Two Audiograms with Different Results

[Quasar]

Hello everyone,
I'm a new member in this forum and I'm seeking for some advice on how to manage a situation that has recently arrived to my life.

I did an audiogram in May through NHS and the results where nowhere near my expectations. Sadly showed a dip at 6kHz at 30dB in my right ear. That was a hard thing to take. When I'm listening to music the left ear seems to pick up brighter sound than the right one so the audiogram is making justice, that's what I thought tho. Recently, I went to a private audiologist, reputated one and that was a mind blowing experience as i ended up with a whole new audiogram. Geez! i thought, how permanent damage can disappear? but the symptoms still persist? very confusing. The audiologist reassured me that the equipment used was carefully calibrated. Well, I'm quite confused with the whole thing. I have mild T, very mild, like a humming sound, in my left ear and the damage on my right ear.Also say that my right ear feels different when plastic bag sound or paper, like something moving or block or distortion... is this a sign of hyperacusis? I will be studying music production from August and im feeling quite depressed that i won't be able to accomplish my dream that i started 15 years ago

I want to share my audiograms and hope you guys can help me. What's the issue here? Have I damaged my hearing? Can I pursue career or am I just doomed? I'm 34 yo.

Thank you and peace and love to everyone.

 

[glynis]

Audiagrams can change for a reason but change back and hard get two the same.
Glue ear,wax build up,blocked tubes,sinus or allergy problems.
When you keep getting a big drop on a few tests then they take more notice.
Up to 40db is mild loss,
over 40 is medium loss
90db and over is profound loss.
love glynis

 

[Quasar]

Thank you @glynis . The first audiogram suggests a NIHL which is scary. The two audiograms differ on almost three months between each other. H in my right ear, im going to call it H as im pretty convinced at this point, has been for more than two years i guess. Thought it could be just fluids in my ear due to my sinusitis and hay fever. I thought your body clears it out so never seeked for treatment as i only get that H with plastic bag sort of sound. I cant think what caused the loss in my ear as my first audiogram shows. Ive played music with headphone HD-25 and dont use monitors at home( neighboors huh?) so if it was loud music it should have caused damage on both ears i guess? Im truly desperate as im a music lover and Dj that i pursue career as a DJ/Producer and im panicking about the idea of not being able to succeed in my studies, im very serious about working hard as ever before for it cause its the only thing that has made me a truly happy lad. Ive read an article about how is it handling multiple audiograms and the margin error should be up to 10dB differents between the two when averaging. I think in my case there's an obvious false audiogram, which one tho? I could be mistaken, and hope i am, but something tells me that i have NIHL and the first is the right one?
By the way, im very happy to be here in this forum. People are awesome, supportive and inspirational.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Thank you @glynis . The first audiogram suggests a NIHL which is scary. The two audiograms differ on almost three months between each other. H in my right ear, im going to call it H as im pretty convinced at this point, has been for more than two years i guess. Thought it could be just fluids in my ear due to my sinusitis and hay fever. I thought your body clears it out so never seeked for treatment as i only get that H with plastic bag sort of sound. I cant think what caused the loss in my ear as my first audiogram shows. Ive played music with headphone HD-25 and dont use monitors at home( neighboors huh?) so if it was loud music it should have caused damage on both ears i guess? Im truly desperate as im a music lover and Dj that i pursue career as a DJ/Producer and im panicking about the idea of not being able to succeed in my studies, im very serious about working hard as ever before for it cause its the only thing that has made me a truly happy lad. Ive read an article about how is it handling multiple audiograms and the margin error should be up to 10dB differents between the two when averaging. I think in my case there's an obvious false audiogram, which one tho? I could be mistaken, and hope i am, but something tells me that i have NIHL and the first is the right one?
By the way, im very happy to be here in this forum. People are awesome, supportive and inspirational.

What is NIHL? It's a term I am not familiar with.

If you mean sudden sensorial hearing loss, the first audiogram does not indicate that condition. SSNHL is typically three consecutive frequencies dropping by at least 30dB.

15dB fluctuations with audiograms are not unusual and can be due to testing error, whether by the equipment or patient. You could take the test multiple times in the same day and still get different results.

