Poll: (Acoustic Trauma) Was Your Hearing Loss Visible on Your Audiogram?

[Taylorslay]

I want to see if it's normal to not have visible hearing loss but still have hearing impairment.

Do also comment how long since you've had this trauma. Also has your hearing changed over time?

 

[Bill Bauer]

When I play sound enrichment (sound of crickets), I seem to hear more of the high pitch sounds with my good ear (that hasn't had an acoustic trauma). My audiogram was normal.

 

[dpdx]

my audiogram is normal above and below 8khz, no hidden hearing loss because i was tested on that for both ears, however i do notice that something is missing when i listen to music, it is like the instrumental is weird. I cant explain.

 

[Yoshi]

The thing with audiograms is that a lot of things can influence their results. You can see how @Ed209 's results between two tests differ significantly: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-natural-improvement-between-my-two-audiograms.19535/. Speaking for myself, the three audiograms I've had done this year have wildly fluctuated within a 5-10 dB range. The first audiogram I got showed a 15 dB threshold near 3 kHz with a jagged pattern from 250 Hz to 8 kHz. When I had it done again recently, it was a straight line through 5 dB for all frequencies. Many factors impact your audiogram, such as the presence of wax, anxiety, stress, the equipment used, the tests performed, the frequencies tested, and many else. Your audiologist will treat anything <25 dB as normal though, so you could hypothetically drop from 0 to 15 dB in one frequency, which would be noticeable to you, and your audiologist will still think your hearing is normal if you don't have a previous audiogram to compare with. I felt like @dpdx did immediately after my tinnitus appeared, music sounded flat, distorted, and hollow for some reason, but when I had my hearing tested the audiologist said it was normal. If you feel your hearing isn't as good, you have hearing loss for whatever reason, simple as that. Audiograms are much too imprecise for people whose hearing aren't severely impaired.

 

[dpdx]

The thing with audiograms is that a lot of things can influence their results. You can see how @Ed209 's results between two tests differ significantly: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-natural-improvement-between-my-two-audiograms.19535/. Speaking for myself, the three audiograms I've had done this year have wildly fluctuated within a 5-10 dB range. The first audiogram I got showed a 15 dB threshold near 3 kHz with a jagged pattern from 250 Hz to 8 kHz. When I had it done again recently, it was a straight line through 5 dB for all frequencies. Many factors impact your audiogram, such as the presence of wax, anxiety, stress, the equipment used, the tests performed, the frequencies tested, and many else. Your audiologist will treat anything <25 dB as normal though, so you could hypothetically drop from 0 to 15 dB in one frequency, which would be noticeable to you, and your audiologist will still think your hearing is normal if you don't have a previous audiogram to compare with. I felt like @dpdx did immediately after my tinnitus appeared, music sounded flat, distorted, and hollow for some reason, but when I had my hearing tested the audiologist said it was normal. If you feel your hearing isn't as good, you have hearing loss for whatever reason, simple as that. Audiograms are much too imprecise for people whose hearing aren't severely impaired.

You are right audiograms are imprecise. I suspect we all have some hidden hearing loss, we wouldnt have T if we didnt.

 

[sandra72]

This is mine from yesterday. And my T is loud and some days low. But everyday when i am waking up my T is very loud.

 

[JurgenG]

Almost no loss whatsoever. A very small dip at 4k in my left ear.
But now the weird part: I just hear better with my other ear, and my Tinnitus is more in my "good" ear.
So the opposite of my audiogram.

Also my "trauma" was on two ears at the same time, I did attend a party where I losened my earplugs a week after said "trauma", and the ears where I losened the plugs has more T + some small noticeable loss. (But better audiogram.)

 

[Taylorslay]

Almost no loss whatsoever. A very small dip at 4k in my left ear.
But now the weird part: I just hear better with my other ear, and my Tinnitus is more in my "good" ear.
So the opposite of my audiogram.

Also my "trauma" was on two ears at the same time, I did attend a party where I losened my earplugs a week after said "trauma", and the ears where I losened the plugs has more T + some small noticeable loss. (But better audiogram.)

That is my issue as well but I have zero hearing loss. Says my audiogram. I will fight to say I do have hearing loss. My perception isn't the same after my trauma. I had two traumas in the span of 2 weeks.

1 in my right ear which wasn't so bad. No Tinnitus or Hyperacusis. Though 2 weeks later I did it again and I hurt my left ear worse than my right. So my left is terrible. My good ear became bad. However I think my ear on my right has Tinnitus worse.

 

[Taylorslay]

my audiogram is normal above and below 8khz, no hidden hearing loss because i was tested on that for both ears, however i do notice that something is missing when i listen to music, it is like the instrumental is weird. I cant explain.

T can come from a lot of things but the most common is noise trauma it seems.

 

[Contrast]

my audiogram said PERFECT after having muffled hearing in my right ear.

 

[dpdx]

my audiogram said PERFECT after having muffled hearing in my right ear.

Did you do above 8khz. Did you do DPOAE?

 

[Contrast]

Did you do above 8khz. Did you do DPOAE?

yes and it said perfect, im confused how does a OAE work, does it test above 8k?

 

[dpdx]

yes and it said perfect, im confused how does a OAE work, does it test above 8k?

I dont think so. Do you have TMJ?

 

[Contrast]

I dont think so. Do you have TMJ?

No, not that I know of.

 

[dpdx]

No, not that I know of.

Interesting. DPOAE revealed that I damaged some outer cochlea cells. I lost a good chunk of my hearing on that ear. Right ear DPOAE and Audiogram are perfect, but I have awful hyperacusis.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Interesting. DPOAE revealed that I damaged some outer cochlea cells. I lost a good chunk of my hearing on that ear. Right ear DPOAE and Audiogram are perfect, but I have awful hyperacusis.

Interesting, according to an audiologist that I saw, DPOAEs drop before loss appears on an audiogram.

For me, my audiogram is okay at 4k while the OAEs show loss. My audiologist speculates I will lose 4k enough to appear as a loss on an audiogram soon.

 

[dpdx]

Interesting, according to an audiologist that I saw, DPOAEs drop before loss appears on an audiogram.

For me, my audiogram is okay at 4k while the OAEs show loss. My audiologist speculates I will lose 4k enough to appear as a loss on an audiogram soon.

Oh wow.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Oh wow.

I asked how soon the loss typically appears, but she was unsure. I need to set up an appointment with her sometime this year, I'll follow up if she has more info.

 

[Tinker Bell]

I wonder if the discrepancy between OAEs and an audiogram is more prevalent in individuals with tinnitus.

 

[dpdx]

I asked how soon the loss typically appears, but she was unsure. I need to set up an appointment with her sometime this year, I'll follow up if she has more info.

I am going in again next month to see if my hearing has worsened. Can I PM you?

 

[Tinker Bell]

I am going in again next month to see if my hearing has worsened. Can I PM you?

Sure thing.

 

[dpdx]

Sure thing.

You dont have the option for PM.

 

[Tinker Bell]

You dont have the option for PM.

That's odd. I used to get PMs.

I checked my account and made a tweak. Let me know if you still cannot message me!