Hearing Loss

[MaryB]

Hi you all,

Have any of you thought since your SAH that your hearing is not the same? I seem to not hear as well along with not being able to tell "where that noise is coming from". I also would say I hear bells but really I must be crazy on that one but I think I do hear bells every once in awhile. I know most of us can't hear in public places but I am talking about at home alone type of hearing loss or hearing a slightly different words than spoken ( OK, sometimes it is not even close but???)

Thanks, maryb

[DawnS]

Hiya Mary,

mine is not so much hearing loss as hearing gain, but it's definitely different. I can hear a helicopter coming several minutes before it flies over (while I'm inside the flat), the neighbour downstairs snoring and if I happen to be watching the same channel on the tv as they are, I can mute mine and listen to it from theirs. I'm with you on the sound-direction thing though, which makes for hard work when you are a bird watcher I also hear things that no-one else can hear, like very high pitched siren-type of sounds. I don't have bells, but at night when I in bed, I am able to hear a crowd singing and cheering, like hearing someone watching a football match on tv in another room. This makes no sense I am sure, but it's there most nights and it can keep me awake. To begin with, I thought it might be my neighbours tv, but surely football can't be on every night for 10 months? As for hearing something different to what was actually said, I would say this is a daily thing for me. I have entire conversations that have nothing to with what the other person was talking about. I even do it with my GP who gets this patient look on his face and I realise straight away that I'm off on a tangent again. A bit like I am now really!

Dawn x

[MaryB]

Thanks Dawn. I also notice if the TV show I am watching has background music I keep trying to turn their music down so I can hear the voices.

[Sandi K]

Mary, I've done that same thing, tried to figure out how to turn the music down so I can hear people talking on TV but the music is part of the TV show.

My hearing has become more sensitive like Dawn's. I carry earplugs with me always. Last night and tonight I can hear a loud intermittent gushing noise like a huge amount of water from a hose that is going off and on but I know it's a few houses away and I can't figure out which direction it's coming from. It's annoying me but Peter doesn't even notice it. This kind of stuff has been happening since my SAH. Bionic hearing! I often feel like I'm being 'assualted' with noise. Loud restaurants or even a loud TV feels offensive to me. I guess it's because I know it's either going to hurt (headache) or bring on the weirdo fatigue symptoms.

Sandi K.

[DawnS]

I've noticed the tv thing too, the music is way too loud to hear the speaking clearly. I've also noticed that every shop in the universe plays music! When did that start?? Sandi, like you noise makes me fatigued. It comes on very quickly and I go from being fine to really not ok at all in a matter of seconds. This is even with earplugs in because I can still hear the music/announcers/traffic etc. This is the main reason I am dreading going back to work, my office is very noisy and I used to wear earplugs before the sah just to be able to get some work done, I can't imagine what it's going to be like now with my new super-hearing. I can't actually listen to music any more because it drives me nuts, even if I have it on low. And as for the radio? Not a chance.

[Anne Fleming]

Hi MaryB

I noticed exactly the same symptoms as you after my SAH - I found it hard to know where noise was coming from and thought I couldn't hear so clearly. I also had constant ringing in my right ear. I had my hearing tested and it turned out I had lost quite a lot of hearing in my right ear (my SAH was on the right side of my head) and apparently if both ears aren't working well this results in it being more difficult to make out where sounds are coming from. In time I got used to it and better at judging the direction sound was coming from. The hearing specialist diagnosed senso-neural hearing loss which means that it is difficult to separate sounds and so background noise can make hearing difficult.

It's more than 4 years since my SAH and I have got sort of used to my hearing loss. I also have a hearing aid for that ear though I don't wear it all the time & in fact even the hearing specialist isn't sure it makes any difference.

