Millions of years ago, the world was quite a bit different. The long-necked Diplacusis roamed this volcano-laden landscape. 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 at the same time, that’s a hearing condition called diplacusis.
Diplacusis is a condition which can be challenging and confusing resulting in difficulty communicating.
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, forms of hearing loss. One of the most fascinating (or, possibly, frustrating) such manifestations is a condition called diplacusis.
What is diplacusis?
So, what is diplacusis? The meaning of the medical term diplacusis is simply “double hearing”. Usually, your brain will mix the sound from your right and left ear into one sound. This combined sound is what you hear. Your eyes are doing the same thing. If you put a hand over your right eye and then a hand over your left eye, you see slightly different images, right? Normally, with your ears, you don’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. 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 forms
Different people are affected in different ways by diplacuses. However, there are usually two basic forms of diplacusis:
- Diplacusis echoica: With this, what you hear will seem off because your brain receives the sound from each ear out of sync with the other rather than hearing two different pitches. This may cause echoes (or, instead, artifacts that sound similar to echoes). And understanding speech can become complicated because of this.
- Diplacusis dysharmonica: When the pitch of the right and left ear don’t match it’s an indication of this type of diplacusis. So the sound will be distorted when someone talks to you. Perhaps your right ear thinks the sound is low-pitched and your left ear hears the sound as high-pitched. This can cause those sounds to be hard to make out.
Diplacusis symptoms
Here are a few symptoms of diplacusis:
- Hearing that seems off (in timing).
- Phantom echoes
- Hearing that sounds off (in pitch).
Having said that, it’s useful to think of diplacusis as similar to double vision: It’s usually a symptom of something else, but it can produce some of its own symptoms. (It’s the effect, essentially, not the cause.) Diplacusis, in these cases, is probably a symptom of hearing loss. So your best course of action would be to make an appointment with us for a hearing test.
What are the causes diplacusis?
The causes of diplacusis line up rather well, in a general way, with the causes of hearing loss. But there are a few specific reasons why you might develop diplacusis:
- An infection: Ear infections, sinus infections, or even just plain old allergies can cause your ear canal to become inflamed. This inflammation is a typical immune response, but it can influence how sound waves travel into your inner ear (and subsequently your brain).
- Earwax: Your hearing can be affected by an earwax blockage. That earwax obstruction can lead to diplacusis.
- Noise-induced damage to your ears: If you’ve experienced enough loud noises to damage your ears, it’s feasible that the same damage has brought about hearing loss, and consequently, diplacusis.
- A tumor: Diplacusis can, in rare cases, be the result of a tumor in your ear canal. But stay calm! In most instances they’re benign. But you still should talk to us about it.
Obviously, diplacusis and hearing loss have many of the same typical causes. This means that if you’re experiencing diplacusis, it’s a good bet something is interfering with your ability to hear. So you should absolutely come in and talk to us.
Treatments for diplacusis
The treatments for diplacusis differ based on the root cause. If you have a blockage, treating your diplacusis will focus on clearing it out. But permanent sensorineural hearing loss is more often the cause. Here are some treatment options if that’s the situation:
- Hearing aids: The right set of hearing aids can neutralize how your ears hear again. Your diplacusis symptoms will gradually fade when you take advantage of hearing aids. It’s important to get the correct settings on your hearing aids and you’ll want to have us help you with that.
- Cochlear implant: A cochlear implant might be the only way of dealing with diplacusis if the root cause is profound hearing loss.
All of this starts with a hearing assessment. Here’s how you can think about it: a hearing assessment will be able to identify what type of hearing loss is at the root of your diplacusis (perhaps you simply think things sound strange at this point and you don’t even identify it as diplacusis). Modern hearing assessments are very sensitive, and good at finding discrepancies between how your ears hear the world.
Life is more fun when you can hear well
Getting the appropriate treatment for your diplacusis, whether that’s a hearing aid or some other treatment option, means you’ll be more able to participate in your daily life. Talking with others will be easier. Keeping up with your family will be easier.
Which means, you’ll be able to hear your grandchildren tell you all about what a Diplodocus is, and you (hopefully) won’t have any diplacusis to impede you.
Call today for an appointment to get your diplacusis symptoms assessed.