Hearing Distortion in One Ear

Hello all. First, I am pleased to see this forum exists! By sharing information, I am hoping we can all learn more about hearing problems and find solutions or at least continue the search for remedies/coping methods.

About a week ago, I started experiencing high frequency distortion in my right ear only. It is triggered by certain high pitches or certain decibel levels. My own voice can do it too! I've also had very brief ringing in that ear that passes very quickly but doesn't seem to be caused by anything other than maybe stress over this! This was a sudden thing or at least seemed to be. It hasn't improved or gotten any worse over the past week or so since it started.

I visited the ENT today and my hearing test was normal for a man my age (40). They couldn't see or detect any other problems in my ear. They gave me a low dose steroid treatment to try (the doctor wasn't convinced it would do anything). I am also having an MRI in a few weeks to rule out tumor/cyst (doctor also convinced he won't find anything). The only thing he did mention was that (pardon my lack of medical expertise) the inside of my cochlea where it detects higher frequencies is damaged or simply cannot process higher frequencies anymore? I was in a rock band for about 10 years and stood next to the cymbals for a lot of that time. I usually wore earplugs though. I was fairly careful about it.

This distortion was not brought on by any recent traumatic event. I rarely ever subject my ears to anything damaging anymore. The doctor is convinced my problem is from years of abuse to my ears but it is strange to me that after about 5 or more years out of that environment, this suddenly manifests itself.

I still have all my wisdom teeth but ENT was sure that couldn't be doing anything. I do have a problem with grinding my teeth. My left ear seems to be working perfectly fine too. I DO NOT experience vertigo/headaches/tinnitus (very mild if I do also I may have become strangely adept at tuning that part of the equation out?)/nausea/strange fluids in the ear or fullness of the ears.

I cannot listen to music very loudly anymore and if I go into a crowded restaurant with tile walls and metal fixtures or any room WITHOUT a lot of sound deadening, it can become very hard to hear. What's funny is that I hardly notice it when I am in a carpeted room with low drop ceilings but put me next to a glass window in a room with tile floors or a small bathroom and it's just awful. I do not experience any pain - just the annoyance that nothing sounds good and the grating effect it has on my psyche. It's like the world's most highly pitched tambourine or dog whistle is playing in my ear whenever I hear certain frequencies at a certain volume.

I don't feel like I really fit the profile for recruitment or hyperacusis (I could be wrong!).

Any current thoughts on this issue would be greatly appreciated and let's stick together and help each other for all types of disorders!

 

Your Post could have been written by me. They say damage from noise exposure (particularly with musicians) is cumulative, and not always situational. Basically, hair cells just slowly succumb, and symptoms start when your tipping point gets reached. Think of it as the rate of progressive cellular injury finally surpassing the rate of natural healing. Its kind of like an accelerated aging process inside your ears, but without time for adjustment.

 

Thanks for the response. You have probably given me the best explanation for this problem I've heard yet! I had my MRI (I've heard techno bands that were less entertaining than that thing) and there was nothing to be seen (good news for everything else up there) but I was actually hoping for a smoking gun for the hearing problem. My ENT has no course of action for me. I'm seeing him in a month for a check-up. He's the one who suggested recruitment was the problem. I wonder if I am past the point of healing? Will it get worse? Will it get better? Will it come and go? Should I wear earplugs around anything that's louder than my own speaking voice to prevent any further damage? Does it really matter at this point since the damage has been done to that part of my hearing? Really wish I could pay the fine and just go home. I've yet to see any real success stories out there or any sensible course of action. I am willing to try anything. The body is an amazing self-correcting machine but in my heart of hearts I fear this is unsolvable. I liken it to losing a finger. Those don't grow back. I can cope with it but it sure is annoying and if you let it, it can really bring you down. But it's important to have perspective. The more we all talk and research and support each other, the better we will all feel and maybe more solutions to these hearing problems can be discovered! It's nice to know you are not alone. It does get tiresome trying to explain this to family members who just don't get it. Research, support, coping methods. Let's do this! The squeaky wheel gets the grease...just can you move the wheel further away...it's kinda hurting my ear.

