The world was rather different millions of years ago. The long-necked Diplacusis roamed this volcano-laden landscape. Diplacusis was so big, thanks to its long tail and neck, that no other predators were a threat.
Actually, Diplodocus is the long-necked dinosaur from the Jurassic Period. Diplacusis is a hearing affliction that causes you to hear two sounds at the same time.
Diplacusis is an affliction which can be challenging and confusing leading to difficulty with communication.
Perhaps your hearing has been a bit weird lately
We’re accustomed to thinking of hearing loss as a kind of gradual lowering of the volume knob. According to this notion, over time, we simply hear less and less. But there are some other, not so well recognized, types of hearing loss. One of the most interesting (or, possibly, frustrating) such manifestations is a condition called diplacusis.
What is diplacusis?
Exactly what is diplacusis? Diplacusis is a medical name that means, basically, “double hearing”. Normally, your brain gets signals from your right ear and signals from the left ear and combines them harmoniously into one sound. That’s what you hear. The same thing happens with your eyes. You will see slightly different images if you cover each eye one at a time. Your ears are the same, it’s just that typically, you never notice it.
When your brain can’t successfully merge the two sounds from your ears because they are too different, you have this condition of diplacusis. Monaural diplacusis is caused by hearing loss in only one ear while binaural diplacusis is caused by hearing loss in both.
Diplacusis comes in two kinds
Diplacusis doesn’t affect everyone in the same way. Usually, though, people will experience one of the following two forms of diplacusis:
- Diplacusis echoica: With this, what you hear will seem off because your brain gets the sound from each ear out of sync with the other instead of hearing two separate pitches. Artifacts similar to echoes can be the outcome. This can also cause difficulty with regard to understanding speech.
- Diplacusis dysharmonica: This kind of diplacusis occurs when the pitch of the right ear and the pitch of the left ear are hearing sound as two different pitches. So when your grandchildren speak with you, the pitch of their voice will sound distorted. Maybe your right ear thinks the sound is low-pitched and your left ear thinks the sound is high-pitched. This can make those sounds hard to understand.
Symptoms of diplacusis
Here are a few symptoms of diplacusis:
- Hearing echoes where they don’t actually exist.
- Off timing hearing
- Hearing that sounds off (in pitch).
The condition of double vision could be a helpful comparison: Yes, it can produce some symptoms on its own, but it’s usually itself a symptom of something else. (It’s the effect, essentially, not the cause.) Diplacusis, in these circumstances, is probably a symptom of hearing loss. So your best strategy would be to make an appointment with us for a hearing test.
What causes diplacusis?
The causes of diplacusis line up rather well, in a general sense, with the causes of hearing loss. But there are some particular reasons why you could develop diplacusis:
- An infection: Ear infections, sinus infections, or even just plain old allergies can cause your ear canal to swell. This inflammation, while a standard response, can impact the way sound travels through your inner ear and to your brain.
- Your ears have damage caused by noise: If you’ve experienced enough loud sounds to damage your hearing, it’s possible that the same damage has led to hearing loss, and as a result, diplacusis.
- Earwax: Your ability to hear can be impacted by an earwax blockage. That earwax blockage can lead to diplacusis.
- A tumor: Diplacusis can, in rare instances, be caused by a tumor in your ear canal. Don’t panic! In most instances they’re benign. But you still should consult with us about it.
It’s obvious that there are a number of the same causes of diplacusis and hearing loss. Meaning that you most likely have some amount of hearing loss if you’re experiencing diplacusis. So you should absolutely come in and see us.
Treatments for diplacusis
Depending on the main cause, there are several possible treatments. If you have a blockage, treating your diplacusis will focus on clearing it out. However, diplacusis is frequently due to permanent sensorineural hearing loss. In these situations, the best treatment options include:
- Hearing aids: The correct set of hearing aids can equalize how your ears hear again. This means that the symptoms of diplacusis will most likely disappear. It’s important to get the right settings on your hearing aids and you’ll need to have us help you with that.
- Cochlear implant: A cochlear implant may be the only way of dealing with diplacusis if the root cause is profound hearing loss.
A hearing test is the first step to getting it all figured out. Here’s how you can think about it: a hearing assessment will be able to determine what type of hearing loss is at the source of your diplacusis (and, to be fair, you may not even recognize it as diplacusis, you may just think stuff sounds weird these days). We have really sensitive hearing tests nowadays and any discrepancies with how your ears are hearing the world will be detected.
Life is more fun when you can hear clearly
You’ll be better able to enjoy your life when you get the proper treatment for your diplacusis, whether that’s hearing aids or something else. Conversations will be easier. Keeping up with your family will be easier.
So there will be no diplacusis symptoms interfering with your ability to hear your grandkids telling you all about the Diplodocus.
Call today for an appointment to have your diplacusis symptoms checked.