The Sound Of Silence

Over the last few weeks I have been increasingly been bothered by tinnitus – mostly manifesting itself as a high pitched whistle, not entirely unlike the noise of a faulty CRT monitor. In fact it has been getting to the point whereby I have been actively distracted by it. Like anything else medical I have been loathe to make an appointment with my local GP. Hearing loss is one of those things that comes with age so I suppose I have rather been in denial about it for a while. My older dog, Eddie, seems to suffer from the same thing – at least he doesn’t seem to respond easily to his own name. This may be related to his wanton stupidity but I think he is genuinely suffering hearing loss, along with his blancmange for brains and failing eyesight. Still, he’s a wiz at the old pinball.

I eventually made the decision to see a doctor after taking the kids to the cinema a couple of weeks ago to see Monsters University. This was at the university cinema so it was more of an arthouse ambience rather than a blaring multiplex but I had quite a bit of discomfort in my ears from the sub-woofers. I thought it would settle down in a quiet room afterwards but was left with a persistent hiss and whistle reminiscent of the after-effects of a Motörhead concert. I had my doctors appointment on Tuesday and after a brief examination she diagnosed me with Otitis Externa – essentially an infection of the ear which leads to a thickening of the skin and a resultant itchiness, pain and hearing loss. The prescription for this was a simple antibiotic ear spray which I have been taking for the last five days.

So have I found an improvement? Overall I would say I have but it’s very difficult to determine quite how much. My ears still feel a bit itchy and the tinnitus is still there. In fact it is probably always there it’s just that it is not normally noticed – tinnitus is essentially the sound of silence. In the past I’ve even been able to make out segments of music in pure silence as a kind of auditory pareidolia. However, I do feel as if I am hearing speech more clearly. The real test would be to have a full hearing test but I have found a few online tests which at least offers a glimpse of whether my hearing is feeling the effects of middle age decrepitude.

One such test is http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk which can be done online and measures one’s ability to make out some spoken numbers over a background of white noise. It’s a fairly basic test but one which does give some sort of indication of hearing problems. After a week of medication I’ve taken the test and passed – which is a relief. In fact, I’ve noticed that my hearing does seem better overall. Music sounds clearer and I can listen to the TV without turning the amplifier up to 11. It does still sound much clearer through the Dolby surround, though. However, I think that is more a case of superior fidelity rather than a hearing aid – sending all the spoken words to a separate speaker helps no end.

I just wonder whether my choices in music may change a bit. I’ve been listening to a lot of heavy rock recently and not much classical or Jazz. If I can actually hear the music I suspect that might change.