 

Well, I'm back. I'm just dropping in to keep myself updated and to keep a running log of what's happening with my hearing distortion in case this might help anyone else out there with the same symptoms. I've started taking lipo-flavonoids as per my ENT's suggestions. It's basically a super vitamin supplement that is supposed to increase blood flow to the brain area and advertises relief for "ringing or buzzing in the ears." The course calls for 6 pills a day for 3 months. I'll try anything. The strange part of my last visit to the ENT is that I asked him if he had ever had anyone else with these symptoms. He said "No." He thought it was strange that I don't have hearing loss yet I am having hearing problems. He really didn't know what was going on. This is rather strange. Now, I don't live in a large populated area but the office I go to is the biggest in the area and has at least 10 ENT on staff. None of them know what this is?!?! None of them have any advice?!?! How can this be?!! Also, I am a HUGE fan of music. I am a musician. I have read, followed, and obsessed over music and bands my entire life. I have never encountered a story where any famous musicians have brought this up as an occupational hazard. None of my friends have ever heard of this. My dentist had no idea what I was talking about. How is this possible?!?! The only place I have seen this problem described is on this page and other similar ones. But that's just a handful of folks who seem to be suffering from the same affliction. Is this really a rare condition? If it's caused by damage from loud music, then why don't the COUNTLESS band I've loved and listened to over the years complain of this particular condition? Yes, plenty of them complain of hearing loss and tinnitus but not the strange distortion I suffer from. Are many people suffering from this and it just goes unnoticed? I will admit that as music fan and musician I am very attuned to the condition of my ears but what about people who just think that what they are hearing is just what happens when it gets too loud?

Here are things I've experienced after about 2 months of this: It seems worse in the morning. It may have in fact be lessening but I may just be getting used to it or tuning it out as anyone might do to just get on with their lives. Drinking lots of water seems to help? I've been taking Clariton too. I think it might be helping? Could be the placebo effect. I have had some ear fullness off and on but it doesn't last very long and I can go days or even weeks without it happening. I just keep thinking that if the cells are still there, why don't they get off their lazy butts and get back to work? You can heal from a muscle sprain or a broken bone surely with the right kind of treatment you can heal this. I've heard of musicians healing from tinnitus. Perhaps, I'm being impatient. Maybe it could heal. I just wonder if anyone out there has had a remission. I understand that if they did, they would no longer feel the need to keep up on a support site. They would just yell "Hallelujah!" and get on with their lives forgetting about it. Man, do I wish that would happen for me.

 

Shoegaze,

I am so grateful to have found your posts! The condition I'm noticing sounds exactly the same! It's only been a few days since it cropped up and I haven't been to a doctor yet. I so want to be hopeful. Please let me know if you've found anything to be effective in reducing or eliminating the sound distortion. You mentioned flavonoids and Clariton (<-you mean this allergy med helped with the sound distortion/cymbals?).

 

Well, It's been over a year and my condition is about the same. It may be lessening or perhaps I am getting used to it? I tried the Lipo Flavanoids for about 3 months and I don't think they did anything. Claritin (allergy medicine) didn't do much of anything either. This just may be genetic. Hearing problems do run in my family. I did suffer from earaches as a child and did have a rather severe ear infection about a year before my condition started which caused a stuffed up feeling in my ears. Antibiotics cleared that up very quickly. I'm really at a loss as to what I can do to remedy it. I guess I should be thankful it hasn't gotten worse. Thanks for your post Utopia and don't fret! There could be a solution out there for us! I've just learned to live with it. I love music but now I have to adjust the EQ to suit my ear. It helps but doesn't get rid of it. Like I say, I've learned to cope and I try to just count my blessings in other ways. I've yet to see another specialist. I should so I can get a second or third opinion. It's just frustrating when you go to the doctor and they just don't seem interested in solving a mystery. In America if you aren't bleeding out of your eyeballs and your head isn't spinning they just send you on your way.

 

Hi Shogaze, your problems sound very similar to mine... I'm a musician who developed tinnitus over 20 years ago. About 3 months ago I had an inner ear infection that resulted in sensonueral hearing loss in my right ear, during the infection my hearing came and went in my right ear. Unfortunately the doctor I saw assumed that the large amounts of wax in my ear were to blame for the hearing loss.Once the infection passed and the wax was cleared, the sounds in my right ear ( when above a certain volume threshold) became distorted and were accompanied with a high pitched tinnitus like 'squeal' . My own voice triggers this condition... I'm assuming this is recruitment but I'm not sure...My tinnitus has also increased to a uncomfortable level.

