Interesting YouTube Video About a Musician Dealing with Hearing Distortions

I found an interesting YouTube video that’s relatively recent and thought it would be worth sharing for people who are currently dealing with distortions or have dealt with them in the past. A musician named Craig Hallen details his bout with distortions/dysacusis, etc which began for him in June 2021. He posted this video on August 2021 and has stated that he is in a better place with the distortions. It either dissipated or that he doesn’t notice it as much anymore.

Hearing Damage (Dysacusis/Distortion etc) - A...

It’s a long video worth watching, but in case you don’t have time... I will summarize the video.

Summary

-Distortion issue likely caused by microsuction, he noted how loud it was. Hallen felt something was off with his left ear immediately after the procedure. Later that day, he noticed strange distortions in pitch while playing the piano.

-Went to an audiologist who misdiagnosed him with sudden sensorineural hearing loss when there was no real signs of moderate/severe hearing loss or deafness in audiogram. He was given a 1 week course of oral Prednisone. No positive or negative impact on distortions whatsoever.

-ENT was not able to provide much assistance. Offered him steroid injections, but the ENT flat out told him it might not work. He opted out due to budget constraints, but also feared making the situation worse. Also afraid to inject needle into eardrum.

-Tried HBOT for 1 session and then stopped due to expensive costs.

-Contacted a music professor in the United States who shared similar distortion issues (diplacusis). He was told time was the best treatment available for distortions.

-Now the biggest takeaway from this video: He contacted a Professor of Audiology in a University who basically told him that it will get better over time. How long that will be? There is no definitive answer. These are the exact emails in detail.





-Since posting this video, Hallen’s distortions have dissipated (most likely) or maybe he does not notice them as much anymore. He may have adapted to it. He is still a musician.

-This experience has made him more humble. He realizes that hearing is one of the those senses that we often take for granted. Ear disorders can really affect one’s quality of life. He is careful with loud noise exposure now. He still uses headphones, but listens at a low volume. He puts custom molded musician earplugs on while using headphones.

His advice for people with similar distortion issues:

1. Keep on moving forward. Don’t let this condition (distortions) stop you from doing what you love (playing the piano in his case).
2. It’s perfectly fine to take preventative measures to mitigate hearing damage like not using headphones even though he still uses them at lower volumes with earplugs on.
3. Musician’s earplugs are very useful.
4. Don’t just jump to any procedure that’s offered to you, do your research first.
5. There is hope, time and the brain’s ability to retune or adapt to sounds is possible.

There is a nice quote he says in the video - “You hear with your ears, but you listen with your brain.”

 

For those that share stuff like this about our struggles, if you have a YouTube account, it doesn’t hurt to like, subscribe and comment.

 

He is an independent musician, so I figured I might as well support him by at least subscribing.

 

Great quote! Thanks for sharing the video and summary.