Sozobe and others... I have a sensory question

Hiya!

Ooh, that's a bit tricky.

I think I've told the vacuum cleaner story before. I can hear low tones pretty well, and was able to hear the vacuum cleaner. Turn it on, hear it, vacuum, turn it off. One day I was vacuuming and yelled something to E.G. over the din. He answered, then said "why are you yelling?" I looked down at the on-off switch on the vacuum -- I'd thought it was on, but it wasn't. As soon as I registered that the switch was set to "off," the noise abruptly stopped.

So. I "hear" stuff all the time, but much of it is completely fabricated by my mind. As in, I have a very good sense of what sozlet sounds like, but I've never actually heard her, and have no idea what her voice actually sounds like.

When I was losing my hearing -- it fluctuated for a while -- I think I do remember my voice sounding louder than my surroundings, and lowering it in response. My biggest problem is still speaking too quietly. I think it's partly that, partly being scarred too many times by not adjusting to fluctuating noise levels (like in a restaurant -- ya know how it sometimes goes quiet, and that would be right when I was ringing out something particularly embarrassing and all heads would turn), and partly that I feel more in control of my voice when it's lower. I have a harder time with breath control and enunciation when it's louder.

Does that help?

Oh and I implied this but didn't outright answer the question -- yes, I "hear" myself speak but I think it's just brain-manufactured rather than actual sounds.

Yes. So, when you talk out loud, do you not hear yourself (physically - not just thinking you hear yourself)? Remember learning that if you plugged your ears your voice was louder because you were hearing it "inside?" That's what Cub was asking about, ie is the damage to the ear such that it doesn't resonate inside?

Oops, I see you answered while I was typing.

One of Bears daughters was in a car accident years ago and lost her sense of smell. That meant she also lost a good part of her taste since smell is so closely tied to taste. At Thanksgiving she was saying she thought she was getting some of it back, or maybe she was just remembering. She didn't know which.

That's what I mean about being hard to answer though -- I can't tell you if it's physically or just thinking I hear myself. I could swear I could physically hear the vacuum. Turned out that I couldn't, and it was just in my mind.

Ears pick up vibrations and the vibrations emitting from within are more likely to be picked up, especially if the main channels are damaged. (Nobody can be completely deaf -- even someone with no working parts in his or her ear can pick up vibrations via the jawbone). It sounds like your son has some hearing loss but can still hear. I think it's very possible that the sounds he's making are picked up more easily than other sounds, and therefore seem louder.

There are all kinds of different types of damage to the ear and all kinds of degrees of loss (you know this) so it's really hard to answer.

Short answer is -- I wouldn't be at all surprised if his own voice sounded disproportionately loud to him if he has some hearing loss.

Interesting about your daughter's sense of smell. Yep, that's what I mean. Brains are amazing things.

So, Cub went to the ENT doc last week. He had a "mass" behind one ear and fluid behind the other. Doctor asked when he would like to hear better. Bear said "ASAP."

Tubes were put in this morning at the hospital with very minor surgery.

He asked me on the way home a few minutes ago if the car had always had that "air around the vehicle" sound.

Wow! What an improvement already. He said the "ringing" is pretty much gone, too.

Now, I'll have to remember to talk a little softer and that I don't have to look at him when I speak.

He's SO excited. Sleeping off the anesthesia now, but very happy.

If you want quick results a Bear is handy......sooner always better than later.

I'm so happy for him.

Next week I take him and get his foot problem fixed... the following week I'll have his ear plugs cast for work. That ought to square him away.

That's so great!

What's with the "mass"? Sort of more "solid" fluid? Like boogers vs. a runny nose? (Sorry to be gross, but it's all the same stuff!) Did they get the mass out when they put the tubes in?

the ent said mass was an unfortunate choice of words... he was just badly impacted.....to the point his eardrums were immobilized...