Sound Distortion When I Speak, Hyperacusis & Tinnitus — Unusual Case: A Plea for Advice

Dear colleagues,

Although my case is still recent, the oddities about it made me write in a plea for help.

Relying on your own experiences and on your years of reading about others’ experiences, I would likely to kindly ask for your insights and help, so I can better understand what is going on with me and make some critical decisions. As you will see, my symptoms and story are rather odd.

The short version:

Six weeks after an episode of what is assumed to have been a mild sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) in the right ear caught early, I currently have intermittent mild-moderate tinnitus in the left ear, intermittent ear fullness in the right ear, hyperacusis of varying intensity (but no pain), and the most annoying thing that I can only describe as: a distorted sound in my left ear when I speak some words/sentences at given volumes/frequencies (like an exploding metallic distortion, similar to a broken speaker). Perhaps it is some sort of diplacusis or autophony, since when I whistle songs at higher-pitch I can double-hear it in the left ear? I haven´t found anything about this. The only other situation in which I can hear the same type of distortion (although less pronounced) is when I hear some female voices singing in very high pitch.

The long version:

All began on the evening of 09/19/2023. While working on my computer, out of nowhere I suddenly heard a two minute loud buzz in my right ear. After that, it calmed down to a quiet buzz. In the next day I saw a University of Michigan GP, who looked into my ears, saw nothing abnormal except for the right ear being very mildly red. Just in case, they prescribed me Ciprofloxacin-Dexamethasone 0.3-0.1 % twice a day for seven days just in case there was an infection.

Four days later, on 09/23/2023 I started having non-stop tinnitus and (not painful) hyperacusis in both ears, and actually even more on the left ear. Perhaps interestingly, two days later (on 09/25/2023) my wife was diagnosed with Covid. I myself never tested positive since this saga began, nor do I remember having any Covid symptoms in the weeks prior; just a very mild sensitivity in my throat a few days after this saga began (my wife and I are all 4 times vaccinated, 1 + 3 boosters, with last shot taken last year, all without any problems).

On 09/27/2023 I started noticing a fullness in my right ear, and that I was also starting to hear worse from the right ear. That same day I heard a frightening loud buzz in my left ear that lasted for a few minutes and made me scream and cry. On 09/28/2023 I went to the ER, where various blood work and a CT scan of the brain returned normal. With a tuning fork Weber test, the ER ENT detected that the hearing of right ear indeed was worse than the left ear, and immediately put me on Prednisone for 14 days for suspected mild/initial SSHL.

On 10/04/2023 I got an audiogram done, which showed complete recovery of my hearing in both ears between 250 Hz and 8000 Hz, with perfect speech recognition. At that point, oddly the tinnitus from the originally affected right ear was gone, but it remained in the left ear. A day later, however, I started developing the weird sound distortion in my left ear when I speak. Doing online audio tests of lower and higher frequencies (50 Hz-16000 Hz), I noted that my right ear was not capable of hearing above 13000 Hz, while my left ear could hear up to 16000 Hz. Since then, that seems to also have normalized and as of yesterday, I can hear up to 16000 Hz in both ears mostly similarly in all volumes I tried.

Over the weeks, my tinnitus has also improved from constant to intermittent (although when it is present it stays for long), and also to a mild volume most of the time it is present. My hyperacusis is always here in both ears, although worse in the left ear, and its severity also varies from mild to quite bothersome (again, always painless). However, I have seen little progress in the very disturbing sound distortions and noise that I hear in my left ear when I speak. Also, from time to time, my right ear again have this fullness sensation and a bit of a very mild soreness.

Past acoustic experiences:

During my entire life (I am a 40-year-old male), I very rarely went to shows, nightclubs or used headphones / earbuds. Very rarely. In the last year or so I started using those at bed to watch shows without disturbing my wife, but at very low volumes. Although not always, from time to time I would fall sleep with the headphones / earbuds on, but would take them off in the middle of the night. I never had an acoustic trauma from those being loud at all. Decades ago, before high-school, a colleague made a silly prank buzzing a loud sound to my left ear that did give an acoustic trauma: since then, sometimes when I heard really loud noises (e.g., in movie theaters), my left ear would have some very quick sound distortions; but nothing bothersome).

My questions:

(1) have you ever had, have you ever known of someone or read about someone who has had, such a weird sound distortion when they spoke? For the life of me, I cannot find anything about this online or in the forums. And I don’t need to tell you that the ENT that I saw after my audiogram was completely terrible, dismissive, insensitive and inhumane.

