Hollow echo distortion in ear? Scared

@lissas Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, a place to give and get support.

It makes sense that you feel scared. It must be such an odd sensation and not knowing the cause has to further your anxiety and frustration.

I'm going to add you question to the Hearing Loss group.

In order for me to connect you with members that may be able to offer support, please allow me to ask you some clarifying question.

How old are you and how long ago did this start? Is this metallic sound constant or are there times you do not hear it?

You said that it developed after "noise damage." Would you tell me more about that?

@lissas-this must be frustrating, as well as the fear around it, which brings more attention to it.

It is not a surprise the ENT has no clue. It’s more that if he/she can not see anything objectively, they are surgeons first and foremost, they will be of no help to your subjective sensations. This is just factual. They are not in the specialty of sensory processing.

A better route would be a Neurologist. Neurologists are equipped to discuss nerves. I am not sure what your noise injury was, but if the nerves were heightened during that stress, they can remain in that state causing an overactive state in the neuro and musculature. They play of each other. Tense nerves, tense muscles. The anxiety then brings more awareness to the situation. The Neuro can explain this and perhaps catch it early on to calm the sensitization.

@lissas I think @nrd1 could be onto something. You'll notice that I added your question to the Brain and Nervous System group. I did this so you could hopefully connect with a member that may be able to offer support or suggestions.

Yes, the ENT is a neurotologist, which is a subspecialty under ENT.

40s. Blast noise caused symptoms over a year ago. Metallic echo is activated consistently by my own footsteps, tapping teeth, chewing, tapping head, male voices, bass sounds. Thank you for your help in finding answers.

Sounds suspiciously like my own, self-diagnosed diplacusis.The ENT community seems to have no way to independently diagnose it, much less treat it.
John

Hello, Lissas! I'm so sorry! I have outer hair cell damage in my left cochlea and all four ENTs thought I just had regular Meniere's disease. A neurosurgeon figured this out by squirting steroids through my eardrum directly into my inner ear which fixed my hearing 100% for a few days. He also did an MRI of my head with ear contrasts to rule out a tumor. And his audiologist did a 90-minute battery of vestibular tests on my ears and eyes which ruled out everything but outer hair cell damage. I wonder if these tests would help you figure out what condition you have. I wish you the best!

The steroids only helped you for a few days? How long after the hair cell damage did you receive the injection? Do you get this hollow echo distortion now? Yes, I've had the hearing tests which came out normal. otologist had no insight for my symptoms.

Yes the steroids helped only a few days because, as I understand it, steroids are anti inflammatory. So my distortion is likely caused by too much pressure in my cochlea. The steroids reduced inflammation, pressure came down, my hearing returned to normal. But steroids, like aspirin, wear off after a while and the pressure returned. So I’m trying to figure out what’s causing the excessive pressure. I got the steroid treatment about two months after this started. I do have the distortion now, and I can feel fullness or pressure in my ear. It doesn’t sound like a hollow echo to me, but it’s similar. The fact that steroids fixed my hearing also gives me naive hope that the hair cells aren’t dead, just stuck in a pressure chamber in my cochlea. Have you tried the transtympanic steroids yet? It’s a little risky because they make a hole in your eardrum which usually heals fine but in rare cases does not. If steroids into your inner ear help, it might give you insight to what’s happening.

@lissas sorry about your anxiety with regards to the echo sounds. I have tinnitus. It causes many different sounds in my head/brain. At one point I had what you describe where low voices have an echo. Other low tone sounds caused a rolling echo akin to a rumble that took a day before it receded. This echo thing disappeared after a number of months. Now, several years later I do get the echo occasionally but it mostly vanishes after a a day or two. I think it’s all part of tinnitus and the doctor can’t help because nobody can help tinnitus suffers with their myriad of brain noises. Hope you are feeling better now.

Willows