High Pitched Hyperacusis/Distortion

Ever since my T started, I've also had distorted hearing. When somebody says anything with an "S" it makes a high pitched whistle that sounds too loud and stretches out too long compared to what I hear in my good ear. I get the same high pitched whistle when I breathe through my nose. Low pitched sounds sound pretty much normal.

It has not interfered with my daily activities. However it makes masking my T almost impossible, because it is around the same frequency.

Does anyone else with hyperactive have these symptoms?

 

Yes. Completely. I have it coming and going. I may have it two-three days then it just stops for a day or two then reappears. Its like sounds in that particular band blend with the tinnitus, becoming part of it.

 

Have this too. Going on for more than a year.

It's just a sign of hearing damage and we know hearing doesn't heal very well.

 

Is this the same as reactive tinnitus?

 

Sounds like reactive T or diplacusis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplacusis

 

Yeah it's asymmetric hearing damage. However if it was symmetric hearing damage, it would not change my annoyance level.

 

I 've been having this for a year, since I had my T incident (possible acoustic trauma). I try to find what is responsible. I also have neck pain that goes up to the face at the right side (the side of the T ear). I also have found that there is microvascular compression in that ear.
Now, because of the acoustic trauma there is a chance that an underlying condition (such as what I mentioned above) becomes more evident becase of some sort of hearing loss.

I must point out however that I do feel better now. A year have passed, I have tried many pills and therapies (stugeron, HBO, neurontin, tegretol, keppra, neurobion (B) but nothing really happended.
Currently I try ginkgo and eviol (vitamin E) along with changing position of my desk in my job (from left to right) that hurt my neck and gave me muscle spasm.
And the fact is that I do feel a lot better!

I keep feeling that T is a complicated problem: There are internal sounds that are the result of a circulation problem along with possible microvascular compression, that you do not hear when your hearing is intact. Or you here it at total silence but it does not interact with perfect hearing as there is masking. Now when good hearing is compromised (acoustic trauma), the masking is not so good any more, and the T interacts with normal sounds. Hence the distorion and hyperacusis.
Now it is just a theory, no doctor has any proof of what exactly is happening and all the speculation that goes around is just theories.

What you can do is take what I take: Ginkgo and vitamin E. Just that..

Also, could you please mention if you have neck pain, facial pain, muscle spasm or anything similar?

 

I'm not so sure about that. These sounds you mentioned are incredibly faint. I can't see how damaged hearing would make those sounds more prominent.

 

That can be easily explained: Damaged hair cells hypothetically allow less sound frequencies to come from outside. Inside sounds do not come through hair cells, so with less external stimuli, they become more prominent. Internal sounds may be the result of vascular compression on the auditory nerve or simply the sound of the internal organism which is heard directly through the internal part of the ear or ear nerve, without the use of the ear mechanism.

It is just a hypothesis though... Do you have neck pain or other similar problems?

 

I minor discomfort when I tilt my head forward. Nothing too serious. I also have physical damage (seen on X-ray) to one of my TMJ. Doctor was surprised and asked me if I was hit in the face with a baseball bat recently. Eh. It's probably a congenital malformation then. I guess I'll never really know why things are the way they are.

The distortion started a few weeks after a severe barotrauma. I had mild tinnitus for 4 years prior to that. There is little doubt that it is due to inner ear damage.