(2) I do have an MRI ordered: “MRI CN VIII protocol with and without gadolinium”. But I am very scared of doing it because of the loud noises that it emits even when using earplugs + noise-cancelling headphones. I had an MRI of the brain done last year for different reasons (which showed nothing remarkable; and by the way the ENT looked at it again and saw nothing worrisome, but decided to ask a new one more focused on the ears and with those specific contrasts) and I remember well how noisy it was. Given that I have odd symptoms but in both ears, and how they are evolving, do you think it would be wise to do this MRI right now or delay a bit further to see how my hyperacusis progresses?

(3) Any other insights, ideas or even guesses that you could give would be of great great help for me to try to find myself out of this mess. It has been particularly difficult because of the fluctuating of symptoms.

 

Hey there. Type in "metallic sound" in the search box and you will see the other people with it. I had it. It's in my old posts. It was in the right ear only and was obviously more pronounced when I used earplugs. It was at the onset of my tinnitus. Yes, with loud talking it happened. It was like robot talk. My best guess was my eardrum was inflamed/swollen. It was either 4 or 5 months later that it stopped. I lived a VERY quiet life but did have early permanent worsenings both due to noise trauma and who the fuck knows what. Still, even as I got worse, the metallic sound passed. Pretty certain yours will too.

Protect from loud sounds, sleep good and have support. Be mindful of your ears from now on. That is the best advice I can offer you.

 

I recently spoke to someone who had the sound distortions only when they speak.

Many people have it from women’s or loud voices and whatnot, and it can sound like a robot or whistle on top. So it is common but less common from your own voice at a lower volume. I think the intensity can change over time.

Just so you’re aware, it’s extremely common to not hear past 15 kHz at 40 years old at medium volume so it’s unlikely that has much to do with it. And to have a slight variation in the higher frequencies too. Don’t let that worry you. Your audiogram is fine from what you’ve said.

When it comes to this particular volume induced distortion (if it’s the same as the one I explained), they’re not sure of the cause but some audiologists suggest muscular or within the middle ear, unlike some other distortions which are over all volumes which is slightly more suggestive of a nerve or cochlear source.

There’s a chance it could be hyperacusis related, if the ear can’t get volumes right at certain frequencies. Having a slight version of this broken speaker distortion at louder volumes is pretty common at 40 years old. More so with people who have been exposed to more loud noises than you. I’ve known multiple 20-year-olds who have it and a lot of people who are aware of it but don’t really care.

For now you should wait and expect it to get better. Revel in your good hearing and don’t overthink it as it will make it seem louder and worse. I assume the main problem is the annoyance from it being over your own speaking which is so understandable. But it is best to wait it out and allow your ears’ and brain’s neuroplasticity to readjust.

Hard to comment on everything else but give your ears a break from headphones for now. Everything else you’ve done in your life is great.

 

I have a bad case of distortions. I’m about 3 years in. The first 6 months I had beeping over every sound, not just my voice - it was horrible. I could no longer mask my tinnitus because every sound sounded horrible.

It seems like the meds might have caused some issues with your ears and made them worse. Don’t take any more meds. Try to wait this out.

Every time I take meds, I get a new distortion or tinnitus sound. My distortions improved around the 6-9 month mark. I’m still dealing with it but it’s definitely not as bad. My noxacusis is the main issue now and probably keeps me forever stuck in a room.

Hang in there, it will probably improve with time. There’s not much more you can really do.

When I had mild loudness hyperacusis and tinnitus, I didn’t know distortions or noxacusis existed. I knew sound could hurt your ears but I didn’t know it could cause severe lingering deep nerve pain, that only gets worse from sound. I had to scavenge every article I could find on distortions or dysacusis, and yeah, it’s very rare to have. Most people seem to improve over time.

Hang in there. I know it sucks. It’s definitely worse than a constant tinnitus tone because it was always changing and not consistent. I can deal with tinnitus that doesn’t change all the time but the distortions drove me nuts.

 

Did the distortion go away for you entirely then? We both came here at around the same time during the onset of tinnitus and distortions, and I also had the metallic sounds from a lot of things but now, a year and a half in, it never went away for me so far, but the high metallic sounds turned into a bit of a lower sounding tune that I can still hear through showers and TV and whatnot.

I hope it passes entirely one day. I kind of lost hope and figure it already should have been over by now, but there's no guarantee with these things and it's different for everyone.

 

I had a worsening this week - the hyperacusis and tinnitus, that seemed to be going away, came back. Not in full force, not with pain. But it was bad week. Yet, it is heartwarming to see your replies.