I had a hearing test and found that my hearing in the right ear was damaged ( upper and lower frequencies are lost) the midrange is slightly above normal levels....
I'm struggling to come to terms with this condition, and would appreciate any advise or thoughts...
Cheers Arthur

 

I'm experiencing something similar. Tinnitus off and on for maybe about 20 years, issues with wax buildup/blockage. Recently cleared a wax blockage and there is "kazoo" like distortion in my right ear. The thing is, I noticed it a few weeks ago and got freaked out, then it seemed to normalize, though my hearing was diminished because of the wax blockage. Now that I cleared the blockage the distortion is back. It seems like it might be a low frequency loss which appears to be a big Meniere's symptom. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hey guys,

Just checking in. No real improvement in my condition for almost 2 years now. No worsening either. I still have the same slight tinnitus in my right ear. It's manageable. The distortion still occurs for certain volume levels and frequencies. It may have tapered off a bit since it first happened but then again as I have said earlier, I may be just trying to tune it out or ignore it the best I can without obsessing over it. Stress definitely makes it worse. In reference to ear wax, I have noticed that my afflicted ear does not produce nearly as much wax as my "good" ear. I rarely clean my ears anymore for fear or disturbing what I imagine is an already fragile area but when I do I notice that hardly any wax comes from the bad ear. A side effect? Parallel symptom? I don't know. I may have mentioned this before but like Arthur I too had an ear infection some time before my distortion occurred. I had very muffled hearing during the infection. Antibiotics cleared that up pretty quickly. I wonder if the infection triggered the distortion in hearing? Honestly, I'm chalking this up to aging, the fact that I stood in front of a drummer for ten years who loved his cymbals and I've been listening to loud music since I was a little guy with headphones. I had earaches as a child. Hearing loss runs on both sides of my family. But still, the distortion is a strange one. My hearing test showed no real loss of hearing. Hope everyone is coping. Remember that stress really makes it worse. I try to concentrate on the the things I can do with my ears instead of what I can't do. I listen to music quietly. I adjust my surroundings to cater to my need and I can function.

 

Last night I was at a wonderful concert performance of Verdi's Requiem - full choir and the brilliant Philarmonia orchestra - massive, wonderful sound - at the Royal Festival Hall. Very sadly, during the concert I noticed for the first time that I have terrible distortion in my ears at loud volumes. It sounds like speakers when they're being overloaded; the sound sort of crumbles when loud and completely loses its clarity.

I've had tinnitus for years. High-pitched ringing in both ears. I've got used to it as, like the musician above, I considered it a bit like having your arm cut off.; it aint gonna grow back! It is very loud when all else is quiet (if I wake in the middle of the night, for example) and really distressing in those moments. But most of the time I don't notice it's there. I live in central London, which is a reassuringly noisy place and we have a noisy life (in a good way) which helps mask the problem. But the distortion I heard last night - which of course I now realise I've heard many times before but thought it was due to dodgy hifi speakers - was really quite distressing. I realise now that I'll never again hear loud music with crystal clarity. I guess that's my other arm cut off! Hey ho.

But it is very reassuring to hear the other stories posted on here, so thank you very much for sharing your experiences.

There is a treatment for tinnitus which is getting some notice here in London; a sort of therapy where you wear a device which plays very quiet notes that fluctuate either side of your tinnitus note and are meant to train your brain not to hear the original tinnitus note. It's calibrated to your specific tinnitus. I need to check where they are on outcomes (from a statistical point of view) because it's extremely expensive - around £5,000. I wasn't entirely convinced when I went to see them (and paid £180 for the privilege of a consultation).

 

I have a buzz ring distortion but the thing is ive been sticking a set of ear bud personal listening phones into my ear it pushes the little deflector tab in front of ear hole .Im very suspicious this has moved the alignment of the tab

so im not craming the buds into that ear there to big coulb be why.
on a second note i am going to try some Serapeptase in water on an Qtip
serapeptase healed a chalzon on my eyelid with direct application of it as a slight powder from capsule applied then on the end of my finger.Serapeptase is reputed to desolve dead or scar tissue .

 

Please don't do that, the old saying 'never put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow' still stands let alone putting some chemical into your ear. Untold damage could result.

 

Hi all, I just joined, so firstly thank you for sharing your experience, it really helps!

I have actually been suffering the same symptoms as most of you – I’m a musician, in the past also a sound technician, so I was exposed to loud sound, I’ve been suffering from tinnitus since 2000, and around a year and a half ago distortion started in my left ear.


