Hidden Hearing Loss, or Am I Damaging My Hearing by Listening to Music?

[Mister Muso]

I got high frequency tinnitus and hyperacusis six months ago, on top of the low frequency hum that I've had for 12 years. I believe both of these to be primarily noise-induced. The hearing tests came back showing no hearing loss other than that expected for my age (I'm 54).

However, lately I've had the feeling of things being "not right" with my ears - feelings of fullness and slight pain inside my ear, which I've experienced off and on over the six months. Over this time my hyperacusis has been easing off, and I've been listening again to some of the music I used to enjoy. I never have the volume more than a quarter of the way up, sometimes at home through computer speakers, sometimes in the car. Normally I stick with soft ambient sounds, but sometimes I'll listen to a little rock music - usually nothing heavier than Rush or Pink Floyd. I always stop or put earplugs in when I start to feel uncomfortable.

I've had 3 or 4 tinnitus spikes over the past 6 weeks, always through social occasions that I couldn't get out of. I don't believe listening to music has contributed to those spikes at all.

I was shocked to discover through hearingtest.online that my hearing appears to have deteriorated further. Looking at the results below, the calibration may be off in some results, but it's the overall shape of the graph that counts. You can see a clear pattern indicating that my low frequency hearing loss is now as bad or worse than my high frequency loss.

Could I have caused this through listening to music at low to moderate levels, or could this just be because my hyperacusis has eased off, uncovering the "hidden hearing loss" that was there ever since the acoustic shocks that caused my tinnitus six months ago? I did suffer severe temporary hearing loss at the time, both in my left ear six months ago, and in my right ear 12 years ago, although they both appeared to recover by the next day.

I had thought that hearing loss was one of the things I wouldn't have to deal with for a while, but now I fear I could be wrong. Quite worried and scared again :-(

 

[Mister Muso]

:BUMP:
Maybe my post was too long and complicated.

Let me rephrase the question. Has anyone else experienced increasing hearing loss in the months after getting tinnitus, rather than straight away?

And if you did, can you identify a specific cause, or do you think it was hidden hearing loss that became apparent as your hyperacusis improved?

 

[Auron]

Has anyone else experienced increasing hearing loss in the months after getting tinnitus, rather than straight away?

I did a test at the 3,6, and 8th week after.Each test showed an improvement in hearing.I think I should go do another.

 

[Mister Muso]

I did a test at the 3,6, and 8th week after.Each test showed an improvement in hearing.I think I should go do another.

So you got hearing loss at the same time as tinnitus, and both have improved?

That's certainly the kind of improvement that we all hope for. My situation is the opposite, in that I am only now experiencing delayed hearing loss, 6 months after the initial tinnitus.

I have had a few more spikes than usual in the past month, so I just hope I haven't damaged my hearing too.

Has anyone else experienced this delayed hearing loss that I've described?

 

[Auron]

So you got hearing loss at the same time as tinnitus, and both have improved?

Yea hearing got a bit better after acoustic shock,at least up to 8kHz,but T stayed the same.Still dealing with a plethora of other issue's unfortunately.

 

[Laurie1961]

Could I have caused this through listening to music at low to moderate levels, or could this just be because my hyperacusis has eased off, uncovering the "hidden hearing loss" that was there ever since the acoustic shocks that caused my tinnitus six months ago? I did suffer severe temporary hearing loss at the time, both in my left ear six months ago, and in my right ear 12 years ago, although they both appeared to recover by the next day.

I do not believe for one minute you did anything to cause your tinnitus as far as listening to music or otherwise although this seems to be the rational of many. The reason I do not believe that sound or loud music is the case is that very few musicians, even ones in heavy rock bands who are dying off, have very infrequently had hearing loss and many performed long after they entered senior years. The band players of the greatest symphonies never retired holding both sides of their head claiming tinnitus. DJ's and radio announcers on the other hand do have hearing loss- perhaps from being exposed to powerful antenna RF or from having hobby shortwave radios/antennas at home. They never reported tinnitus or squealing, but had the loss of ability to hear sound below certain volumes or in certain frequencies. Tinnitus was rarely reported except perhaps by kids at a rock concert or the person running a high frequency tool for hours... but this was always a tinnitus that faded and did not return until perhaps the next concert or high school dance. I absolutely do not think that for most, that any normal sound exposure causes today's tinnitus epidemic.

I did notice on your test that while you are losing the ability to hear low frequency, your ability to hear 8,000 Hz has improved slightly. Very curious. When I've used a frequency sound app on my tablet, and put the level at 8,000 Hz, or thereabouts, I cannot hear any sound and you would have a hard time convincing me that the tablet is making a noise until you adjust the frequency, usually to a lower one. In science, you probably learned this too, but I think it deserves some experimenting by everyone-- that one frequency will cancel out another frequency complete if of equal magnitude. If the two frequencies are unequal, the resulting sound will be the difference between the two frequencies. (For example, if I tune my sound app to 12,000 Hz and have identified 8,000 Hz as the level there is no sound since one cancels the other, then the noise I hear at 12,000 Hz sounds more like 4,000 Hz which actually will sound louder to me than higher frequencies, despite no change in the volume-decibels).

