The world was rather different millions of years ago. This steamy, volcano-laden landscape is where the long-necked Diplacusis wandered. Diplacusis was so large, 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. When you’re hearing two sounds simultaneously, that’s a hearing condition called diplacusis.
Diplacusis is an affliction which can be challenging and confusing leading to difficulty with communication.
Perhaps your hearing has been a little weird lately
Usually, we regard hearing loss as our hearing becoming muted or quiet over time. Over time, the story goes, we just hear less and less. But there are some other, not so well recognized, types of hearing loss. Diplacusis is one of the stranger, and also more frustrating, of these hearing conditions.
What is diplacusis?
So, what is diplacusis? Diplacusis is a medical term that means, basically, “double hearing”. Normally, your brain gets information from the right ear and information from the left ear and joins them harmoniously into one sound. This combined sound is what you hear. Your eyes are doing the same thing. You will see slightly different images if you put your hand over each eye one at a time. Normally, with your ears, you won’t even notice it.
Diplacusis happens when the hearing abilities of your ears vary so wildly that your brain can no longer merge them, at least not very well. You can develop diplacusis because of the hearing loss in one ear (called monaural diplacusis) or both ears (binaural diplacusis).
Two forms of diplacusis
Different people are affected differently by diplacuses. Normally, though, individuals will experience one of the following two types of diplacusis:
- Diplacusis dysharmonica: When the pitch of the right and left ear are off it’s a sign of this form of diplacusis. So the sound will be distorted when someone speaks with you. One side might sound high-pitched and the other low-pitched. This can cause those sounds to be difficult to make out.
- 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 different pitches. This may cause echoes (or, rather, artifacts that sound like echoes). And understanding speech can become difficult because of this.
Diplacusis symptoms
The symptoms of diplacusis can include:
- Off pitch hearing
- Phantom echoes
- Hearing that seems off (in timing).
The condition of double vision might be a helpful comparison: Yes, it can develop 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 cases, is most likely a symptom of hearing loss. So your best strategy would be to make an appointment with us for a hearing exam.
What are the causes diplacusis?
The causes of diplacusis line up very well, in a general way, with the causes of hearing loss. But you may develop diplacusis for numerous particular reasons:
- Earwax: Your hearing can be affected by an earwax obstruction. That earwax obstruction can lead to diplacusis.
- Your ears have damage caused by noise: If you’ve experienced enough loud sounds to damage your hearing, it’s feasible that the same damage has resulted in hearing loss, and consequently, diplacusis.
- An infection: Ear infections, sinus infections, or even just plain old allergies can cause your ear canal to swell. This inflammation is a common immune response, but it can influence how sound waves move through your inner ear (and therefore your brain).
- A tumor: In some really rare circumstances, tumors in your ear canal can result in diplacusis. Don’t panic! In most cases they’re benign. Nevertheless, it’s something you should speak with your hearing specialist about!
It’s clear that there are a number of the same causes of diplacusis and hearing loss. Meaning that you likely have some degree of hearing loss if you’re experiencing diplacusis. Which means it’s a good idea to visit a hearing specialist.
How is diplacusis treated?
The treatments for diplacusis vary based on the underlying cause. If you have an obstruction, treating your diplacusis will focus on clearing it out. However, diplacusis is often due to irreversible sensorineural hearing loss. Here are some treatment options if that’s the situation:
- Hearing aids: Your hearing can be equalized with the right pair of hearing aids. This means that the symptoms of diplacusis will most likely disappear. You’ll want to speak with us about finding the correct settings for your hearing aids.
- Cochlear implant: A cochlear implant may be the only way of dealing with diplacusis if the root cause is profound hearing loss.
All of this starts with a hearing test. Think about it like this: whatever kind of hearing loss is the cause of your diplacusis, a hearing exam will be able to identify that (perhaps you just think things sound strange at this point and you don’t even identify 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
Getting the proper treatment for your diplacusis, whether that’s a hearing aid or some other treatment option, means you’ll be more capable of participating in your daily life. Talking with others will be easier. It will be easier to stay in tune with your family.
Which means, you’ll be able to hear your grandkids tell you all about what a Diplodocus is, and you (hopefully) won’t have any diplacusis to get in the way.
If you think you have diplacusis and want to get it checked, give us a call for an appointment.