An interesting thing that I would like to share with you is, that I’ve been suffering from Herpes – since 1993 (for you to know - Herpes it’s a virus that never cures, it sit on your nervous system silently, the type I have sits on the nerves behind the jaws, close to the ears and whenever the body is weak, due to sickness etc. the virus wakes up, and usually attacks and manifests on the lips) , and for periods it used to manifest pretty violently, to the point I used to take Zovirax pills.

At the beginning, I noticed that whenever I started to feel the symptoms of the Herpes, the distortion in my left ear started, and as I used to take the Zovirax, the distortion disappeared. And so for a certain period of time the distortion came, and go when I used Zovirax. Another thing to consider, in a BERA test that I took, it was noticeable that there is a delay in the processing of information in my left ear nervous system. I had MRI, and cancer was ruled out. Doctors cannot tell why there is this delay. Considering all that, I thoughts that may be the Herpes is sitting on my left ear nerve and causing the distortion – I didn’t get any confirmation for that either – there is no way to diagnose that. Unfortunately, at a certain point Zovirax didn’t help with the distortion and it became permanent.

Few things that I would like to ask you guys:

1. Did any of you have Herpes
   
   
2. Did any of you had the BERA test, and is diagnosed with differences in the nerves functionality between left and right ears?
   

What actually I’m trying to see here, is if we all have other symptoms in common, that maybe we didn’t consider to be related???

 

I do not have herpes of any sort and have hearing distortion.

 

Hi SilverSpiral, did you do a BERA test - a diagnosis of the earing nerve processing ?
Thanks

 

No I don't think such a test is available in my area.

 

How do you know if you have Herpes?

 

Hi Rasmus, there are several types of herpes. The kind I have usually manifests on the lips, especially in winter time and snow conditions (in cold countries is very common). As long as you feel good the herpes is dormant on the nerve, when the virus recognize that your body is weak, if you are ill for example, it manifests on the lips like wounds due to cold, searching for a new host to attack.

 

Hey Shoegaze,

Thank you for your posts. Reading your share here has been encouraging. I have the same issue with my right ear. It's nice to know I'm not alone.

I've been trying to find ways to come to terms with this and to retrain myself. I also spent many years in bands and also built a 20 years career as a sound designer and sound fx editor for film and TV.

It's been stressful to say the least to have this distortion as part of my hearing now.

I use ear plugs when I work now and when I go out to see live music.

But something I've been trying lately is using a signal sound generator and sweeping through the frequency spectrum slowly and just simply listening and observing what my hearing is doing.

I figured since I'm doing this at low volumes, I am not causing any volume related damage but simply listening and observing. My hypothesis is if I run these sweeps regularly and cause my ears to "work" then maybe i can regenerate or spark some sort of response.

Has anyone ever tried this? Perhaps i'll find some success and "retrain" my brain. If I present these frequecies regularly than perhaps my brain will get the message that "hey we need to address this since he's going to be hearing these frequencies often."

It'll be like building up a callous when you play bass or guitar. Your body responds to the repeated use of the instrument by building up strength and protection.

I'll keep you posted.

 

Hi all,

Glad I found this post. I have been having very similar symptoms over the last week (distortions at certain frequencies/volumes), it seemed to just start happening with no obvious cause. I have been to the doctor who gave me an ear spray as she said it might be an infection but it doesn't seem to be working, the next step will be to get an MRI.

I am also a musician but have not played much in live environments, I do most of my composing on my computer at home. I am wondering how old people were/are when they started having this problem? (if that's not too rude a question) - I am only 30 and the thought that this could be something I have to live with, with no cure, is depressing.

One thing I have noticed, like you said Shoegaze, is that my ear that distorts also produces less wax than my other ear which doesn't distort - maybe wax does have something to do with it?

Anyway great to hear of some of the solution ideas people are having, I am going to try everything I can think of to cure it if it continues.

 

Hello all!

