Millions of years ago, the world was much different. The long-necked Diplacusis wandered this volcano-laden landscape. Thanks to its extra long neck and tail, Diplacusis was so large that it was afraid of no predator.
Actually, Diplodocus is the long-necked dinosaur from the Jurassic Period. Diplacusis is a hearing condition that causes you to hear two sounds instead of one.
Diplacusis is a condition which can be challenging and confusing causing difficulty communicating.
Perhaps you’ve been hearing some unusual things
Typically, we regard hearing loss as our hearing becoming muted or quiet over time. According to this notion, over time, we just hear less and less. But there are some other, not so well known, forms of hearing loss. Diplacusis is one of the weirder, and also more frustrating, of these hearing problems.
What is diplacusis?
So, what is diplacusis? Diplacusis is a medical name that means, basically, “double hearing”. Usually, your brain will blend the sound from your right and left ear into one sound. That’s what you hear. Your eyes are doing the same thing. If you place a hand over your right eye and then a hand on your left eye, you see slightly different images, right? It’s the same with your ears, it’s just that usually, you don’t notice it.
Diplacusis happens when the hearing abilities of your ears differ so wildly that your brain can no longer combine them, at least not very well. You can experience diplacusis due to hearing loss in one ear (called monaural diplacusis) or both ears (binaural diplacusis).
Two kinds of diplacusis
Different people are impacted differently by diplacuses. Normally, though, people will experience one of the following two forms of diplacusis:
- Diplacusis dysharmonica: This type 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 talk to you, the pitch of their voice will sound distorted. Perhaps your right ear hears the sound as low-pitched and your left ear hears the sound as high-pitched. Those sounds can be difficult to understand consequently.
- 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 rather than hearing two separate pitches. Artifacts like echoes can be the outcome. And understanding speech can become complicated as a result.
Diplacusis symptoms
Here are a few symptoms of diplacusis:
- Hearing that seems off (in pitch).
- Phantom echoes
- Hearing that seems off (in timing).
Having said that, it’s useful to think of diplacusis as akin to double vision: 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 Schedule an appointment with us for a hearing test.
What causes diplacusis?
In a very general sense (and maybe not surprisingly), the causes of diplacusis line up rather well with the causes of hearing loss. But you could develop diplacusis for several particular reasons:
- Earwax: Your ability to hear can be affected by an earwax obstruction. Whether that earwax causes a partial or complete obstruction, it can cause diplacusis.
- An infection: Swelling of your ear canal can be the outcome of an ear infection, sinus infection, or even allergies. This inflammation is a typical immune response, but it can impact how sound waves travel into your inner ear (and therefore your brain).
- Your ears have damage related to noise: If you’ve experienced hearing loss due to noise damage, it’s possible that it could trigger diplacusis.
- A tumor: In some very rare situations, tumors in your ear canal can lead to diplacusis. Don’t panic! They’re usually benign. Nevertheless, it’s something you should speak with your hearing specialist about!
Obviously, diplacusis and hearing loss have many of the same typical causes. Meaning that you likely have some amount of hearing loss if you’re experiencing diplacusis. Which means you have a good reason to visit a hearing specialist.
Treatments for diplacusis
The treatments for diplacusis vary based on the root cause. If you have a blockage, treating your diplacusis will center around clearing it out. However, diplacusis is frequently brought on by permanent sensorineural hearing loss. In these cases, the best treatment options include:
- Hearing aids: Your hearing can be equalized with the right pair of hearing aids. Your diplacusis symptoms will slowly fade when you take advantage of hearing aids. It’s important to get the right settings on your hearing aids and you’ll want to have us help you with that.
- Cochlear implant: In circumstances where the hearing loss at the root of diplacusis is profound, a cochlear implant might be the only way to provide relief from the symptoms.
All of this begins with a hearing test. Think about it this way: a hearing exam will be able to establish what kind of hearing loss is at the source of your diplacusis (perhaps you simply think things sound weird at this point and you don’t even recognize it as diplacusis). Modern hearing assessments are quite sensitive, and good at finding inconsistencies between how your ears hear the world.
Hearing clearly is more fun than not
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. It will be easier to communicate with your family.
So there will be no diplacusis symptoms interfering with your ability to hear your grandchildren telling you all about the Diplodocus.
Call today for an appointment to have your diplacusis symptoms assessed.