I am a 32 y/o male. no hx of hearing loss on either side of my family.
I spent 7 years in the army as an infantryman...before that got a bachelors in music(vocal performance)..
anyway, got out about 2 years ago. this is when the issue started.
it plays out like this. I will be sitting in the car or house with my headphones on, and all of a sudden, when I encounter a certain range of frequencies(havent pinned exactly which ones yet) my left ear gets very staticy...it isnt a ringing or popping, but sounds exactly like the noise one gets when plugging an electric guitar cable into the amp...the sound BEFORE the plug is all the way in, before a full connection has been made...or like the sound you get with an old stereo that has bad potentiometers, when you turn the knob ,,crackle.....real static-y .... I also get this sensation like there is some sort of pressure anomaly in my ear....hard to explain..
heres the REALLY strange part.
my hearing is phenomenal, off the charts good. I can hear up to about 23kHz easily in both ears(my ears are equally good), and the instrument they use to calibrate pressure in the ears....also gave me a passing grade(with flying colors)
so my hearing is amazing, really, really good.....but yet I have this strange static sound in one ear!!
oh yeah, my ear drum is fine, no damage, no wax buildup....
it is really, really annoying to just want to listen to music and have that goal crushed by this static in my left ear..
PLEASE HELP!!
I've been to two ENTs .... one VA one local fee based provider that the VA authorized.
any ideas? yall seen anything like this?
I am desperate...if nothing else maybe someone could steer me toward a very well respected ENT/Audioology specialist in NC or SC??? I am desperate here. I am a full time professional musician.....ears acting strange== pay gets cut and I dont get as many gigs...
HELP!!!
* email address and/or contact information removed by hb-mod, moderator *
would really like to chat with someone about this!
Last edited by hb-mod; 08-25-2009 at 04:18 AM.
Reason: Please don't post your email address, per Posting Policy.
I have heard this buzz noise before. But , only when things are very quite around me. It's just a quick blast for me though. In both ears. Mostly when I am lying down at bed time...., But I know the noise you are talking about. Wish I could give you an answer. Just keep after it . You'll get an answer.
This is exactly how the otosclerosis starts. I had the same symptoms in the beginning of my condition. I had excellent hearing too and was able to even hear frequencies that are not in the human ear range.
This condition (static sound) went on for several months and then I decided to have a hearing test which showed an 10DB hearing loss in that ear. Still within the normal range. After a year or two (I can't remember) it got worse and I was diagnosed with otosclerosis.
The ENT told me that this (the static soune) was a sign of the calcification of the oval window.
This is exactly how the otosclerosis starts. I had the same symptoms in the beginning of my condition. I had excellent hearing too and was able to even hear frequencies that are not in the human ear range.
This condition (static sound) went on for several months and then I decided to have a hearing test which showed an 10DB hearing loss in that ear. Still within the normal range. After a year or two (I can't remember) it got worse and I was diagnosed with otosclerosis.
The ENT told me that this (the static soune) was a sign of the calcification of the oval window.
interesting... my hearing is excellent, off the charts good..but the noise worries me, nonetheless. so how was it diagnosed?? my eardrum looks normal, no wax buildup...
It was diagnosed after 2 years by several hearing test (audiograms). Initially they couldn't tell me what was wrong. Go visit a specialist in ear problems. Someone who knows about hearing conditions and does this operation.
Not every ENT is familiar with this problem.
I had this problem in my right ear (static, kind of painful noise when I'm around loud noises or have a lot of background noise). It arose in that ear in college when I got an ear infection... I dealt with it for a few years, finally went to an ENT that said my eardrum was fine...then took a second look and found a VERY small perforation in it. He said I could live with it or look into fixing it, and I let the problem go because it was manageable.
Now, just 2 days ago, the exact same thing on my left ear. I had a head cold and blew my nose and felt air going into my ear. I am assuming that I ruptured my eardrum again. I still have pressure-type sensations in this ear and am still having some lingering illness symptoms, but I am NOT going to deal with this in both ears. I could manage in one but in social places I simply could not survive if this is permanent.
With all of this discussion, I wonder if this is really a problem with sinus passages and/or perforated drums? There are a LOT of people with identical problems and a LOT of specialists that shrug it off.
Just a thought--but let me know what any of you find with respect to diagnosis and treatment!
Thanks---
p.s. I work in orthopedics and this, in my world, is a mechanical problem. In my case it started suddenly and has mechanical variables. I do not believe that it has a major component of diet, neuromas, etc.
And many posts I have read have the same problem--sudden onset followed by symptoms only being elicited under specific circumstances. This is far from my area of specialty, but it doesn't sound right....I don't think I have a spasming muscle...
Very strange hearing problem. 
