edited edited

Talk to your ENT about Central Auditory Processing Disorder.

Ok, I will look into that. Is it likely that this disorder can just appear out of the blue, and not more so if you were born with it? And if I do have CAPD, is it worth even going to see an ENT? I've done a little research on the internet and it seems there really isn't any treatment for it, besides relocating yourself to quite environments to talk. Do people with CAPD get hearing aids? Does it benefit them? I just don't understand how all of the sudden language in a noisy environment has turned into blah blah blah, seemingly overnight. I am asking people to repeat themselves in practically every environment where there is background noise now, yet i can hear people whispering to me in a quiet house or someone talking to me from other rooms, or tree leaves brustling in the wind. You may be right about CAPD though, certainly doesn't seem like sensorineural hearing loss with normal audiogram results. I suppose thats good and bad, I used to think that I listened to too much loud music and that is where the damage occurred, but there is no drop offs at any frequencies, most importantly the high ones (which would imply noise damage). The ENT did mention that I have an awkardly shaped Eustachian tube and that it could be a factor, but I can completely open my ears with the blow/yawn technique and even once i've done that there is no improvement in my hearing. On a side note I had chronic ear infections when i was a kid, and had tubes in my ears twice. But I didn't notice this problem until just recently, so I dont really see a correlation there.
Thanks, and any more info you guys can provide would be great cause I'm at a loss.

[This message has been edited by Colbe (edited 06-03-2003).]

First of all, I'm far from being an expert in the field of CAPD. And you are right, if the diagnosis is CAPD, there is not much an ENT can do for you. You need to see a CAPD specialist usually found in either private practice or university/major medical center.

Hearing aids would offer no benefit and actually would cause hearing loss.

Colby,

Did they do all the audiological tests involving word recognition in the presence of progressively louder background noise?
I thought it was an integral part of all audiological tests.
Your condition should have raised some flags there.

Originally posted by zip2play:
Colby,

Did they do all the audiological tests involving word recognition in the presence of progressively louder background noise?
I thought it was an integral part of all audiological tests.
Your condition should have raised some flags there.
Word recognition testing is routinely done without background noise. Background noise is only used in CAPD assessment or when evaluating hearing aid benefit in noise.

Zip,
Yes actually they did perform a test like that, Where the background noise got louder and louder while the voice got softer and softer..There were 3 levels to that test. At the loudest background noise level test, i scored 95%. But, I was really struggling and i dont know if the audiologist actually noticed that i might have occasionally repeated a word that sounded like the word they said but wasnt actually that word. For example, the audiologist said "pack" i might have said "back". On another note, the background noise they used just sounded like air. I don't think it simulated actual real life background noise very well. In real life there are all kinds of noises happening at the same time that drown out what your trying to hear..This test only had that one noise getting in the way. In fact, just today while in class. A peer would say something to me very quietly during lecture, and i couldnt hear what the heck he was saying. I had to ask him to repeat himself 3 times. This is getting a bit ridiculous. I set up another hearing evaluation at my university next week, hopefully they can come up with something.

Colbe,

That's exactly like what my testing was like last month (surgery next week).
That "air whooshing" sound is white noise...a mix of all frequencies (like your TV when tuned to an empty channel)
I'm amazed that the data didn't show up your problem. Perhaps have someone else look at the same results?

My situation is exactly the opposite of yours. I can't hear in a quiet room but in a huge crowded bar with everybody babbling, I'm the only one who can tell what's being said (it's common to conductive loss).

A thought though- Are you new at the University? Sometimes being exposed to a new mix of accents can make understanding subtly more difficult- even without being to pinpoint it.

Montag,
Who would be the next person for Colby to see; any kind of audiologic specialist?

ps. are you fond of Fahrenheit 451?

edited edited

Colbe,

I'm flummoxed for an explanation. If the hearing tests are to be believed, it would seem that the next step inward would involve the perception centers of the brain. This, of course, is certainly beyond the realm of any bulletin board.
I can't even imagine what medical specialty would be the best place to look.
Your problem seems obviously with discrimination and not hearing.

I really doubt that anyone would be hampered in the slightest with only a 10 db loss- rather his hearing would be much better than the average man on the street.

Why not ask one of your ENT's if he knows an expert at discriminatory problems. If he's not the typical egotistic medical jackass, he might give you a lead.

[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 06-07-2003).]

Well,

I went to get another very intensive hearing test today. Their response, " You have supersonic ears ".
According to them my thresholds were registering at 5 decibals and I even had a few at 0 and -5. More importantly, they administered a series of CAPD tests.
--4 types--. First one, I had to repeat muffled words a guy was saying through the headsets. The next test, They setup a background noise of a crowd of people talking and then I had to repeat what the guy was saying. Third, they had a test where the guy was saying different sentences in each ear at the same time and I had to repeat one of those sentences from the requested ear. Finally, he would say a different word in both ears at the same time and I had to repeat both words. WHEW.
I didn't miss one single part of that test. Perfect score.
So once again, I was like, well WHAT THE HELL is wrong with my hearing then!

They said that I might have an extreme case of hypercusis, and that I'm literally hearing so well, that I hear too much. So some of the softer noises are also registering in a crowd, while im trying to hear one specific noise.
I don't know, I guess maybe I just have to wait until my hearing registers in the normal??? before I'll be able to actually hear efficiently. LOLOL..

Maybe I should go listen to some loud music to numb my the damn things up a bit..(that was a joke)

Cya and thanks for your help. I am quite relieved now.

Colbe,

I'm sure there is a UNIVERSE of people willing to trade ears with you.

Rest assured the noises of the world (unless you have a villa in Fiji) will soon "normalize" your hearing http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif. That was SOME impressive battery of tests they did on you.

I hope you NEVER have to sleep in a room with a snorer!

One last thought: try very light db correcting earplugs (maybe 10 db)....see what that does in a crowd.

[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 06-14-2003).]