I really do hope this metallic echo when I speak goes away. It somehow manages to even more maddening than the tinnitus and hyperacusis. And it must be related somehow with the hyperacusis, because when I speak real low I don't hear them. Also, let me ask: you said your noises after speaking stopped after a few months. Do you remember if it was a kind of linear improvement or did you have setbacks, ups and lows? As for "metallic sound" and other similar terms, I do find a lot of people that had those when hearing sounds, but not much about people having them when they spoke!

This was very helpful too, thanks! Just to be clear, besides the silly tone tests, I can hear reasonably well at 14 kHz and not much more (both years). But again I too don't think that is concerning at the 40 years mark at all. I was more concerned before when the hearing was much worse above 8000 Hz in one ear than in the other. But really seems to have equalized for the better. Like I said a couple of paragraphs above, I think you are right and this might be hyperacusis related. Because when I speak low volume I don't hear the noises.

They show up as I increase my voice to the normal volume and higher, or when I speak too much. Also, you mentioned people having this more often when hearing female voices - you opened my eyes to it, because indeed my wife's voice unfortunately causes me discomfort sometimes and makes some of said noises. I hadn't noticed, I thought it was only my own voice! After realizing that, I did a test and played some music I like that have very high pitch female voices and voilá - I hear the same distortions as I speak!

Hey, among the many distortions you have or had, did / do you also have them when you speak? Did that go away? Also, I am curious how did they start? I do agree with you about medications and I am trying to survive without any - including none for sleep (just 3 mg Melatonin, which does not make much sleep difference for me...). The steroids I am happy I took, because they seem to have saved my hearing.

Hi there, let me ask you too: do your distortions also happen when you speak?

 

This now happens to me on exposure to loud sounds. I just avoid them generally or protect extensively if no choice.

It was much more prevalent coming off steroids (I do think steroids was the right choice and you probably did have COVID-19, it's the immune reaction to COVID-19 that tends to cause all the issues, and it only gets stronger/more immediate with each exposure) or any medication really, especially a benzo.

Benzos did help, but like everyone else, I think time and quiet was the best thing. It eventually self-resolved.

My garbage noises, hyperacusis and tinnitus are still here 3 years later.

If you had distortion as a teenager from sound, then the inflammation probably caused damage which simply unmasked that / made it worse, since it would damage all areas equally; the already damaged area of neurons would have a much higher effect as there's more damage per capita so to speak.

You're extremely lucky to have improved so much, be nice to your ears, maybe start taking some daily antioxidants and vitamin D.

 

Did you actually test negative for COVID-19? Or did you not test at all? If you did test, how many times?

I have distortions (dysacusis) too and I think mine was triggered by COVID-19. I got COVID-19 at the end of 2021 and the distortions popped up around 3 weeks later. I used to wear headphones daily too, so perhaps the headphones caused damage over time and COVID-19 was the final straw.

I didn’t have the robotic/metallic voices at first, but I had whistling over fans and water and distortion in music. I also had the fullness feeling in my left ear, but that only lasted 2 weeks.

However, 3 months after onset, the distortions got worse and I started experiencing the robotic voice effect. It wasn’t stronger in female voices like some others have mentioned, it was just random. Some people sounded worse than others, but neither men or women sounded particularly worse. My mom has a deep voice and her voice was the most distorted in my family, while my sister has a high-pitched voice and hers was much less noticeable.

Unfortunately, I still have distortions almost 2 years later. However, the robotic voices did improve 85% after 3 months. My voice sounds mostly normal now when speaking at regular volume, and other people sound mostly normal as well. Only my whispering still has a little bit of noticeable distortion.

So yeah, the improvement was not linear, it got worse before it got better. This seems to be the case for most people.

Overall, distortions seem to resolve on their own for many people in anywhere between 3-12 months. Although, some unlucky people like me and @TheCapybara still have them after over a year. Not sure why some of us have different outcomes. I’ve definitely been living a quieter life after it started. I ditched headphones immediately after this began, but maybe I need to ditch speakers and all digital audio too for a while? Not sure.

Yep, all my doctors wanted me to take Nortriptyline, but I refused because I was terrified that it would just make the distortions worse.

Are your distortions 100% gone now? Or is there still a little bit left? And how long did it take for you to improve?

 

I had them over every sound yes, different for different frequencies. The voice ones were the first to go away.

I never got tested but I probably had COVID-19 like a few months before all of this so who knows. It definitely didn’t help.

 

Not for my own voice no, and very rarely when others speak.

But usually it's most noticeable in anything else. On top of voices on TV, music, showers, anything with that high frequency.

I also immediately got rid of my headset after onset, and started using speakers. Although I watched a lot of stuff on mute for months, I still want to listen to music or when gaming so I don't think I can get rid of digital audio entirely, that would remove one of the few joys I still have. I guess all we can do is wait even longer and hope it goes away at some point. Everyone has different experiences, it might take a few years. I'd hate to think this whole distortion thing can go on past the 50s even when we start losing hearing in the high frequencies by then.