It's been over 2 years since the distortion started. I have found some coping strategies. I am not sure but I think the distortion may be lessening. It could also be that I am just getting used to it. I have adjusted my music listening to lower the 4K to 2k frequency range on car stereo and IPOD and that really helps me listen to music without too much annoyance. It's still a bother but it helps. I have never heard about the Herpes connection. I have the cold sore lip version and have used the Zovirax cream on outbreaks. Never noticed a difference in my ears. I had My last checkup with the family doctor and had him take another deep look in there and I told him that most of the time when I was around loud music I wore ear plugs. He told me he has patients who work on construction who wear earplugs AND noise cancelling earphones everyday on the job and still have hearing loss! So it seems some of us are just more susceptible to problems with hearing. As far as exposing your ears to the specific frequencies that cause distortion to wake them up, I have never heard of that. I do know that my distortion worsens when I've been exposed to to loud noises like construction noise or a passing ambulance siren. Through all of this, I constantly wonder does Bono have hearing problems? Does Keith Richards? Does Paul McCartney? There are countless rock musicians who have been exposed to loud music for far far longer than me and I wonder why they don't have any problems? I know you hear about a few of them having hearing issues like Neil Young or Pete Townsend but it's still only a few. It's confounding. I'm convinced it's genetic and the distortion is just not a common complaint hence this site being one of the few places where I've found other folks complaining of the problem. My first ear doctor didn't even know what I was describing to him! Take care everyone!

 

Thanks Shoegaze.
I just stumbled on your great thread. I also feel like it has perfectly describes my situation too.

I’m in my early 60’s and also played a bit in a band a few decades ago. Just an electric blues band but not super rock and roll loud. I also have had mild tinnitus in both ears for some years. For the last few years I found that I could hear distortion when listening to music at realistic levels. Loud but not concert loud and always put it down to poor public address systems. To me the distortion sounds very much like a damaged speaker cone that plays fine at low to moderate levels but when cranked up it hits the voicecoil gap. Or like a poor transistor poweramp that is being over driven on loud passages. I also built a few headphone amps but was very conscious of the distortion (due to the isolation of wearing over the ear headphones) and put it down to poor design or implementation. Until one day when I was outdoors in a large garden (so no reflective surfaces) and I was listening to a brass band and again clearly heard the distortion. Ah ha! The problem was with me! And when I went to a loud concert a year later and took out one earplug to speak with someone, I found that it was mostly on my left ear.


It is particularly noticeable with steady tones such as violins or a sustained piano note. Listening to a frequency generator the frequencies where it occurs are from about 200Hz up.


I have had my hearing tested and it is OK with some HF loss (in the good ear!) and the hearing specialist said that I probably had ‘recruitment’…but after reading up on what that is I am skeptical.

So this thread is both good and bad. It is good to hear the issue described so clearly, but sad to see that even after few years there has been no ‘cure’ reported here or even a description of the mechanism (which I think may be bio-mechanical – perhaps something to do with the surface of the eardrum…after all it does (to me) sound like a faulty speaker cone). The problem really interferes with my enjoyment of music which I love so much.

 

hey guys, same exact problem here; right ear, distortion due to midrange at mid to loud levels. more sensitive in the morning (even to the point of distorting when i put my hand near it.). another thing ive noticed- this is weird- when my ear is really rumbling and distorting, if i cover the other one (left) the rumbling goes away. so somehow they are linked, which makes sense, but this has been one way to see a true neural intertwining. i do get the occasional ringing in both ears but i have since childhood, but it doesnt bother me like it does some of you, mine seems to be a milder case.. and the other ear is just mint condition, but even when i was a kid the right ear failed hf tests every time. then i started playing drums and going to rock and roll shows. if i didnt wear hearing protection, my ear would distort like crazy over midrange guitars, vocals, and the snare would just about tear it in half. anyhow ive always been conscious of my ear needing a little more attention than it buddy but for the most part, i was leading a normal life. sometimes it would get damaged and be a little extra distortion prone after id shoot guns or hit a snare without earplugs, but it would come back around and return to "normal" within a few weeks to a month, sometimes, it would take a little longer and i would start taking ginkgo biloba tincture ( i noticed this sped up recovery when the damage happened to coincide with a memory treatment i do periodically). until a fateful day 3 years ago. i was jamming on some pretty mid- ranged out bongos and i felt a light pop in there. no pain just a pile of distortion immediately: like a speaker just blew and the driver was just flapping in the breeze.

this went on for a month with very little change. and then i met the love of my life. she happens to be a loud person at times (if you know what i mean) and she was loud quite a bit as we christened our coupledom time after time (well you get the idea). anyhow, her mid range vocals never allowed this bongo injury to heal ( i now wear earplugs to the point a pavlovian response from her when she sees me put something in my ear...) as it normally would've in weeks or months max.

