I Experience Irritation While Listening to Music

[WesWeaver]

Hey there,

Back in October of 2014 I went to a rock concert and suffered temporary hearing loss for a few days afterwards. No ringing, I just lost high end. It felt like I had cotton balls in my ears.

Ever since then I experience pain while listening to music. Its not constant by any means, but I find high frequency sounds, like guitar solos and organ, cause a bit of discomfort.

I went to an audiologist a few weeks ago and did a standard hearing test. Apparently my hearing is normal, higher than average even. I've been bugging my family doctor to refer me to an ENT but she keeps saying that she can't find a reason to refer me to one. Its been a good 6 months or so of trying.

I do experience ringing in my ears on and off at a really high pitch but it goes away.

What could be the cause of my sensitivity to higher frequencies? Could it be tinnitus?

 

[liquefact]

Hi,
In short, Tinnitus is not a cause, but usually a result of hearing loss or some hearing disfunction. When one has T, it's mostly followed by Hyperacousis (higher sensitivity to external sounds) but in some of the cases, hyperacousis diminishes over time.

In the concert you mentioned, you've probably damaged your cells in your inner ear or some of the auditory nerves are disconnected from the hair cells in the cochlea. Which in turn caused either a lowered(H) / distorted(T) hearing threshold.

In order to get more information about your condition, you may ;
1. Have an audiogram containing the upper ranges, up to 12K at least, 16K better, if you haven't done so.
2. Have an autoacoustic test which is more sensitive than a normal audiogram. This is supposed to detect the function of your hearing cells in your cochlea. Even if it turns out that you have no hearing loss with that tets, it does not mean that your hearing is normal, as some nerves may have been disconnected from them (hair cells are normal and respond perfectly to autoacosutic test but cannot transmit the signals to the brain as they are disconnected from auditory nerves = hidden hearing loss).

Even though you do not experience a constant ringing but an intermittent one right now, you're much more susceptible to T/H than before, so protect your ears from loudness AT ALL TIMES. Maybe the loudness of the background noises (the actual Tinnitus sound) is just below the hearing threshold now and with one more exposure to loud sounds you'll start hearing the ringing. Try to avoid that.

Cheers!

 

[Nick Pyzik]

Try taking B-12 at a high dose, around 2500 mcg but only one a day. I took it two times while that problem occurred to me 4 months ago and it was almost like my hearing went back to normal. You may have damaged the myelin sheath which connects the auditory nerves to the hair cells. If damaged I think that hyperacusis can occur. B-12 and even almonds help repair the damaged myelin sheath so it would be great to try the supplement and even the food item as a bonus.

Unfortunately it seems like all of my original hearing is gone now over these past months. Music doesn't sound the same at all. There's something fishy about what's been going on. I hear things but that's it. Sounds don't effect my emotions at all. This article could possibly be my problem.
http://hub.jhu.edu/2015/07/13/age-related-hearing-loss

 

[Michael Leigh]

What could be the cause of my sensitivity to higher frequencies? Could it be tinnitus?

It sounds as though you have some tinnitus and hyperacusis (sensitivity to certain sounds) ask your GP to refer you to ENT and don't stop trying. Go to the surgery every day if necessary as I once did. It is your health that's important. If you listen to audio through headphones then I advise you to stop even at low volume. Consider using a sound machine by the bedside at night, as sleeping in a quiet room isn't a good idea in my opinion. Please click on the link below as you may find my threads helpful, which explain more about: tinnitus, hyperacusis, sound enrichment, positivity and more.
All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/member?user_id=3134&content=thread