Long-Distance Audiometric Changes?

[Whitter]

Good Morning

I have signed up because I am looking for an explanation to symptoms in an elderly grandparent. I was hoping someone might have experience of this, as they refuse (or are being rejected by) their GP. My parents are currently trying to support, but it is now straining them significantly.

I am trying to work out what this could be causing this. I am trying to find a direction, and one of those might be. One line of thought is that a fall might have caused damage, which attributes to Tinnitus and/or Hyperacusis. What I am trying to understand is whether there is and tangents to that which only affect hearing at a distance?

In their 80s, they normally wear hearing aids. Hearing at normal distances seems normal, however at times they can also recount conversations people are having in other parts of the house in hushed voices. The accuracy of recounting the content of these conversations is unreasonably high.

At night, with no aids, they can hear conversations and things like the vibration of washing machines 2 floors away from their flat. They have lost tolerance of the noise to the point where they do not appear to be sleeping, and claim they have to leave their flat in the very early hours of the morning to escape it at times.

They had a fall in 2019 where they were admitted to hospital for a few nights. As far as I know, the extent of the injuries were minor, however included a damaged tear duct which would suggest there was some damage somewhere. There is a consensus that these issues have started to develop since that fall.

So I suppose, rather than a question, it is "Has anyone has experience of anything similar?" and "Am I heading down a rabbit hole that will lead to nowhere?"

[Happyrosie]

Hello Whitter. You haven’t had any replies from forumites and this may be because no one has experienced anything like this.

I’m wondering if you are trying to explore the past in order to get an insight into the future -a natural reaction. But I feel that it might not be worth while exploring why your grandparents are having these problems, what they need is guidance towards solutions.

The fact that their hearing is good enough to understand conversations from so far away and yet they wear aids is a puzzle, and even more puzzling is that they are both suffering the same symptoms.

What you describe may be hyperacusis . The British Tinnitus Association website has some information on its website so I would start there and maybe press for an audiologist opinion.

[Whitter in reply to Happyrosie]

Good Morning Happyrosie,

Apologies if I gave the wrong impression, this is a single grandparent living alone. I know I was trying to not go down the 'she' route as I was originally concerned I was giving too much information.

I am trying to explore what might be a direction towards a root cause for her. She has had hearing aids for many years, and her hearing was normal with them before her fall. Since then, she still needs them for normal day life, conversations, listening on the telephone, etc; but this additional hearing change has developed in the last 3 or 4 months.

It was my Google research that led me here on the thought process that it could be hyperacusis originally, which you seem to also suggest. So I am hopeful I might at least be heading in the general direction of what might be going on.

[daverussell]

I have mild hearing loss with Hyperacusis. The real world experience of hearing loss has surprised me. I think it's difficult to explain or for anyone to imagine; covering ones ears is far too simplistic to replicate it.

The results of my hearing test showed hearing loss in upper and lower frequencies but normal for mid range frequencies. I too have odd perceptions of hearing at a different distances (to the point where I think people must think I'm lying about my hearing loss), but different background noise and acoustics in the room make a huge difference.

[Whitter in reply to daverussell]

Hi DaveRussell,

Thank you for for putting into words something that I was trying to figure out in my head. I did also learn a few new things while talking to my grandmother yesterday, so I want to try and make sense of it all and see what I come up with.

With no significant changes to the flat she is living in, the setting around her, etc; it just seems odd to me that all of a sudden she could almost transcribe word for word, a conversation being had two floors up, even without her aids.