The world was extremely different millions of years ago. This steamy, volcano-laden landscape is where the long-necked Diplacusis roamed. 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 resulting in difficulty with communication.
Perhaps you’ve been hearing some odd things
We’re accustomed to thinking of hearing loss as a sort of progressive lowering of the volume knob. According to this idea, over time, we just hear less and less. But there are some other, not so well recognized, types of hearing loss. One of the most fascinating (or, possibly, frustrating) such presentations is a condition called diplacusis.
Diplacusis, what is it?
Exactly what is diplacusis? Diplacusis is a medical name that means, basically, “double hearing”. Normally, your brain takes information from the right ear and information from the left ear and combines them harmoniously into one sound. That’s what you hear. Your eyes are doing the same thing. If you put a hand on your right eye and then a hand on your left eye, you see slightly different images, right? Normally, with your ears, you don’t even notice it.
Diplacusis occurs when the hearing abilities of your ears vary so significantly that your brain can no longer blend them, at least not very well. You can develop diplacusis as a result of hearing loss in one ear (called monaural diplacusis) or both ears (binaural diplacusis).
Diplacusis comes in two types
Different individuals are impacted differently by diplacuses. However, there are typically two basic 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 different pitches. Artifacts similar to echoes can be the outcome. This can also cause challenges in terms of understanding speech.
- Diplacusis dysharmonica: When the pitch of the right and left ear don’t match it’s a sign of this form of diplacusis. So the sound will be distorted when somebody talks to you. Perhaps your right ear hears the sound as low-pitched and your left ear thinks the sound is high-pitched. Those sounds can be hard to understand consequently.
Symptoms of diplacusis
Here are some symptoms of diplacusis:
- Hearing that seems off (in timing).
- Hearing that seems off (in pitch).
- Hearing echoes where they don’t actually exist.
Having said that, it’s helpful to think of diplacusis as akin to double vision: It’s usually a symptom of something else, but it can create some of its own symptoms. (It’s the effect, essentially, not the cause.) In these cases, diplacusis is nearly always a symptom of hearing loss (either in one ear or in both ears). So your best strategy would be to Schedule an appointment with us for a hearing exam.
What causes diplacusis?
In a very basic sense (and probably not surprisingly), the causes of diplacusis align quite well with the causes of hearing loss. But there are some specific reasons why you may develop diplacusis:
- Noise-related damage to your ears: If you’ve experienced hearing loss as a result of noise damage, it’s possible that it could cause diplacusis.
- An infection: Inflammation of your ear canal can be the result of an ear infection, sinus infection, or even allergies. This swelling is a normal immune reaction, but it can influence the way sound waves move through your inner ear (and therefore your brain).
- Earwax: Your ability to hear can be affected by an earwax blockage. That earwax blockage can cause diplacusis.
- A tumor: In some very rare situations, tumors inside your ear canal can lead to diplacusis. Don’t panic! They’re normally benign. Nevertheless, it’s something you should talk to your hearing specialist about!
It’s obvious that there are many of the same causes of diplacusis and hearing loss. Meaning that you probably have some amount of hearing loss if you have diplacusis. Which means it’s a good idea to see a hearing specialist.
How is diplacusis treated?
The treatments for diplacusis vary based on the root cause. If your condition is caused by a blockage, like earwax, then treatment will focus on the removal of that blockage. But permanent sensorineural hearing loss is more often the cause. Here are some treatment options if that’s the situation:
- 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. You’ll want to talk to us about getting the right settings for your hearing aids.
- Cochlear implant: A cochlear implant might 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. Think about it like this: whatever type of hearing loss is the cause of your diplacusis, a hearing exam will be able to establish that (and, to be fair, you may not even recognize it as diplacusis, you may just think things sound weird these days). We have extremely sensitive hearing tests nowadays and any discrepancies with how your ears are hearing the world will be detected.
Hearing well is more fun than not
Getting the right treatment for your diplacusis, whether that’s a hearing aid or something else, means you’ll be more able to participate in your daily life. It will be easier to carry on conversations. It will be easier to communicate with your family.
So there will be no diplacusis symptoms getting in the way of your ability to hear your grandkids telling you all about the Diplodocus.
If you think you have diplacusis and want to have it checked, give us a call for an appointment.