 

Yes, you can find others with similar symptoms. I had it as well after the health care system ruined me with a lumbar puncture (they did not disclose tinnitus and other related things could be a side effect.. NEVER agree to a lumbar puncture...) Voices sounded metallic and robotic, I had severe hyperacusis and some low bass tones bounced all over the place without me being able to figure out the distance (like a car closing in). Music I had enjoyed my whole life was suddenly impossible to listen to, it sounded awful. The world was filtered through broken speakers, sort of...

It went on for months, but I can say that it has all pretty much resolved, up to like 96% I'd say. I still get those bass tone displacement stuff or whatever you can call it from time to time... But the rest has recovered and I am very glad that I can listen to my favourite music again, etc.

(I still have tinnitus from the lumbar puncture though, it's a low frequency rumbling sort of, it has improved but not disappeared.)

 

Hi @TheCapybara! How are you coping today?

Yes, the sound left completely. I whisper talked the first few months and barely left the house so I think my eardrum inflammation or whatever that was hurt, healed up. My tones still worsened though, and then again to a horrible level (what I have now) but at least when I talk I just hear my own voice again.

I think maybe you and a few other in this thread are talking about tones being metallic though? I am replying here as my own voice was the distortion. It wasn't a tone.

Here's a relevant thread:

High-Pitched, Distorted, Metallic Screech When I Speak

Hi @skMad,

I dont recall the progression of the distortion leaving. I do recall the day I noticed it. I had my earplugs in and called either a cat or my rabbit's name and it was just my usual voice. It could have been lowering or gone for a day or more but I was barely talking then and very low. I remember feeling dumb I called my pet's name at a regular volume and instantly knowing it sounded normal. I was very happy.

Do you have it in both ears? Do you have any pain when you talk? I had slight pain on/off during my first months and always in the right ear with the distortion. Over those months I twice took a Ginkgo biloba pill and both times my ears had a few seconds of sound distortions that were very scary within 20 minutes. Not sure if that was good or bad but I never took it again.

 

Yeah, it's really hard to stop listening to all digital audio entirely. Although, if I did ever do it, it wouldn't be forever, but just for a month or two to see if anything changes. And even that would still be really tough.

 

On the topic of someone who is suffering from a combination of whistling and morse code beeps over the top of certain sounds (mostly white noise), I'd noticed the effect is being caused by presumably damage along small frequency ranges between 1000-2000 Hz in the left ear.

On a more positive note to us all, I contacted a Professor of Audiology at a distinguished UK University and this was their response on the particular topic of hearing distortions/dysacusis (there was a list of questions!).

"We also become accustomed to a range of dysacuses (as the brain is plastic)."

Nothing we don't already know from experience on Tinnitus Talk, I guess but reinforces the fact (similar reply to that Aussie musician guy) from those who experience it, that it does improve over time. What I do wonder is, when she says accustomed, do we just accept it emotionally and therefore it doesn't bother nor is noticed, or does the brain genuinely tune/retune to phase them out. I guess it doesn't really matter as long as you can get past them.

Hoping everyone's sound distortions on this thread improve over time.

 

I'm doing okay, all things considered. I feel like the only thing that's improved after a year and a half is my reaction to distortions on top of showers, TV, and anything else with a high sound. It used to be really distressing and anxiety inducing in those first months but now, it's just there. My brain kind of adapted to it by now I guess, but it's still around... Joy.

What about you, are you holding up alright? I'm glad your voice distortion went away, that must've been scary to deal with too.

Do you happen to have an idea of how your dysacusis started? It's the same situation as mine so I'm curious to know how it happened to others. I always had this thought that it was definitely caused by messing around with a sound pitch changing site for music and that I messed up my ears listening to a certain pitch.

Either that or it's simply random sensorineural hearing loss from genetics. I hate that I'll never really know for sure what caused this, and that there's not a single thing anyone can do to fix it but I had the time to make peace with that over the span of a year so it is what it is. If it really does improve over time, then all I can do is wait it out even longer. I'm honestly surprised that musician guy is already back to playing music on the piano, did his distortions already fade out that fast?

 

What can an ear-specific MRI diagnose that a regular MRI can't?

 

I’ve found I can pinpoint the area by running a tone generator on my phone at the absolute lowest volume in a completely silent room. As I reach certain frequencies, I hear wind or slight crackling on top and it swaps ears around the 1 kHz mark.

