Tinnitus & high frequency hearing loss due to inner ear damage

[CT-Rich]

I've lost about 50% of my hearing and have tinnitus. The tinnitus is actually a symptom of the hearing loss. when your brain stops getting data from the lost frequencies, it starts to create sounds that are not there, sort of like what happens to amputees that can still feel their missing limbs.

I waited too long to have my hearing checked because my doctor didn't take my request for a hearing test seriously. He blew it off by whispering across a silent, empty exam room and said that since I could hear that, I didn't need a hearing test and that the tinnitus was nothing. Made me feel like a damn fool.

Unfortunately for me, he was full of sh*t. I waited another 3 years to have my hearing tested. And I paid a heavy personal price for not having it tested.

 

[agilis]

I've lost about 50% of my hearing and have tinnitus. The tinnitus is actually a symptom of the hearing loss. when your brain stops getting data from the lost frequencies, it starts to create sounds that are not there, sort of like what happens to amputees that can still feel their missing limbs.

I waited too long to have my hearing checked because my doctor didn't take my request for a hearing test seriously. He blew it off by whispering across a silent, empty exam room and said that since I could hear that, I didn't need a hearing test and that the tinnitus was nothing. Made me feel like a damn fool.

Unfortunately for me, he was full of sh*t. I waited another 3 years to have my hearing tested. And I paid a heavy personal price for not having it tested.

Unfortunately, there's not much they can do or could have done about the tinnitus, or the hearing loss. Hearing aids are about the only thing they offer, and neither they nor anything else halts the decline in hearing acuity.

On the brighter side, Electro Cranial magnetic therapy is very recently being experimented with and shows great promise, more so than anything I've seen in years. I'm looking forward to finding a facility to offer this experimental approach.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm supposed to go and get a free "try me" hearing aid. Sigh. The audiologist believes it may give me some relief from the ssssssssss and perhaps my family will quit getting so p'd off with me.

 

[agilis]

Try a sound maker, a much cheaper (about $1500 pr) alternative that produces white noise, you adjust volume. I have two pair, one a spare. They fit behind ear, small, invisible. The tone producers that are too big to be worn are not as good.

I didn't like hearing aids . The theory is they amplify the missing frequencies, but they do nothing when it's silent. Some produce tones to 'distract' you. I found continuous but adjustable low level white or pink noise makers MUCH better, but that's me.

Good luck, and watch out for sales motivated audiologists.

Today's a blessed good day. Off to cast for trout.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I definitely empathize with the severe tinnitus sufferers. There are times when it's acutely driven me out of the clinic and desperately up to the audiologist looking for relief. I've had a Neuromonics device for years. It helped with the first round a few years back but not as much with the second that I'm dealing with right now. I've personally found it to be correlated with pressure changes (though not as subtle as some), jaw tension, and possibly stress and blood pressure. I've been watching the literature on TMS - it's mixed and there's no standard protocol yet but it's interesting. Acupuncture also helped - going back for a second round of that on Tuesday. If that doesn't help I'm going to get hold of our psych folks, they're the ones doing TMS here. The good news is that it seems to be waxing and waning slowly towards improvement.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[ibj40]

I've suffered with this for about twenty years now, and after two MRI's that didn't detect any mechanical differences between my left ear where I have normal hearing and the river rushing through my right ear, I just try to make as much of an accommodation as I can. I make sure I position myself in meetings to where as many speakers as possible are to my left. When I was single, I'd load up my CD player at night for some distraction, and if I didn't want to listen to the music anymore, would just roll over. Now that I am married, we sleep with a white noise machine, which is both a blessing and a curse, as sometimes its frequencies and the disturbed one's in my right ear conflict. I know mine wasn't dive-related, it just appeared one day out of nowhere, and has been at the current level ever since. I guess all of us are waiting for that miracle cure, but I figure at 66 years old, I'll take it to the grave.

 

[uncfnp]

Its probably all in my head... but when I head south, Florida and the Caribbean, my allergies improve dramatically and it seems the tinnitus does as well. Its noticable enough that this alone has made relocation a serious consideration.

 

[agilis]

It's almost always all in your head. I'm not giving up, though i'm 74, not 64. I'm hoping I can find a way to employ TMS, a completely new mode of treatment that I misnamed in an earlier post. If Duke can point me in the right direction I'd be most appreciative.


In the meantime, my psychiatrist prescribed a small dose of Abilify and it seems to have helped a great deal.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I did a quick PubMed search with "tinnitus" and "transcranial magnetic stimulation" as the criteria:

"tinnitus" and "transcranial magnetic stimulation" - PubMed - NCBI

It looks like it's still investigational though I'll admit that it's outside my area of expertise. I wonder if DocVikingo can lend any insights here.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[CT-Rich]

The tinnitus I sort of live with.... It could bother me if I let it. I will sometimes put on a science documentary when I am ready to sleep. The voices distract from the ringing. My hearing aids are Starky. I'll be honest, I don't know much about them. In CT I was able to get them through a state program that pays for assistive devices if they are necessary for keeping a job. I qualified because I was a teacher. I ended up leaving the profession before I got the aids, but they have made talking with others so much easier. when I take them out now, I can't believe I was unaware of how bad my hearing is. I need to wear head phones with my laptop just to hear anything other than music.