weird distortion in my left ear ...? [update: got tested!]

[mactac]

Over the past few years I've started to notice that my left ear distorts when there are loud sounds at certain frequencies..

It's gotten progressively worse, and now it;s to the point where sometimes someone speaking in a little bit louder voice than normal near me will make my left ear distort.

I do plan on getting checked out, but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this & what the reason & result was?

[jonly]

I experience it because of slight hearing loss, and the end result is that I have had it for > 7 years now. Buy some earplugs. Now.

Err, I mean, go see a doctor. damn TOS.

[mactac]

yikes. i actually do use ear plugs when we play shows & I am listening to the other bands' sets.

I have a hard time using them when we practice tho.

now, that being said i don't really want this to turn into an earplug debate ( I know they help!), but was more interested in why this happens (ie why is it distorting) & if it can get better, etc

so, you have distortion *because* of hearing loss? I don't quite follow...

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by mactac

now, that being said i don't really want this to turn into an earplug debate ( I know they help!), but was more interested in why this happens (ie why is it distorting) & if it can get better, etc

I doubt it will get better. Once your ears are damaged they stay that way.

[canopener]

Could also be too much earwax buildup.

[BurningSkies]

Sounds like maybe you have some fluid in your ear?

[Mcrelly]

one time I had ALOT of fluid behind one eardrum, during an ear infection, and when I whistled I could hear TWO different pitches one pitch from one ear and a different pitch from my good ear.

I can't remember exactly which ear had the infection, but my "worse" ear is hard to understand even if volumes should be loud enough to understand speech, with cell phones etc...

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by lemur821

I doubt it will get better. Once your ears are damaged they stay that way.

Assuming it's hearing damage you've got, that is. Mechanical difficulties can be dealt with, I think.

[machine gewehr]

Maybe damage on the eardrum is causing it.Like a damaged speaker?
I have this bells ringing in my head for years now,it was a nightmare before I got used to it,I remember scratching walls while trying to sleep
We have to be careful with our ears.

[velvetkevorkian]

I always figured its like pain in any other part of the body, its your ear telling you its too loud.

[dougjwray]

Get to an ear doctor right away. Until then, wear earplugs.

[mactac]

OK.... update.

I finally went to an audiologist (who just so happens to be a good friend of mine). She told me that my problem is often caused by a tumor (!!!) which presses on a nerve, or partial blockages in the ear canal (wax, etc)... she had one kid who had a small cockroach in his ear once that had this sort of problem (ick)

anyways, she tested my hearing & muscles responses (there are muscles around your ear that contract to protect your hearing under loud noises) & the results showed that i had better than average...in fact 'exceptional' hearing.

good !.... and bad. it's nice to know that i'm not losing my hearing, but at the same time i still don't know what the heck is causing my problem. She tested my ear canal, etc etc too.

she referred me to an ear/nose/throat person because she thinks it may have something to do with inflammation from allergies (something that i never thought of).

so.... I guess this is "to be continued".


I'd love to hear from anyone else who has this same problem.....

[dougjwray]

Thanks for reporting back with an update.
Good and bad news, indeed.
One thing: about 9 years ago, I came down with a brutal viral infection in my left inner ear. Initially, I couldn't stand up without falling right over (my equilibrium was severely challenged). Then, I lost some hearing (high end range), and the tinnitus which I'd had for awhile got a bit worse. The ear doctor prescribed steroids to cure the inflammation. Unfortunately, the steroids immediately affected the retina in my right eye, and even though I discontinued them after about 3 days, to this day I have a slightly noticeable scar, which appears as an annoying, opaque "disc" right in my line of vision.
So... if the doctor prescribes steroids, watch out for your eyes (sounds crazy, I know, but...)

[Oysterman]

I've had this distortion phenomenon too, also in my left ear. It came without warning or apparent reason, but also disappeared on its own after a couple of months. I have no idea what it was, I suspected some sort of permanent scar on my eardrum (hearing damage-related) but thankfully it was not. Perhaps this brings some hope of it going away?

[ImaStupidBaby]

maybe it was a cockroach.

or aztecs.

[dave_p]

every sunday, i wake up, get coffee and go to my basement to listen to music and drink my coffee. I have four large speakers, 2 bozak 401's and 2 ar3's. thats 2 12in woofers and 2 10's, no shortage of bass for sure. one sunday the stereo image seemed a little to the left, fearing a blown driver, i stuck my right ear to one of the speakers and noticed a lot of distortion, and no bass?!!. when i put my other ear to the speaker it sounded fine. i had lost all bass in my right ear and mid frequencies were distorted. this lasted a day, no bass in the right ear. next day i had a tiny bit more bass but nothing below 250hz. i got some wax softener and a bulb syringe. i softened the wax in each ear for two days and then took the syringe to them. chunks of wax >6mm diameter came out of both ears. that relieved a lot of the distortion. by the next day i had some bass back but still a noticable rolloff in sub bass in the right ear (generally below 100hz and steeper below 50hz) i havent checked lately but music sounds pretty normal now and i dont notice much difference between the two ears. im guessing the wax against the eardrum was inhibiting excursions in the membrane on low frequencies (longer movement of the eardrum) but not so much highs(short-fast movements) not to mention fluid buildup from the sealed in wax. it was like a wall 6mm thick. the evening prior to the loss i was outside in the cold rain for an hour or so.

to the gent who mentioned steroid ear drops affecting the eyes, i was using steroid eyedrops the week before the hearing loss. right eye/right ear. strange eh?

[pretaanluxis]

what did the ear/nose/throat person say?

[Petebass]

Originally Posted by dave_p

i got some wax softener and a bulb syringe. i softened the wax in each ear for two days and then took the syringe to them. chunks of wax >6mm diameter came out of both ears. that relieved a lot of the distortion.

A word of warning - NEVER syringe your own ears unles you are 1,000% sure the build-up isn't the result of an infection. Why? Because if there is an infection present, the pressure from liquid can tear your ear drum to shreds. Worst case scenario, the damage is permanent and irrepairable. If you're lucky and the perforation is only mild, you're still up for several weeks of excrutiating pain with no guarantee the ear will repair itself fully.

Also, infections love warm, moist environments. If your ear canal survives the syringe, the infection is about to get a whole lot worse because you've just created a perfect environment for it to grow and get stronger.

The best option is to get your ears syringed at your local doctor's sugrery. He'll know to check for infections first and will make sure you're better after the treatment, not worse.

[mactac]

Originally Posted by pretaanluxis

what did the ear/nose/throat person say?

It was a bit inconclusive.

He told me that i "likely" had cochlear (sp?) damage. he also said that sometimes these things just go away (although I doubt it will because it's been this way for many years)

I have a friend with a PhD in audiology & she said that this sounds reasonable.

Anyways, sounds like it's permanent & will keep getting worse.