An ENT Doctor with Tinnitus

I'm pretty sure I know what Zack would say to that...

 

@brownbear

Hi there,

I wouldn’t usually do this but I was wondering if I could pick your brain about something and get your honest opinion? If it is an issue then of course I won’t message.

I hope you are well and very sorry for the totally random message.

Lucy

 

@monkey124
No problem, message me!

 

@brownbear have you found anything that helps, mine is though the roof, I am struggling see a way forward.
The maskers make it worse...

Don’t go, just watch them on tv, There is no upper limit as far as I know to this horrible noise.

Sorry been in tears all day and broke down in the office (again).

 

Hello,

Thanks so much for letting me send you a message. I feel that I am taking liberties as I have seen you are an ENT doctor so don’t want to message too often and of course I will not.

I am REALLY struggling at the moment I have to say and want to convince myself that this will not be forever but I just don’t know.

A bit of background information;

. Week before Christmas I had the most horrendous flu type virus with a sore throat and cold etc and it took me a couple of weeks to get over it. A month ago from the Monday, I woke up with really blocked ears and started putting olive oil in them... a few days later my left ear started to rumble and then buzz... this worried me hugely as I thought the olive oil had caused the tinnitus but I now realise of course it wouldn’t have but my anxiety levels were super high because of this and all I could focus on was this bloody buzzing. I was so annoyed by my buzzing that I then went on to play my headphones at an average of 89 dB for 6.5 minutes to drown it out (I rarely use headphones and don’t go out clubbing or to concerts - last time I went clubbing was before Christmas and ears were ringing the next day) and then... I went and had them microsuctioned... a huge piece of wax came out of the right ear so I am glad that was removed and then the left ear had a moderate amount of ear wax. I was then horrified to learn that the left ear was still humming and I started to get really distressed by this and then I blamed myself with the olive oil... and the microsuction. I was then given a hearing test and all was absolutely fine so that was a relief but of course on more research I now realise that tinnitus doesn’t always go hand in hand with hearing loss. Then two days later I noticed there was a funny sound in my right ear. (Which does seem to be reducing however I can hear it over appliances but maybe I am listening out for it).

My question is... do you think this tinnitus is noise induced or more emotional? I don’t think this is noise induced due to my lack of listening to headphones and loud music and that I had the low buzzing / bass line sound in left ear before the headphone use. Two ENTs and other specialists believe that my tinnitus has come on because of emotional stress and I have had a hard year and they believe that this will go if I can just calm down.

Left ear has a buzz with a slight ringing and right ear has a morse code up and down sound.

Thanks so much again.

 

Hi @monkey124. That doesn’t really sound like a noise induced history to me and the olive oil will not be relevant so don’t worry. Did you have tympanograms done to check for any Eustachian tube dysfunction?

 

@brownbear may I be so bold to ask you a question? How many times have you seen someone with a tinnitus loudness match of 20dB SL go on to habituate? I've recently had my hearing and tinnitus tested. The lady told me that 20dB means loud tinnitus and most people she sees have 0-5dB SL (I know, right?)

I need some examples that have arrived at the point of habituation with tinnitus as loud as mine. Otherwise I'm sure I'll stay stuck in this state of mind.

 

Hi @brownbear thanks so much for responding to me, it is much appreciated. The did some kind of test to check that and it didn’t seem blocked.

I am literally in turmoil with it all and don’t see how I can go on like this...

Do you honestly believe that tinnitus can be brought on by stress or are these people just fobbing me off? Just am kicking myself with the headphones now - I am wondering if that was what caused it...

Lucy

 

The only other thing I am worried about though is that my left ear is quite sensitive to sound at the moment which makes me think it could be noise related but then again my right ear isn’t sensitive to noise and my left one was the problematic one to begin with...

 

Hi @brownbear,

Nice to have an ENT with chronic tinnitus on Tinnitus Talk. It’s very nice to see you trying to help some people out by answering their questions, while you are clearly also impacted by your tinnitus severity.

I was wondering if you are following up on hearing regeneration research advancements? Do you read the FX-322 thread for example when you’re here?

I presume you have in-depth knowledge on cochlear physiology and to some extent also the auditory pathway in general. It would be great to have your support in the research threads to improve our understanding of cochlear physiology, tinnitus pathogenesis and pathology when we are discussing treatments currently in clinical trials.

Do you suspect that tinnitus is (in many cases) a direct cause of cochlear damage and that tinnitus would be resolved when we restore hair cells, synapses and/or auditory nerve function?

Awareness about these treatments currently in development could also be beneficial to provide some level of hope to your patients that are severely impacted by hearing loss and/or tinnitus.

Kind regards,

 

@Candy Sorry for the delay. Mine is also brutal at the moment and I'm not doing well (again!). Only just making it into work each day. I do find some things helpful at the moment

1. Regular vigorous exercise
2. Very long walks (at least an hour, ideally several)
3. Not drinking too much alcohol - a little is great but if I go to far I become very fragile and my tinnitus gets worse
4. Meditation (I use Jon Kabat-Zinn) and progressive deep muscle relaxation - all easy to find on YouTube

I hope you are feeling a little better. Warm wishes

I'm sorry I haven't replied to everyone else at the moment. I just haven't got the energy for it right now but will try later.

 

Almost 7 years in for me! Pffffffff.

 

Can you give an update?

Tinnitus any quieter?

Is it reactive at all?

Hearing?

Are you managing to work OK?

 

20 dB is child's play. What's up with you?

 

Hi @Jupiterman. Sorry for the delay. I'm doing well, thanks.

My tinnitus has very slowly worsened over the years but it bothers me less and less. I don't notice it at work at all anymore as I'm distracted. It only really bothers me now and again when I'm not occupied with anything else.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by reactive. Certain external sounds will temporarily change the loudness and nature of my tinnitus but I don't really dwell on it (I hate it when people clap for example).

My hearing is pretty rubbish but I must admit I don't use my hearing aid anymore as I cope ok without it (I have high frequency loss down to about 50 dB bilaterally).

It is what it is I suppose. I had some very dark times with my tinnitus but I'm mainly pre-occupied by different things in life right now.

 

@brownbear, is there anything you're encouraged by in the field by way of R&D? Ongoing research not yet published? Recent acceleration of AI capabilities?

 

I do wonder if extracochlear electrode stimulation might be helpful in the future (if one was prepared to have surgery to have a device fitted).

 

Let's hope for a non-invasive treatment lol.