 

[Mister Muso]

@Laurie1961

My tinnitus waa definitely noise induced. It started following a concert in April when the familiar ringing in the ears didn't fade the next day but has stayed with me ever since

I got temporary hearing loss in one ear following a pyrotechnics explosion at a rock concert 12 years ago, with low frequency Pulsatile tinnitus following soon after.

My good ear suffered temporary Hearing loss this June after being exposed to a loud feedback blast at close quarters. I was wearing noise cancelling headphones which I later learned probably amplified this type of sound instead of cancelling it. I have had additional tinnitus tones in that ear ever since.

I don't know why you are sceptical about the ability of concerts to cause permanent hearing damage as reported by many here. That's not a view I have seen expressed here before. Have you ever been to a loud concert? It may not be one concert alone, because as you say most people go to concerts with no problems. I believe for some of us it's a cumulative effect exacerbated by multiple factors like bruxism and TMJ, an ETD, and excessive headphone use.

I'm still curious to hear from anyone whose hearing loss has got worse with no apparent recent cause like I've described, several months after previous damage.

 

[Laurie1961]

@Mister Muso

Yes, I've experienced tinnitus when I was young after attending rock concerts, school dances and from bars that had bands or loud music. Also, I used to do work with a high speed router that after a half hour or so, would do the same thing before I got ear plugs. The tinnitus from that is completely different from what I have now.

From noise exposure, the tinnitus would become evident after the noise stopped- as in leaving the bar or concert. The noise was a high noise, not screeching loud, focal to the inner ears and if I recall correctly even itched or tingled a little. It was obvious that the temporary tinnitus from noise exposure caused temporary hearing loss in that all of us leaving the noise would speak louder, ask "what did you say?" kind of behavior. By the time I got home, tinnitus was completely gone, say a time span of a half hour to an hour. There was no sensation on teeth, in the brain or skull, just the ears.

I have also had a pop noise in my ear one time after riding in a car that someone was playing extremely low bass. Other times the loud low bass actually made me nauseated and dizzy. It took several hours to recover even though there was no tinnitus. Twice, by the time I arrived to work, my nose was gushing blood. Everyone said it wasn't the stereo but after my car was back on the road and I didn't have to bum a ride, the symptoms didn't come back. I guess what I am saying is that first hand I know loud noise can effect your ears. I am sure that with the digital music and the headsets so popular now, capable of all kinds of tones and volume, that damage that I am not familiar with could occur.

As far as loud noise, I worked in a loud factory that had hammering constantly. I have had police officers in the family who for fun would target practice and others who hunted. That kind of noise is awful. I'm sure if you are exposed to this constantly without ear protection something could happen to hearing.

Whether this would be tinnitus, I'm not sure. A loud blast usually, in the past caused service men hearing loss, period. Just stone deafness, not ringing or anything else. I don't think that this has changed. I don't think service men have tinnitus to the extent they are reporting from explosion blast like noises but they could be using equipment that is inflicting some other sort of sound wave... It is unusual that the the ear would keep ringing.

Vision for instance- you can be blind in one eye and you might not be aware of it because the brain stops processing the sight from the eye that is messed up. Ears are similar and wouldn't keep ringing without some sort of stimulation in most cases. It would be unusual is my position, I guess. I know the coincidence- and rationalizing things, like being exposed to a fire alarm for an hour and then a couple days later noticing you have tinnitus, it is only logical to believe that a certain noise was the cause.

Lots of people think that the dentist's drill causes tinnitus. I have had drilling in my teeth at least a dozen times before I went to the dentist and experienced peculiar symptoms right after. The tinnitus did not begin right after. It followed a bunch of other symptoms. The fact that I discovered I had an electrical charge on me when the tinnitus started and was extreme caused me to test my dental fillings. It was only logical to believe that the metal filling that went in might have been made of a different amalgam metal than the one beside it, that my saliva was an acid and therefore the metal of the new filling had created a battery in my mouth.

When I asked about this, I was treated like a crazy person for noticing the voltage on me but when i measured 700mV I was sent to a computer science department at a university by the doctor I went to. State police surrounded my car where they had asked me to park and made sure I moved my car to this certain spot after I arrived and used the regular parking lot. I was tested, they found that I did have voltage on me but could not give me a clear explanation as to why.

One of the people there said - "I think it is awful they are doing this to you." I had been paralyzed from the waste down during the week before this, simply after resting both feet on the metal rail of my bed frame. I was having anxiety to an extreme and I packed up my belongings expecting to be put in a mental hospital. Instead I was sent to the computer science department and after that to a dentist who did not charge me and picked around my upper palate.

At that point in time I had tinnitus so severe I couldn't function and under the lights in the dentist chair, where I was left for a bit, I thought i was going to die. I found that I could drive to the whilly wacks and my tinnitus would stop, if I was also out of cell phone range or near to the ocean.

This eventually stopped working during the last few years. Every once in awhile I find a pocket in cell phone coverage and experience extreme relief. In my home, my tinnitus is far worse than if I am deep in the woods. As soon as I get back in the house, the tinnitus screams when it is acting up.

So, this is my perspective and I believe that external frequency is causing this in many, many of the people reporting tinnitus.

But, no matter how I came off (I don't write how i feel very well), I do not doubt that your experience and exposure to noise contributed to your tinnitus. You know what happened to you better than anyone else.