I’d be interested to see if other people hear this too. As I turn the volume to 3/10, it disappears so it needs to be quiet. I’ve also found the same around other higher frequencies that I periodically have noises at.

 

I have this exact same phenomenon, lots of specific frequencies mainly between 1500-2000 Hz sound like you've said. Not sure what this means for us? What's the mechanism at play? I guess the main question is, is there any chance of improvement from it...

 

Interesting that a few people have said this exact range for beeping and distortions.

If anyone else does or doesn't have their distortions in that 1-2 kHz range, please chime in.

I have no hearing loss in that range so it's odd.

@Cmspgran, do you have hyperacusis? My audiologist suggested it's the hearing bugging out at specific frequencies due to hyperacusis amplification problems, or possibly middle ear contracting incorrectly.

Recently I had another weird experience to distortions/diplacusis effect that I found super strange and interesting. It maybe gives people some kind of idea as to how this could occur.

I was watching TV - I firmly blocked my left ear for about 30 seconds, listening through my right. Suddenly I heard big peaks around 500 Hz in my blocked ear, as if someone dramatically amplified that frequency on the TV - however that ear had no input at all.

It was almost like some kind of diplacusis projection to the other side. I removed my finger and that ear still was hearing those dramatic peaks hugely above the volume that was occurring until slowly it equalized over a few minutes.

The fact that it was localized and immediate almost supported the middle ear muscular theory, however the fact I could hear that while the ear was blocked would suggest it's some kind of brain projection to the opposite side? Possibly the same function that causes diplacusis. Figured it was worth mentioning as it's a rare glimpse into potential mechanisms. So far that has never happened again.

 

I don’t think I have hyperacusis. I don’t find sounds painful. The reactive tinnitus I have does have a very uncomfortable electrical feeling to it so not sure if that would count.

It’s all over the show at the minute, some mornings I can get up and watch TV with minimal reactivity, then it’ll just start picking up. Other days there’s next to no reactivity but it’s replaced by the Morse code beeps over the sound instead.

I’d just like some hope that it can fade with time but no specialist I’ve seen has even given me an explanation as to what’s happening. At least your audiologist has given some explanation, did he or she say it might improve with time? If it’s a hyperacusis related issue, then doesn’t hyperacusis generally improve with time, hence there’s a glimmer of hope?

How long have you had these symptoms?

 

Yeah, I'd always say there's a glimmer of hope, especially if it happened with a sudden acoustic trauma. I know a few people who had overtones, one had a whistle randomly for a month, one from SSHL, and they both went away. Mine has gotten better in a general sense. Things can 'stabilize' over time even when damage has been done.

I started having some mild overtones and distortions around the start of the year. At first it was straight up tones hidden in noise, then the sound of ice rattling in a glass if I walked around in a silent room, then a consistent overtone distortion around 1 kHz which was the most annoying. Along with more general clipping/limiting of people talking loud.

There were no significant 'acoustic trauma' events.

Hyperacusis doesn't always have to hurt, many people have issues with certain frequencies being louder too. The reason I say this, is because I've had a fairly large batch of overtones/distortions come and go. Although for several sounds they do seem to be at the same frequency when they come back which isn't a good sign. Along with that panning 'wind' if I run through a tone generator at those frequencies.

Either it's hyperacusis or my auditory system is massively damaged, right? It's super weird but I'd like to think, since I have some many different smaller symptoms, it may be related to hyperacusis.

Most of what I had is gone. It can come back slightly after exposure to loud noise. It definitely reduced in occurrence and time as I've stayed away from sound for longer and taken Magnesium.

Less loud places = less fear = less attention and reduced symptoms.

I find the longer I don't have to think about it, the better it gets, in both focus and symptom. So I can have a fairly normal life avoiding extra loud sounds. I have almost no tinnitus, it is barely audible and intermittent.

At the end of the day, we're kind of left to fend for ourselves as nobody can tell you how it works. So it's very, very important to live a happy life and avoid situations that make you/it feel worse. Over time you start to forget about it all.

 

I wonder why it's the 1000-2000 Hz that is affected or damaged. It doesn't sit with the theory of noise-induced high-frequency hearing loss, does it. I don't have any hearing loss in that range on an audiogram either, just certain specific frequencies really bring out my morse code effects. My trauma was from an MRI and from what I've read MRI scanners emit mostly low frequency noise so is that the reason I have damage in that area or is it the reason I have hyperacusis in that area. Just throwing ideas out there, who knows.

I agree with you in that trying to live a happy life is important and that's my ultimate goal to try and get back to some semblance of my former self prior to May this year. I can't let these symptoms arrest my life for the next 30 years.

 

How is everyone today? I have sound distortions when I speak.