this caused me to respond with anything i could think of. things that helped me in the past (ginkgo biloba tincture) and new things like oil of garlic which is said to have healing properties while making you and anyone nearby hungry for italian food, all to no avail. i've considered going to doctors but i live far away from anywhere i would consider visiting for help. besides this seems to be a rare condition and if there is nothing on the whole internet that ive been able to find other than this sparse forum (less than 10 posts over 2+ years). it may be hard to find a specialist that deals in this so ive put it off.

also the worst part is that my hf hearing loss is now creeping down the range and im losing some of my mid-range now. anyway, id love some help with this issue, so if anyone has any ideas, no matter how silly let us know.. if nothing else this can just become a lame support group / knowledge base until we strike on something that helps. it is nice to know others are suffering as much or worse than myself -pete

ps. has anyone seen a connection to drinking alcohol? i hope not but i've seen a connection to tinnitus on another forum. i'd just as soon keep the distortion and hearing loss if tea totaling were the solution.

 

That is interesting. I also noticed that left and right are not separate in the whole audio processing in our brains. (Example) When I hear a sound too loud in my left ear, my right ear also reacts (crackling sound).
My right ear is the most damaged ear.

Which frequencies? 2-4 kHz?

Unfortunately ..no. After two years post hearing loss/hyperacusis/distortion/tinnitus, only time made some minor changes for the better in my case. Extremely slow.

 

I have been a musician, live sound engineer for nearly 40 years.
My tinnitus started back in 1997. My distortion started in my right ear back in 2011. It is now also in my left ear, and has gotten more severe unfortunately.
I find frequencies from around 1-3k troublesome, and my own speech causes it too.
I find that wearing good quality filtering ear plugs are helping when I am playing in my bands, especially when singing backing. It takes some getting used to though.
Also, wearing them in a pub for instance where there is a bit of background chatter also helps, I can’t usually hear the person in front of me talking in these situations.
My audiologist said that my hearing was quite good, but couldn’t explain the distortion, how bizarre. I think I have just come to accept that it is permanent damage. It causes problems never the less, and I sympathise with other sufferers.

 

I agree. That is the correct word. It is amazing that people still try to explain the amount of tinnitus, hyperacusis and distortion by looking at the audiogram. I have got quite a notch at the usual noise induced hearing loss frequency. Still I am certain that the amount of hearing loss is not an indication for severity of tinnitus, hyperacusis and distortion.

Also I still do not understand why sound in my right ear distorts. It is not recruitment. (As far as recruitment is explained on the internet).

I sometimes use an ear plugs where I take out the internal filter. This is usually enough to improve the distortion a lot. It is just taking of the edge of high frequencies I suppose.

 

Just stumbled upon your post and must say I'm stunned as to how exactly identical you story is to mine. Thanks for sharing!

In my particular case, I've been experiencing this for about 10 months. It started with me loosing a lot of my HF hearing on my right ear suddenly one Wednesday night while sitting in my bed (i now know that basically everything above 9 kHz). It took me about a month to discover the distortion. I started noticing that i would get annoyed and avoidant when in loud places like concerts or busy restaurants with bad acoustics.

As to stuff happening to me at the time that may have caused or triggered the problem; at the time I was extremely overloaded with work and having an internship in which I didn't really feel well being in – and my hearing dropped during the worst of this stress; the distortion following.

Following the hearing loss appeared a slight ringing tone that sounds like 7-8khz or so in my right ear. The ringing seems louder in the morning, and at times during the day I barely notice it.

I'm a 29 male. I've played music the most of my life until i was about 25. I've worked as lighting tech (on concerts) for about seven years. I've definitely worn earplugs way more than other people i know, but I have definitely not been wholly consistent.

My distortion is triggered by some music even at low volumes (especially highly compressed modern music). It can also be triggered by some voices of people, especially women's voices (i suspect some frequencies in the upper part of the speech range to be the culprit).

I've noticed that being in noisy environments that trigger the distortion for a long time wears me down psychically extremely quickly.

I've like you learnt to live with it by now. I bring ear-moulded musicians ear plugs everywhere I go, and as you put EQ on the systems i listen to.

I'm sad to hear that your condition hasn't improved – but I hope that we by voicing our problem we may one day hear from someone who has a remedy.

*Edit: added tinnitus.

