Hi all. I was diagnosed with mild hearing loss and tinnitus 7 months ago. Yesterday, I decided to evaluate my hearing on audio notch (https://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/). I'm not quite sure it was a good idea. Afterwards, I was overwhelmed with emotions and questions. Oh well, what's done is done. As long as all these things are in my head, I just thought I would share them.
1) I checked my hearing by sweeping through the frequencies. I did not use the "slowly increase frequency button" as it moves too slow. Instead, I moved the frequency slider manually. With the app and my pc volume both at 1%, I started evaluating my hearing. I noticed nothing significant when sweeping back and forth from 0 to 3000 Hz. From about 3000 to 4000 I could not hear anything. This matched my audiogram at 30 - 35 db hearing loss bilaterally at those frequencies. So I decided to focus on this frequency range and perform some further tests. I turned up the app volume until I could barely hear the tone and swept from 3000 Hz to 4000 Hz. I found that 3500 Hz was my low point in my bilateral hearing. So if I have mild hearing loss at 3000 Hz, then I probably have moderate hearing loss at 3500 Hz.
2) I set the app volume back to 1% and swept the higher frequencies. I noticed that I have asymmetric hearing in higher frequencies. The tones in the various frequencies were either the same in both ears, higher in left ear, or higher in the right ear. As I swept through these frequencies, I had a panning effect with the sound moving from one ear to the next. What the heck!?!?!?!? This was upsetting to me. What could cause such a hearing loss pattern??? I have always suspected that something "attacked" my auditory system. I just don't know what and neither do the doctors. If my loss is noise related, I would expect a notch at 3000 to 6000 Hz. If it is age (41) / hereditary related, I would expected some symmetry. Although this little test did provide a clearer picture of my hearing, it has dragged me down mentally. My hearing is worse than my audiograms suggest. This leads me to my third point.
3) I feel like the hearing test that I performed on myself provided a better picture of my hearing than the tests administered by the audiologists. I understand that I can request for a high frequency exam. Also, I know that my self test cannot provide db levels. However, I have a better picture of my hearing landscape. Clinical audiograms will only test certain frequencies. This leaves huge gaps within the complete picture. There should be a better standard of testing. For those that have tinnitus without "hearing loss", how do doctors know that you don't have a deep and narrow notch at an un-tested frequency?? As with many of you, I feel frustrated.
All of this ultimately leads to one point.... The doctors look at my audiogram, see mild hearing loss at 3000 to 4000 Hz, and tell me, with either their mouths or their facial expressions, that my tinnitus can't be that bad.... Hahaha life can be so cruel sometimes!
1) I checked my hearing by sweeping through the frequencies. I did not use the "slowly increase frequency button" as it moves too slow. Instead, I moved the frequency slider manually. With the app and my pc volume both at 1%, I started evaluating my hearing. I noticed nothing significant when sweeping back and forth from 0 to 3000 Hz. From about 3000 to 4000 I could not hear anything. This matched my audiogram at 30 - 35 db hearing loss bilaterally at those frequencies. So I decided to focus on this frequency range and perform some further tests. I turned up the app volume until I could barely hear the tone and swept from 3000 Hz to 4000 Hz. I found that 3500 Hz was my low point in my bilateral hearing. So if I have mild hearing loss at 3000 Hz, then I probably have moderate hearing loss at 3500 Hz.
2) I set the app volume back to 1% and swept the higher frequencies. I noticed that I have asymmetric hearing in higher frequencies. The tones in the various frequencies were either the same in both ears, higher in left ear, or higher in the right ear. As I swept through these frequencies, I had a panning effect with the sound moving from one ear to the next. What the heck!?!?!?!? This was upsetting to me. What could cause such a hearing loss pattern??? I have always suspected that something "attacked" my auditory system. I just don't know what and neither do the doctors. If my loss is noise related, I would expect a notch at 3000 to 6000 Hz. If it is age (41) / hereditary related, I would expected some symmetry. Although this little test did provide a clearer picture of my hearing, it has dragged me down mentally. My hearing is worse than my audiograms suggest. This leads me to my third point.
3) I feel like the hearing test that I performed on myself provided a better picture of my hearing than the tests administered by the audiologists. I understand that I can request for a high frequency exam. Also, I know that my self test cannot provide db levels. However, I have a better picture of my hearing landscape. Clinical audiograms will only test certain frequencies. This leaves huge gaps within the complete picture. There should be a better standard of testing. For those that have tinnitus without "hearing loss", how do doctors know that you don't have a deep and narrow notch at an un-tested frequency?? As with many of you, I feel frustrated.
All of this ultimately leads to one point.... The doctors look at my audiogram, see mild hearing loss at 3000 to 4000 Hz, and tell me, with either their mouths or their facial expressions, that my tinnitus can't be that bad.... Hahaha life can be so cruel sometimes!
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