I think it may be worth you having your hearing tested. The hearing specialist also looked at the physical structure of my ear to make sure nothing was damaged that could be put right though in my case it was all fine.

best wishes

Anne

[Gill C]

I don't think my hearing is worse but if I'm concentrating on one thing I wont hear someone speaking to me or in somewhere busy I can't filter background noise out to hear what people are saying unless they are facing me. I think in general my hearing isn't super sensitive but i do hate repatative noise/sounds (not ideal with kids!!). the worst one yesterday was a little one blowing a recorder really loudly!!

I do get pulsatile tinnitus, the shwooshing noise of blood going around my body in time with my heartbeat but I've always had that. I used to get the high pitched noise but that seems to have gone now

[amexdm]

Great thread Mary,

My hearing is soooo sensitive. Like Sandy it is if bionic. I can hear a squirrel 3 doors down. Restaurants are terrible. It's like I can hear 50 different conversations in the background. We went out to dinner Sunday and thought I was going to strangle table behind me. It was three young gay men. Now I have nothing against gay people. But they were carrying on as if they wanted everyone to see and hear them. Even my wife said they were loud. So, we moved. But if I was alone I might have gone over and told them to zip it.

David

[kpaggett]

I also have sensitive hearing now. When I first had SAH I had perfect pitch. I know this because I am a cellist and it was so weird, yet amazing. All piano music or fretted instruments like guitar sounded really off even if the player was one of the most professional in their field. Digital sounds were fine and right on key, but that well-tempered tuning was crazy and I realized that anyone with perfect pitch would not play the piano it was so ugly honky-tonk.

My sensitivity is exactly how all of you describe. Hearing noises from faraway before anyone else hears them. I've also noticed that I tend to be sensitive to 'Knowing' things about others before they tell me too. I started meditation and it's made me very aware of myself and those around me. However, I was never that way before SAH.

Mary, If you do have a hearing deficit it probably stems from the SAH if you didn't notice it before the event or it could be due to normal aging. Hearing aids won't help if it's from SAH because it would be neurological instead of at the level of the ear. I used to research hearing in the old days. However, if it is a separate issue, then a hearing aid might do the trick. Look at it as a pair of glasses. None of us would think twice about having our eyes evaluated, right? It might be a simple fix like a pair of glasses would be for myopia, which people don't think twice about getting. A hearing aid should be considered the same thing...all it is is glasses for the ear.

Also bell sounds are a type of tinnitus which can also be caused by SAH or normal aging. If both of these issues are from the SAH, then they might improve with time. Keep a record of it periodically.

Hope the bells at least are harmonious!

~Kris

[MaryB]

Thanks for the information- Chris, David, Gill & Anne. I am 53 and I work in a very noisy enviroment with phones ringing, music playing, dogs barking & people talking all at the same time. I also had parents that could not hear anything either! I am doomed....I do think I need my hearing tested. I am sensitive to noise & cannot cope in that enviroment, yet deaf & can't hear people talking, along with cannot tell "what that noise is".......... Hopeless. Adding the startle reflex being out of whack it is great. I really have a hard time on the phones at work. I often have to ask 2 or 3 or more times their names...I shoudl practice "Just a minute while I get you someone that can help you!"

maryb

[Winb143]

Mary,

I think it has to do with our SAH...I get it also...I ask hubby to turn up TV...he replies "what ya cant hear it" he is a sensitive guy..lol

I get woosh and shhhhhhh in my ears..lol

Ask David to do a poll....Whos hearing has Gone dodgy...or whatever lol...

Like you and some others I find background noise very loud like the music on TV...Keep Well Mary

Love

WinB143........BYE ALL LOL (me shouting)

Edited June 29, 2012 by Winb143

[nikopie]

I wouldn't say I have hearing loss but things have definitely changed. Certain noises now drive me insane and give me a killer headache, depending on the frequency and decibel level of it.

Also if there are multiple noises going on around me I can't concentrate on anything in particular. If I'm near a fan the only thing I can concentrate on is the hum of the blades.

Didn't recall being like this pre "****** brain" and asked my parents... My mom said "no, you used to be normal" (she was joking about that part). Docs all say it's from the SAH.