 

Very useful thread & would like to make a contribution too.
52 years old, never a day in my life gone by without music (since '66) & currently working in the industry as a full time sound engineer. Crunching (low frequency distortion) symptoms first detected early 2000's. Former smoker (quit 10 years ago).
I think my distortion issue was triggered after taking a short haul flight with a head cold. Unbearable pressure because of the mucus upon my ear drums upon aircraft descending. Ears plugged for several weeks & visited local ENT specialist who tweezers an outgrowing hair on my left eardrum & syringed both ears (upon my request). I have always believed there to be remnants of hardened mucus (crystallised material) still residing in the inner ear eustachian tubes- other side of the eardrum membrane since that time. Distortion occurs in noisy environments such as restaurant & bars .....at around 91db SPL. I rarely monitor above 85 db for prolong periods (tend to mostly monitor 75-80 db on near fields) & can hear perfectly fine at just above conversation volume levels. When triggered, the distortion sounds like a cellophane crisp packet being scrunched on particular peak sounds.
Anything which can cause heat to the eardrums, alcohol in the bloodstream or stress can bring the distortion on. I have sometimes massaged my temples at my forehead and around & behind my head & neck - this can sometimes temporarily clear the distortion.
Hearing specialist has confirmed that both our left & right auditory paths are linked by the fluid in the eustachian tubes.
I have previously had micro-suction applied to a wax-blocked ear (RHS) which had resolved the distortion I was experiencing in the LHS. (The wax blockage was allowing enabling the the clean LHS to become more susceptible to air-pressure it was receiving - thus sending distorted information).
Once again, very recently I was experiencing distortion in my clean LHS ear, but had a wax build up in my RHS ear which has been micro-suctioned. Unfortunately, the LHS ear appears to register the distortion even more clearly. This still maybe stress related, but I'm considering having MRI to see if there are any dried crusts lurking.
I'm also acutely aware that good dental hygiene is very important. Bacteria can travel from the jawbone & attack/affect the auditory canal. I had some bad root canal job just under 20 years ago & I am wondering if this bacteria related problem.
I think this happens than more people dare to admit (for obvious reasons). Genetics can also be at play. As long as I remain relaxed as possible, the distortion is sometimes seems likely to occur.

 

Very grateful to have found this thread. I'm a 30 year old guy, and while I'm not a musician, hardly a day in my life has passed since I started my teens where I haven't been listening to music. I also frequented gigs and festivals for many years.

I started suffering from hearing distortion around a month ago in my right ear. This ear has always been somewhat troublesome, for at least the last 10 years I have had issues with intermittent fullness, almost always in loud or resonant environments. But now, in these same environments I get distortion at certain frequencies exactly as others describe - it is a lot more invasive to social and work situations than my previous symptom. I can definitely correlate it to loud environments and also stress.

So far I have only been to a primary care doctor who couldn't see any obvious problem in my ear. I have an ENT appointment this week, and expect to be sent for some tests. I will of course update here if i make any progress, fingers crossed for all of us.

 

Finally I found a page, where all you guys pretty much describe my ear problem; a distorted sound signal, with certain frequencies and pressure of music. Haven't measured mine, but it's somewhere around or just over 85 dB and mostly with higher frequencies of played. Sometimes my own voice makes it happen too, e.g. when vacuum cleaning and talking at the same time. Or talking in the car while listening music even on low levels. And surprisingly, in shower sometimes the sound of splashing water triggers it. It's only in my right ear.

What's in common with your stories and mine is, that I've played electric guitar also, but never gigged. Might have been playing a little loud also every now and then. Been in many concerts, as I like music live. These days, when I play guitar without my earplugs on, for sure the right side ear distorts. Also if in bar, theater, concert or movie, need to use musicians' plugs (Alpine) due to my condition. Pisses me off.

Also having tinnitus in the right ear these days, but not much bothering me. Went to see doctor because of this distortion, but he had little to say, except it's a noise trauma. Hearing was measured, and was pretty good some frequency -5 - 10db, was it 6k. I also hear well, and I am able to listen to music, just bought new Sony noise cancelling cups. But guitar playing is the issue. I fear, that I lose my hearing, and need to lower the volume due to distortion, but as you know, it's hard to play rock at bedroom levels.

Regarding Herpes, I have the virus living in me.

Unfortunately seems, that none of you have hardly had any cure to your problem. I'll stick around, if you find out anything. Seems to be quite rare issue. Hard to find info from WWW.