Standard audiograms up to 8,000k fail to check higher frequency hearing. It's possible your symptoms are a result of loss there. We begin losing higher frequency hearing as children, so doctors often do not see value in testing higher levels. However, if there is a difference between your ears, then testing higher levels may show why. For example, if your hearing was at 40dB for 12,000k in the left ear and 80dB for the same frequency in the right ear.

 

[GregCA]

What is NIHL?

Noise Induced Hearing Loss.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Noise Induced Hearing Loss.

Thanks! I should have realized that.

 

[Quasar]

Thank you @Tinker Bell. Fair point. NIHL is associated it with a loss in a specific frequency due to a harmul loud noise that destroyes the inner hair cells, and/or the nerve, not sure. The audioogist asked me what did u do to damage your hearing ... couldnt asnwer ‍. I know around 6KHz is where we perceive clarity and distance in music, so that would perhaps explain why i hear brighter by my left side and slightly panned to the L. This is very confusing cus its a fair point to say that losing frequencies above speech spectrum because could explain it too, but frequencies, lets say 10KHz and above are more airy and way less sensitive to the ears. Im not talking like i know about this in depth cus i really have no much of a clue about all this whole thing haha only trying to develope this topic and see where i can take it from and hope people share ideas and knowledge. I forgot to mentioned that if i have an inside burp, small ones like after eating bread for example, makes pop my ears and specially on the right i notice like the pop could eject a beam of fluids lol dont know guys... im in a workd of multiple new sounds.

 

[cspc]

@Quasar My audiograms differ also between months and between different ENTs. It looks like an acoustic trauma though it was in 6KHz. Did the ents did a tympanogram?

 

[Quasar]

Thank you @cspc It could have been anything, i work in a cafe and the grinder is super loud. Could be also the resosance in my room reflecting harsh sound but im always away of the grinder but sometimes you just cant scape, can you? Its ashame that ive lost hearing and compromised my future by doing work that only keeps me going in life, but well i guess this is life Producers and musicians to share some thoughts as well?

 

[Quasar]

waiting on the ENT yet, been 3 months now so i have not been done a tympanogram.

 

[cspc]

@Quasar It's not your fault. Some things just happen. I had music producing/dj as a hobby mostly bedroom dj but I was careful most of the time about my noise exposure. Zedd uses custom made earplugs when he plays (I saw a photo).

 

[Quasar]

@Quasar It's not your fault.

Thank you @cspc you are right. I know but accepting it is still a but difficult, i start in August and im not trusting my ears which is probably the main thing that is causing me such an anxiety sometimes and feeling low. Need my ears to deliver.

 

[Tom Cnyc]

if your tinnitus fluctuates, your tests might as well. my hearing is much better when my tinnitus isn't masking the tones

 

[dingaling]

If your hearing fluctuates at, or around 6kHz, a tympanogram won't tell you anything new.

Audiograms can change for all sorts of reasons and usually, +/-5dB "audiometric error" is allowed for between tests

Remember, an audiogram is subjective and can also depend on how alert/attentive you are on the day, whether you were distracted by anxiety/internal thoughts or if there was noise in the background

 

[Quasar]

If your hearing fluctuates at, or around 6kHz, a tympanogram won't tell you anything new.

Audiograms can change for all sorts of reasons and usually, +/-5dB "audiometric error" is allowed for between tests

Remember, an audiogram is subjective and can also depend on how alert/attentive you are on the day, whether you were distracted by anxiety/internal thoughts or if there was noise in the background

So would then be that i need probably do another test and see if its withing the margin error? Is that dip at 6KHz real damage or my systoms suggest other underlaying issues?

 

[dpdx]

Noise Induced hearing Loss.

 

[Quasar]

Noise Induced hearing Loss.

Yup, cant really rely on the audiograms but ive asumed this is noise induced hearing loss

 

[dpdx]

Yup, cant really rely on the audiograms but ive asumed this is noise induced hearing loss

My audiogram was normal back in October but after I did the VEMP Test my Mild T went to Severe. My hearing dropped from 5db to 30db on 4khz as a result of the 100db ear test (very loud).

 

[Quasar]

My audiogram was normal back in October but after I did the VEMP Test my Mild T went to Severe. My hearing dropped from 5db to 30db on 4khz as a result of the 100db ear test (very loud).

really sorry to hear that, supposed to asses an issue not destroying it.

