The world was extremely different millions of years ago. This steamy, volcano-laden landscape is where the long-necked Diplacusis wandered. 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. Diplacusis is a hearing condition that causes you to hear two sounds instead of one.
While it’s not a “terrible lizard,” in many ways diplacusis can be a terror on its own, leading to a hearing experience that feels confusing and out of sorts (often making communication difficult or impossible).
Perhaps your hearing has been a little strange lately
We’re accustomed to regarding hearing loss as a sort of gradual decreasing of the volume knob. According to this idea, over time, we simply hear less and less. But there are some other, not so well recognized, types of hearing loss. Diplacusis is one of the stranger, and also more frustrating, of these hearing conditions.
Diplacusis, what is it?
So, what’s diplacusis? The meaning of the medical name diplacusis is basically “double hearing”. Typically, your brain will combine the sound from your right and left ear into a single sound. This combined sound is what you hear. Your eyes are doing the same thing. If you place a hand over your right eye and then a hand on 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 differ so wildly that your brain can no longer combine them, at least not very well. You can experience diplacusis due to hearing loss in one ear (called monaural diplacusis) or both ears (binaural diplacusis).
Two types of diplacusis
Different people are affected differently by diplacuses. Normally, though, individuals will experience one of the following two types 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 instead of hearing two separate pitches. Artifacts like echoes can be the outcome. This can also cause difficulty in terms of understanding speech.
- Diplacusis dysharmonica: This type of diplacusis occurs when the pitch of the right ear and the pitch of the left ear are hearing sound as two different pitches. So when your grandchildren talk to you, the pitch of their voice will sound distorted. One side may sound high-pitched and the other low-pitched. This can make those sounds difficult to make out.
Diplicusis symptoms
The symptoms of diplacusis could include:
- Off pitch hearing
- Hearing echoes where they don’t actually exist.
- Hearing that seems off (in timing).
Having said that, it’s useful to view diplacusis as similar to double vision: It’s usually a symptom of something else, but it can create some of its own symptoms. (In other words, it’s the effect, not the cause.) Diplacusis, in these circumstances, is probably a symptom of hearing loss. As a result, if you experience diplacusis, you should probably make an appointment with a hearing specialist.
What causes diplacusis?
In a very basic sense (and maybe not surprisingly), the causes of diplacusis line up rather well with the causes of hearing loss. But you could develop diplacusis for numerous specific reasons:
- Your ears have damage related to noise: If you’ve experienced enough loud noises to damage your hearing, it’s feasible that the same damage has brought about hearing loss, and consequently, diplacusis.
- An infection: Ear infections, sinus infections, or even normal allergies can cause your ear canal to swell. This swelling is a common immune response, but it can impact the way sound waves move through your inner ear (and subsequently your brain).
- Earwax: Your ability to hear can be affected by an earwax blockage. Whether that earwax causes a partial or full obstruction, it can cause diplacusis.
- A tumor: In some extremely rare instances, tumors in your ear canal can result in diplacusis. Don’t panic! They’re normally benign. Still, it’s something you should talk to your hearing specialist about!
As you can see, diplacusis and hearing loss have many of the same common causes. This means that if you have diplacusis, it’s a good bet something is interfering with your ability to hear. Which means it’s a good idea to see a hearing specialist.
How is diplacusis treated?
Depending on the root cause, there are a few possible treatments. If you have an obstruction, treating your diplacusis will center around clearing it out. However, diplacusis is frequently caused by permanent sensorineural hearing loss. In these cases, the best treatment options include:
- Hearing aids: The right pair of hearing aids can equalize how your ears hear again. Your diplacusis symptoms will gradually fade when you benefit from hearing aids. It’s important to get the right settings on your hearing aids and you’ll need to have us assist you with that.
- Cochlear implant: In circumstances where the hearing loss at the root of diplacusis is profound, a cochlear implant might be the only way to provide relief from the symptoms.
A hearing test is the first step to getting it all figured out. Think about it this way: a hearing exam will be able to identify what type of hearing loss is at the source of your diplacusis (and, to be fair, you may not even recognize it as diplacusis, you might just think stuff sounds weird these days). Modern hearing tests are really sensitive, and good at finding discrepancies between how your ears hear the world.
Life is more fun when you can hear well
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. Conversations will be easier. It will be easier to communicate with your family.
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 get in the way.
If you think you have diplacusis and want to have it checked, give us a call for an appointment.