SSHL - Advice for a newbie - Pitching music

Hearing Loss
#1

About 5 weeks ago I lost hearing in my left ear overnight (not all, mild at low frequencies to severe in high frequencies).

Up until this happened I played in the village brass band, but I’ve found that sounds in my left ear sound distorted (even though I’ve lost the high frequencies sounds and people on that side sound like they are speaking through helium) so I cannot currently pitch notes. Any musicians here (or anyone else) had the same and does it get better? If not, can hearing aids be tuned to compensate for this in any way?

#2

Hi Alex. I read your “superpower” thread, but not any others from you, so you may have addressed this already. But what caused your sudden loss? It’s not normal for that to happen You should visit an ear doctor ASAP.

As far as playing music, I have a similar situation. I had an acoustic neuroma in my left ear a few years ago. It was treated with Gamma Knife, and am lucky to have retained some aidable hearing in that ear.

As the neuroma was developing I was playing in an amplified acoustic duo. My musical partner’s wedge monitor would blare into my left ear, and it gradually started to sound like an atonal roar. I lost my ability to discern pitch and my singing suffered greatly. I had to quit that act. The distortion continued after the Gamma Knife surgery.

Now anytime I play music I have to insist on being placed all the way to the left of the stage so no sound source is being directed at my left ear. I have trouble recognizing a well-known song being played as background music in a restaurant or store. I trialed some Bi-CROS HAs and I liked them, but my audi recommended against them because he was afraid that the remaining hearing I have in my left ear would be lost without the aural stimulation from wearing an actual HA in that ear. I’ve been considering getting Bi-CROS HAs in addition to my regular HAs. That way I could wear the Bi-CROS HAs only when I was performing.

It has been challenging for me as a musician. I would think that your possibility of improvement would depend on what caused your sudden loss. Please let me know if I can answer any questions or help further.

#3

Thank you!

It was sudden onset, I went to bed on the Wednesday, woke up on the Thursday with very little hearing in my left ear. Went to the GP (no GP appointments so saw a paramedic) who said there was a little bit of a discharge in that ear so gave me a steroid and antibiotic spray, telling me to come back immediately if there was any redness, swelling or anything else, but Tom come back in a week if no improvement. A week later, no improvement so I saw a doctor who proscribed oral steroids, and given an emergency referral to audiology at the local major hospital (Oxford). They did a hearing test, said stick with the oral steroids and come back for another test in a week. Going back, no improvement so they suggested either hearing aids or trying direct steroid injection through the eardrum. We tried the injection. No improvement after a week so they said they could try the injection two more times or hearing aids. I’m now looking (and trying out) hearing aids.

I’m a long way from calling myself a musician but I play the Eb bass in the local village brass band. They problem I’ve found is that I cannot pitch notes to stay in tune with the rest of the band (including Mary our other Eb) who sits to my left. I’ve given up band for a few weeks while I sort the hearing aids, but hopefully I will be able to go back to band.

The private audiologist I saw suggested I try a CROS hearing aid but I’ve not seen anything positive about this option yet.

This has all been very sudden so after the initial shock (I’m surprised how much this has hit me, but feeling better now) I’m looking to learn as much as I can to understand how to manage this.

What is a gamma knife?7

#4

Gamma Knife is radiotactic surgery where they train 260 or so tiny laser beams on a tiny tumor for about half a minute. It kills the tumor and stops it from growing any further, but the dead tumor stays in place.

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#5

If your doctors are mentioning gamma knife or CyberKnife, they’re considering the possibility of (most likely) an acoustic neuroma (AN), like I have. It can cause sudden changes in hearing as well as vertigo and some other cranio-facial symptoms. Everything you could want to know, as well as support and advice is here: https://www.anausa.org/ To diagnose an AN, a contrast MRI is the gold-standard procedure.

I wouldn’t just leave this sudden hearing loss as a mystery with a shrug of the shoulders. Ask about more advanced diagnostics and keep poking at them for answers.

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