs lump it all together and have never heard of noxacusis or dysacusis, so they give you a hyperacusis flyer and a psych referral, and off you go...

 

[Jon R.]

I just realized that my distortions are very likely due to "loudness hyperacusis." I can tolerate normal noises, but as soon as the volume rises above an average level, everything distorts and sounds ten times louder than it should. Yesterday, while talking to a checkout person at the supermarket, our quick conversation sounded fine, but when he laughed, I recoiled and gritted my teeth. It's incredible how drastically things can change.

I've tested this by speaking loudly myself, and there's a certain point where the sound goes from normal to sudden distortion, almost as if I'm speaking through a megaphone, even though I'm not shouting that loudly.

This has been going on for four months now. I've had mild hyperacusis for years, but it only used to be a problem with very loud noises or impact tasks. Now, it's triggered by much lower sound levels. I hope and pray this will go away.

It's unbelievable that a toddler's two-second scream has caused this much damage to my ears, and who knows how long it will last.

 

[star-affinity]

I just realized that my distortions are very likely due to "loudness hyperacusis." I can tolerate normal noises, but as soon as the volume rises above an average level, everything distorts and sounds ten times louder than it should. Yesterday, while talking to a checkout person at the supermarket, our quick conversation sounded fine, but when he laughed, I recoiled and gritted my teeth. It's incredible how drastically things can change.

I've tested this by speaking loudly myself, and there's a certain point where the sound goes from normal to sudden distortion, almost as if I'm speaking through a megaphone, even though I'm not shouting that loudly.

This has been going on for four months now. I've had mild hyperacusis for years, but it only used to be a problem with very loud noises or impact tasks. Now, it's triggered by much lower sound levels. I hope and pray this will go away.

It's unbelievable that a toddler's two-second scream has caused this much damage to my ears, and who knows how long it will last.

This sounds similar to how my distortions have been behaving for nearly three weeks now. Normal sound levels are fine, but just a small increase above that causes distortions.

It's sad to hear that it's been four months for you and it's still not better.

I agree—it's unbelievable that a toddler can cause that kind of damage. Evolution should have addressed this. I can't believe our ears don't heal better. Such an important sense, yet the inner ear is so sensitive and, worst of all, has trouble healing. I can understand that damage happens, but it should eventually clear up!

 

[Benjaminbb]

This sounds similar to how my distortions have been behaving for nearly three weeks now. Normal sound levels are fine, but just a small increase above that causes distortions.

It's sad to hear that it's been four months for you and it's still not better.

I agree—it's unbelievable that a toddler can cause that kind of damage. Evolution should have addressed this. I can't believe our ears don't heal better. Such an important sense, yet the inner ear is so sensitive and, worst of all, has trouble healing. I can understand that damage happens, but it should eventually clear up!

I think evolution did address this; we could handle a lot until humans created extremely loud environments that we chose to immerse ourselves in, slowly wearing our hearing down.

I experience mostly the same distortions above 75 dB, where certain frequencies jump up by about 20 dB. Now, even background noise in a café can cause everything to sound crackly. The only explanation I can think of is hyperacusis or some kind of central volume boost that amplifies sounds. As far as I know, I don't have enough hearing loss to be experiencing this.

It's strange!

 

[star-affinity]

I think evolution did address this; we could handle a lot until humans created extremely loud environments that we chose to immerse ourselves in, slowly wearing our hearing down.

That's true, but there are also several instances where a child screamed in someone's ear, and then, bam—problems began. Many people working in schools and preschools also experience these issues. I sometimes wonder if the children themselves might be damaging each other's hearing. I saw an old news clip about this on YouTube.

People have been gathering for parties and events for a long time, so it's not a new phenomenon. It also seems that tinnitus has a longer history than we might think.

But yes, it's probably noisier overall today than ever before.

I experience mostly the same distortions above 75 dB, where certain frequencies jump up by about 20 dB. Now, even background noise in a café can cause everything to sound crackly. The only explanation I can think of is hyperacusis or some kind of central volume boost that amplifies sounds. As far as I know, I don't have enough hearing loss to be experiencing this.

It's strange!

Hmmm... Sorry to hear that.

Has it been like this for a long time? Do you experience any hyperacusis or sensations in your ears, like burning or discomfort?

 

[Benjaminbb]

That's true, but there are also several instances where a child screamed in someone's ear, and then, bam—problems began. Many people working in schools and preschools also experience these issues. I sometimes wonder if the children themselves might be damaging each other's hearing. I saw an old news clip about this on YouTube.

People have been gathering for parties and events for a long time, so it's not a new phenomenon. It also seems that tinnitus has a longer history than we might think.

But yes, it's probably noisier overall today than ever before.

Hmmm... Sorry to hear that.

Has it been like this for a long time? Do you experience any hyperacusis or sensations in your ears, like burning or discomfort?

Yep, I've experienced a lot of hyperacusis symptoms, ranging from sound distortions to actual pain, but I still manage to live a relatively normal life. It all started with a few months of tinnitus back in 2020, which seemed to coincide with ear pain caused by ear drops. The pain subsided somewhat after about a month, but it kept returning with exposure to loud sounds, coupled with my growing aversion or fear of them.

As a result, I began wearing earplugs more often. Over the last 2–3 years, my sound distortion threshold has fluctuated, which is why I believe it's a form of hyperacusis rather than new hearing loss.

Interestingly, my audiograms haven't shown any changes over the past four years, despite the ongoing variations in distortion levels. I had hoped that the hyperacusis would subside, as it did for me about 15 years ago, but I haven't put much effort into gradually reintroducing normal sound levels. I keep experiencing new distortions, which makes me feel like I might make things worse, a sentiment I think many people here share.

Are you experiencing other hyperacusis symptoms as well? In my experience, there seem to be two types of distortions: one that occurs at certain loudness levels and another that resembles tinnitus tones embedded within other sounds at any volume. I suspect these might be caused by different factors, as both tend to come and go.