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 big that it feared 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 at the same time.
Diplacusis is a condition which can be frustrating and confusing leading to difficulty with communication.
Perhaps your hearing has been a bit strange lately
We’re used to regarding 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 in some cases, hearing loss can manifest in some peculiar ways. Diplacusis is one of the stranger, and also more frustrating, of these hearing problems.
Diplacusis, what is it?
So, what’s diplacusis? Diplacusis is a medical term that means, basically, “double hearing”. Typically, your brain will mix 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 on your right eye and then a hand over your left eye, you see slightly different images, right? Normally, with your ears, you won’t even notice it.
Diplacusis happens 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
Diplacusis does not affect everybody in the same way. 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 an indicator of this type of diplacusis. So when your grandkids talk to you, the pitch of their voice will sound distorted. Maybe 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 echoica: With this, what you hear will sound off because your brain receives the sound from each ear out of sync with the other rather than hearing two different pitches. This could cause echoes (or, rather, artifacts that sound like echoes). This can also cause difficulty in terms of understanding speech.
Symptoms of diplacusis
Here are some symptoms of diplacusis:
- Phantom echoes
- Hearing that seems off (in timing).
- Hearing that seems off (in pitch).
The condition of double vision may be a useful comparison: Yes, it can develop some symptoms on its own, but it’s normally itself a symptom of something else. (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). Consequently, if you experience diplacusis, you should probably schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist.
What causes diplacusis?
In a very general sense (and maybe not surprisingly), the causes of diplacusis align rather nicely with the causes of hearing loss. But there are a few particular reasons why you could develop diplacusis:
- An infection: Ear infections, sinus infections, or even normal allergies can cause your ear canal to swell. This swelling, while a natural response, can impact the way sound travels through your inner ear and to your brain.
- Earwax: In some instances, an earwax blockage can hinder your ability to hear. That earwax blockage can trigger diplacusis.
- Noise-induced damage to your ears: If you’ve experienced hearing loss as a result of noise damage, it’s feasible that it could cause diplacusis.
- A tumor: In some really rare circumstances, tumors inside your ear canal can lead to diplacusis. But remain calm! In most cases they’re benign. But you should still consult with us about it.
Obviously, diplacusis and hearing loss have many of the same typical causes. Meaning that you likely have some level of hearing loss if you’re experiencing diplacusis. So you should absolutely come in and talk to us.
Treatments for diplacusis
The treatments for diplacusis vary based on the underlying cause. If you have a blockage, treating your diplacusis will center around clearing it out. However, diplacusis is often brought on by permanent sensorineural hearing loss. Here are some treatment options if that’s the situation:
- Hearing aids: Your hearing can be equalized with the correct set of hearing aids. This means that the symptoms of diplacusis will most likely disappear. You’ll want to consult us about getting the right settings for your hearing aids.
- Cochlear implant: A cochlear implant may be the only way of managing diplacusis if the root cause is profound hearing loss.
All of this begins with a hearing assessment. Think about it this way: whatever kind of hearing loss is the cause of your diplacusis, a hearing exam will be able to identify that (and, to be fair, you might not even recognize it as diplacusis, you may just think stuff sounds weird these days). Modern hearing tests are quite sensitive, and good at detecting discrepancies between how your ears hear the world.
Hearing clearly 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 talk to people. Keeping up with your family will be easier.
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, call today for an appointment.