Sudden Difficulty Understanding Speech in Quiet Settings: Has Anyone Experienced This?

[Scruffiey]

Over the weekend, I went out for a drink with a friend. We were tucked away in the back of a quiet pub garden. I had an earplug in my worse ear, the right one. The day went mostly fine, but at one point, while he was mid-sentence, I suddenly couldn't understand a word he was saying unless I turned my left ear directly toward him.

I didn't go completely deaf, like during a dropout episode, and there was no increase in background noise. It must have already been fairly quiet.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

Thinking back to a few months before my issues fully started, I remember this happening once before. At the time, I just assumed the person I was talking to was mumbling, or that my ear was a bit plugged. Later that same evening, I visited a relatively noisy bar and had zero issues.

 

[Jammer]

It could be due to crosstalk in the garden. It interferes with my ability to understand speech.

 

[Scruffiey]

I'd be surprised. We were pretty far away from everyone else, it was quite quiet, and the hearing in my left ear is still pretty good. It also definitely felt like something was happening in my ear.

I think I've decided it was a dropout episode, just not a full-blown one. I had something similar today, a distinct feeling and a slight rise in tinnitus. I can imagine that being outside could easily mask the extra tinnitus.