 

[dpdx]

really sorry to hear that, supposed to asses an issue not destroying it.

My Audiologist said that it is caused by stress/anxiety. My T is severe everyday blasting 8/10, on top of that Severe H, Visual Snow, and Dark Eye Floaters. This were all a gift from the VEMP Test. I been out of work (quit my job) since February and I don't know whether I will be able to return.

 

[dpdx]

Is your T mild?

 

[Quasar]

My Audiologist said that it is caused by stress/anxiety. My T is severe everyday blasting 8/10, on top of that Severe H, Visual Snow, and Dark Eye Floaters. This were all a gift from the VEMP Test. I been out of work (quit my job) since February and I don't know whether I will be able to return.

oh man!!! were you aware of this before taking the test?

 

[dpdx]

oh man!!! were you aware of this before taking the test?

Nope. It has been since January and I saw 0 improvement. I hardly sleep at night about 2-4 hours. My audiologist claims that it got worse because of anxiety and the 25db drop in my hearing is also stress related. my ENT thought I had Acoustic Neuroma, AIDS, Thyroid Cancer, Meniere, Cochlear Hydrops, etc. She said that acoustic trauma was the least likely of all of those.

 

[Quasar]

Nope. It has been since January and I saw 0 improvement. I hardly sleep at night about 2-4 hours. My audiologist claims that it got worse because of anxiety and the 25db drop in my hearing is also stress related. my ENT thought I had Acoustic Neuroma, AIDS, Thyroid Cancer, Meniere, Cochlear Hydrops, etc. She said that acoustic trauma was the least likely of all of those.

Is it permanent loss? have you been tested on other issues than Acoustic Trauma?

 

[dpdx]

Is it permanent loss? have you been tested on other issues than Acoustic Trauma?

I am going to go do an audiogram again in September (1 year anniversary of T). It is crazy to think I lost 1 entire year of my life to this. I think it is permanent to be honest because I hear less. My T is unilateral...Please PM me I don't want to change topics.

 

[Quasar]

@Quasar It's not your fault. Some things just happen. I had music producing/dj as a hobby mostly bedroom dj but I was careful most of the time about my noise exposure. Zedd uses custom made earplugs when he plays (I saw a photo).

yooo just seen this. Yeah true talk, i have bought Minerva ones -17db attenuation. Does not change tho the way i perceive the stereo field. Im aiming to go back to giging as i did time ago. Ive been dormant for a long time and my exposure to sound nowhere near active djs. I dont know what im going to encounter when performing and producing, need to find the way to enjoy listening to mysic since i found out about my damage. This is real pain for me, kilks the passion but im going to try to get somewhere no matter what

 

[Quasar]

yooo just seen this. Yeah true talk, i have bought Minerva ones -17db attenuation. Does not change tho the way i perceive the stereo field. Im aiming to go back to giging as i did time ago. Ive been dormant for a long time and my exposure to sound nowhere near active djs. I dont know what im going to encounter when performing and producing, need to find the way to enjoy listening to mysic since i found out about my damage. This is real pain for me, kilks the passion but im going to try to get somewhere no matter what

excuse my spelling, writing on the fly

 

[Contrast]

Audiagrams can change for a reason but change back and hard get two the same.
Glue ear,wax build up,blocked tubes,sinus or allergy problems.
When you keep getting a big drop on a few tests then they take more notice.
Up to 40db is mild loss,
over 40 is medium loss
90db and over is profound loss.
love glynis

40db is really bad hearing loss, especially if you weight in the cochlear synaptopathy. Background noise usually isn't tested.


We can't base hearing loss off the human voice range.

 

[Mario Bics]

Im still having different audiograms through last 2 years, what i suffer from tinnitus and hearing loss. I actually had 2 audiograms in 1 month. 1st with 50db loss in bass frequencies and 2nd after 2 week with 30db on the same frequency. This allways confuse me! I didnt know that audiogram can be so subjective! Sorry about my Eng! im Latvian ex Dj... my dream is ruined! Hugs to all brothers survivors!

 

[GSC]

I always get so confused by people being content with 15 db hearing loss... In my head, if you were able to hear 0 or 5 dbs.. then you lost a lot of hearing regardless, right? Like to YOUR EARS, you have suffered from a mild hearing loss.