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Topic: Right ear more sensitive than the left one (Read 8617 times) previous topic - next topic
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Right ear more sensitive than the left one

One month ago I removed, with the help of a doctor, an earwax buildup that seriously affected my hearing from my right ear. Since then I noticed that my right ear is now more sensitive to sound (maybe by 5 or 6 dB) and when I listen to music through headphones every sound that are supposed to be in the center of the stereo sound field sound to my ears slightly panned to the right. Maybe this phenomenon becomes less noticeable with the days, but I really can't tell if it's true or if it's just a product of my imagination. Should I wait or go to see an audiologist?

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #1 –
It takes time, years really, I noticed differences just moving from the mountains of Italy to Phoenix, Arizona (damn desert). I've been here 9 years but man, maybe I'm getting old (I'm 33) but everything sucks the life out of you where it's too hot.

Now we're trying to move but if you live where is cold, don't ever move.

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #2 –
Nope, you should remove vax from both ears, that should be standard procedure... at least, it is here.
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Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #3 –
Quote from: eahm on
It takes time, years really, I noticed differences just moving from the mountains of Italy to Phoenix, Arizona (damn desert). I've been here 9 years but man, maybe I'm getting old (I'm 33) but everything sucks the life out of you where it's too hot.

Now we're trying to move but if you live where is cold, don't ever move.


?? Wrong Topic?

Quote from: hlloyge on
Nope, you should remove vax from both ears, that should be standard procedure... at least, it is here.


Yes, I forgot to say that the doctor removed earwax from both my ears.

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #4 –
If the wax buildup has affected your hearing over time you would expect it to take a while to return to normal. Lowered hearing thresholds are a side effect of prolonged lack of stimulus to an ear and should return to normal without any special therapy needed. It might be advisable not to focus too much on it though as you could cause negative psychological reinforcement. Mabye cut down on the use of in-ear listening for a while until you feel there's an improvement.

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #5 –
Do you notice a difference when you  switch ears with the telephone?

A simple experiment would be to adjust the balance to your good ear and turn down the volume until you can barely hear it.  Then turn the headphones around to see if you  can hear the same low-level in the other ear.

Quote
...when I listen to music through headphones every sound that are supposed to be in the center of the stereo sound field sound to my ears slightly panned to the right.  Maybe this phenomenon becomes less noticeable with the days
I suspect your brain will re-calibrate itself so centered-sounds sound like they are coming from the center, even if both ears are not equal.  But, the brain-calibration might adjust to ambient sounds (speakers or "real" sounds), and you might still hear an imbalance with headphones.

Hopefully, your brain is mis-calibrated from listening imbalanced for some period of time and it will correct itself.

Quote
Should I wait or go to see an audiologist?
That's up to you.  It wouldn't hurt if you're curious, but they can't do anything for you unless you need hearing aids. 

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #6 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
I suspect your brain will re-calibrate itself
That's indeed what Jens Blauert writes in his book "Spatial Hearing". The book is pretty old (like me), so there might be more recent knowledge about the topic.

Quote
If the sensitivity of one ear is artificially increased, as may be accomplished by corrective surgery (Betzold 1890, Röser 1965), or by partly plugging the opposite ear (Bauer et al. 1966), subjects first report a systematic shift of all auditory events toward the more sensitive ear. After a period of hours, days, or even weeks this shift can recede, and the subjects react once more in a way normal for persons with symmetrical hearing. Clearly a relearning process is at work, since the time of adjustment can be shortened by appropriate training (Bauer et al. 1966).
It is clear from the descriptions of these phenomena that lateralization in connection with interaural sound pressure differences is a time-variant process. Short-term variations can occur in connection with adaptation and fatigue, and long-term variations occur in connection with learning processes.

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #7 –
So do you think that if I listen to music with the right channel volume lowered to compensate, this could be harmful for the "recalibration"?

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #8 –
When I once was kicked and beaten to my head and had a very slight apoplexy (bleeding in brain) one of my ears had distortion and change in pitch. It scared me a lot and was a weird experience. I thought all my musical efforts and time spent on it was in vein but fortunately it disappeared after two months. The ear doctors (audionoms?) had not heard about it before and I got no help from them.

Just a little ear story I had to share. I hope your problems will go away too.

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #9 –
Did you visit an ENT specialist ? There may still be some wax plug in one ear causing the imbalance. I recently had very bad wax - both ears needed suction by an ENT doctor then one ear still had a plug near the drum that needed some drops to loosen then another ENT doc got rid of the remainder. It was pure hell between visits , 1st an imbalance then the drop totally plugged the offending ear for a week. After this ordeal my hearing was better than ever so there should not be what you describe if both ears are clean. Also one ENT had an audiologist to verify hearing.

If the wax is very tough a normal doc and home remedies cannot do it.

Right ear more sensitive than the left one

Reply #10 –
If you have a local store that sells hearing aids and tell them you think you might need a hearing aid.  They will check you out for free.  They will tell you if you can't hear properly, give you a graph of your hearing and normal hearing and will let you know if wax might be an issue.  They will not remove the wax.  The same will cost you at an ENT but they will remove the wax for no extra charge.  Once you know what the problem is you can try over the counter remedies.  The remedies dissolve ear wax.  You then wash out your ear.  If you can't get it out then go to the ENT.

Costco a large store near me had better not worse equipment than the ENT.  They used a mini camera in my ear.  I could see it on the computer monitor.