Help Identify Symptoms (Hearing Distortion, Ear Pain, Jaw Pain, No Ear Pain)

Hello, I am just looking for some help in identifying my symptoms as doctors haven’t been much help.

I am a police officer and on the SWAT team so I am exposed to loud sounds often and shoot guns often. I was recently exposed to a blast from a breaching shotgun into a car tire.

All of my symptoms are only in my left ear. I now I have tinnitus which I am pretty much used to and some high frequency hearing loss but nothing that shows on the standard audiogram. Why I don’t understand is the distortion I have in my left ear. When I talk at slightly louder than normal volumes it sort of sounds like a high pitched broken speaker or a vibration. I also get this from other people’s voices and higher pitched sounds. Phone speakers tend to be the worst.

I have also recently started getting some ear pain and mostly jaw pain but I can’t tell if they are coming from sounds or maybe I have TMJD. I noticed my jaw clicking and grinding which I did not notice before.

When I hear sounds I do not notice any pain, even with the distortion.

I guess my main question is, with Hyperacusis symptoms do you notice the pain at the same time as the sound or does it come after the sound? I’m just trying to figure out where my jaw pain and such is coming from.

 

Both, depends on the kind of sound you are exposed to or you are most sensitive to.

 

Hey, I have no experience regarding ear/jaw pain so I can't comment on those but I just wanted to let you know that when I was exposed to a loud noise in my left ear in January, afterwards I noticed the exact same distortion effect when I spoke loudly or when others spoke loudly and it was particularly bad when listening to someone talking on the phone - it almost sounded kazoo-like. I can tell you that as of right now the distortion has faded probably about 80% and I only really notice it occasionally if I'm perhaps listening to a poor audio quality YouTube video that involves speech. It was a gradual process over the months but I just want to give you some assurance that this distortion may not be permanent.

 

There are different types of hyperacusis that aren't even medically classified, Some involve the facial nerves. If the nerves in the ear get damaged, nerves in the face might become hypersensitive and compensate.

http://www.hyperacusis.net/other-factors/acoustic-shock-disorder/

 

The TMJ and hearing damage issues go together. Noise causes my face to feel hard and numb at times ever since my acoustic injury.

 

Thanks for the replies. I’ve only been having the jaw and ear pain for about a week and began when I had to wear a gas mask for an excessive amount of time. I’m trying to figure out if my pain in jaw and ear is from hyperacusis or tmj. I can still do everything I did before the injury without issue, I just notice the distortion and pain (which comes at random times). I’m just not sure what causes the pain.

 

The gas mask may have pressure and contracted some muscle and the pressure is irradiating. That's a possibility.