Diplacusis: Anyone else have this?

As of April 21/22, still have diplacucis. If there is any change, it's worse.
Cus

So, here'a what I am going through. After going shooting with friends and wearing what I thought was adequate hearing protection, i now have a hum in my head when i talk and a hum or echo after listening to people talk (especially female voices) . I've been to two ENTs who have both told me there was no hearing loss based on a the results from the recent test compared to an older test. They both suggested it would improve. However, its week seven. There ia some improvement but i want to make sure I'm doing everything I can. Also, rooms with background noise make it hard to hear anything but the background noise. Any thoughts on what to do? Any recommendation on a specialist in San Antonio or Austin area?

@milo41, I moved your question to this existing discussion:
- Diplacusis: Anyone else have this? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/diplacusis/

I did this so you can connect with other members like @cus and @mark888, who can share their experiences and recommendations.

So, here'a what I am going through. After going shooting with friends and wearing what I thought was adequate hearing protection, i now have a hum in my head when i talk and a hum or echo after listening to people talk (especially female voices) . I've been to two ENTs who have both told me there was no hearing loss based on a the results from the recent test compared to an older test. They both suggested it would improve. However, its week seven. There ia some improvement but i want to make sure I'm doing everything I can. Also, rooms with background noise make it hard to hear anything but the background noise. Any thoughts on what to do? Any recommendation on a specialist in San Antonio or Austin area?

Bitter experience has taught me to not accept the brushoff from a hearing practitioner. Even a repeated brushoff. Do not be a passive consumer of hearing healthcare, and most importantly, do not sit tight and wait for something to go away! Hearing loss has never gone away for me. You are right to want to be sure you are doing everything you can.

Go to another practitioner and politely but assertively advocate for yourself, because hearing health falls into the cracks between different kinds medical practices and the practitioner you land with may actually be somewhat clueless, but won't tell you so. Do not assume anyone will truly have your particular interest at heart unless they have previously proven it. They have to earn your trust. You've got something unusual, so do not settle for anything less than a rigorous multifaceted exam, not just a hearing test! Follow up, follow up, follow up.

I can't vouch personally for the Austin Ear Clinic, but I corresponded privately with someone from this list who went there, and he sent me the tests they did when he went in for sudden hearing loss. The tests he got seemed more comprehensive than the tests I got here in Washington DC when I had a sudden hearing loss. So if I were in that region I would try them.

I wouldn't rule out checking with a neurologist at a university (UT?) or other advanced medical facility where research is being done, maybe in Houston. Hearing has a lot to do with brain function. I know when I'm tired I don't hear well.

Consider connecting with your local Hearing Loss Association of America chapter, and tuning in to their educational programs. Hearing healthcare is highly variable in different parts of the U.S., which unfortunately has a pretty primitive and fragmented healthcare system. So it helps to educate oneself objectively about what services and practices exist elsewhere so you can ask for them wherever you are.

Good luck to you. Keep trying! You are worth it!

Hey, cus. For those who haven't come across this, diplacusis is the perception of a single pitch as two different pitches. It is disconcerting (literally!), to say the least. I had diplacusis for about 6 months back in 2006. I had sudden sensorineural hearing loss and balance issues that started a few months earlier. I was a professional singer, so along with the hearing loss, tinnitus, etc., it wreaked havoc with my life. For me, it played out that my right ear was hearing things normally, but my left ear was like an octave and a half higher. I remember being on a call where I switched the phone from my right to left ear where it sounded fine in the right ear, but when I switched it to left, it was like the person on the other end had just sucked in helium from a balloon. It was very freaky. Mine went away after I lost all the hearing in my left ear later that year. I hope yours subsides more easily.

Suggest you reach out to Association of Adult Musicians With Hearing Loss.
musicianswithhearingloss.org

Wendy Chang, a violist, is the founder and director.

Their website also has very information.

Hello. I've been suffering from diplacusis in my left ear since I had a Sudden sensorineural hearing loss in my left ear in November 22nd 2022. It was caused by an accoustic trauma. I've had -45db down on 4000 - 6000 hz and -20 db down on bass frequencies. Since the third day of experiencing hearing loss I've been suffering from diplacusis until this day. It's horrible because I'm a musician and a recording engineer. It's like my life is over. I was hospitalised for 10 days, taking infuse medication and was going to a hyperbaric chamber. That helped getting my hearing back but it didn't help with my diplacusis and low frequency pulsating tinnitus. It's been a month and a half with this horrible illness. And my condition is constantly changing from day to day. One day I hear deep rumbling pulsating tinnitus which pushes my diplacusis back a little bit and on the second day the tinnitus is gone but replaced by severe and loud diplacusis. Right ear is fine but in my left ear I hear two pitches in almost every frequency from 250 hz to 550 hz. If there is a sound or a tone anywhere within those frequencies I hear it twice. The first pitch is relatively fine but the second one is very low and detuned. I can't even talk, I only whisper because I can't stand my own robotic detuned double voice and can also hear other people's voice doubled. I want to return to my job which is also my passion but in this state it is absolutely impossible. I read on some forums that people with similar symptoms to mine may also have cochlear hydrops which is a condition when there is an increased amount of fluid in a cochlea which can be controlled by taking diuretics (for example Moduretic). I'm planning to consult this with my doctor. I also read that some people who suffered with diplacusis managed to get rid of it by acupuncture aimed at tinnitus and migrenes. I wish a successful recovery to all of us who suffer from diplacusis because this thing is absolutely horrific.