Unable to Hear Mid Frequencies in One Ear — Why?

[HiThere]

I'm a lifelong tinnitus sufferer in both ears (head). I'm 51 years old and male. My ringing is comprised of a range of frequencies that have made masking impossible; my ringing is probably composed of hundreds of frequencies.

As of this weekend and for no apparent reason, the "ringing" volume is much louder in my right ear. I went online to a sound generator site that generates sounds from 1 Hz all the way up to 20,000+ Hz. I was shocked to find the following:

• I wore good quality over the ear stereo headphones.
• I took the left ear headphone away from my left ear and plugged my left ear with my finger to only hear sound in the right ear headphone.
• At about 4,500 Hz I started hearing no sound from the sound generator at all (in my right ear) which remained the case until about 8,500 Hz when I started hearing the tones again. I was then able to hear sound up to around 11,300 Hz before nothing at that point.
• I did the same with only having the headphone over my left ear. No hearing from around 4,000-4,200 Hz and then again from 5,600-5,900 Hz, but other than that I can hear in that ear all the way up to 12,500 Hz before nothing.

Here are my questions:

• Those frequency ranges where I hear no sound, am I identifying my "ringing" I perceive in each ear? Are the sounds from the tone generator matching my ringing and both are cancelling each other out for those frequency ranges?
• I would assume if my hearing was gone from a certain frequency on up (e.g. stop hearing at 5,000 Hz completely) that would mean I have hearing loss, but can a person hear low frequencies, hearing loss in certain mid/high range frequencies but then be able to hear very high frequencies?

 

[parsky]

You probably have the standard 4 kHz notch that many people get. The ringing is hyperactive nerves making up for the loss off signal. Usually the ringing is at a frequency just above the loss at least based on my research.

 

[HiThere]

Thank you. I still don't understand why I don't hear the tones from the tone generator in that entire range but then start hearing tones again in the tone generator higher than that range. I'm also still wondering if the range where I can't hear the tones means that's the range of the "ringing" from my tinnitus.

 

[Juan]

Thank you. I still don't understand why I don't hear the tones from the tone generator in that entire range but then start hearing tones again in the tone generator higher than that range. I'm also still wondering if the range where I can't hear the tones means that's the range of the "ringing" from my tinnitus.

Usually tinnitus is associated with hearing loss, so there is like a void of sound, but there is ringing instead.