Best Doctor/Center for Tinnitus in Northern California?

Preferably Sacramento area, but the bay would work too.

99% sure my tinnitus is noise induced. (Blasted music in car and headphones every day, regularly attended loud concerts, played in bands.)

But I also had a cold upon onset and have allergies.

In addition to constant ringing, I have sound distortions even with music, sensitivity to loud sounds, beeps, whistles, swooshing that competes with outside noise, etc.

It’s been 2.5 months.

NorCal folks: Any suggestions on where to go?

I have an appointment with a regular ENT, but I’ve heard of so many people not having a thorough experience with their local ENTs.

Thank you for any recommendations!

 

There isn't a lot doctors can do. There are some treatments in the pipeline, so hopefully that will eventually change.

Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Were you listening to loud noise at the time the ringing began? Or did it start after the cold?
Tinnitus from noise exposure should be instantaneous, not something that appears days later.

 

@jlish

You are asking for something that does not exist. Northern California and Silicon Valley are just as lacking or more than the rest of the world. If your problem is just noise induced tinnitus, you can find places that offer some sort of sound therapy. However, sound therapy success is very limited (mostly masking). UCSF supposed to have a tinnitus clinic, but I found out that actually have very little to offer. Same for all the other well known institutions at Berkeley and Stanford. Well into the 21st century and we have about the same remedies as in the Stone Age. Unfortunately, doctors are telling the truth when they say that there is no treatment. It took me a long time to understand that they are not ignorant or bad doctors, just simply there is nothing consistent against this poorly known condition. You can try to improve your emotional well being, but the noise has a life of its own. Try not to make the tinnitus worse, your case description suggests that you were exposed to a lot of music, and it is difficult to change lifestyle when music is such an important part of a person’s life.

 

@Nicholas2255 I can remember them ringing after a loud event, but that wasn’t uncommon. (Stupid, I know...) In the moment you think, “It’ll go away.” More loud events and a sinus infection/cold later was when I realized I had a ringing that wasn’t going away.

I did have a fullness feeling in one ear the first couple weeks which thankfully is gone. And at first I could hardly stand to hear my washer or dish washer running, which doesn’t bother me anymore.

@InfiniteLoop Thanks for your input. I know that if it is noise induced, there’s not much that can be done. One audiologist told me I had minor conductive hearing loss. She was convinced that this was causing my issues and that it was fixable (a middle ear cause). But it takes forever to get into an ENT around here...

@Michael Leigh

@Greg Sacramento

You guys seem to be well-read on these issues. Any two cents? I have read many of your posts and appreciate what you have to offer.

 

@jlish

What is the dominant frequency of your tinnitus? It will give you a good idea of the damage location. In my case, it is very high around 10 -12 kHz, and the typical audiogram to 8 kHz will say very little. It is fair to look for all possible causes at the early stages, but at some point it might become one of the many paths to lunacy with this condition.

Conductive losses are usually at relatively low frequencies. My guess is that the audiologist found some difference between bone and air conduction tests. Fixable will mean surgery, most commonly because of otosclerosis, and the noise might disappear or not.

 

@InfiniteLoop Well said regarding the paths to lunacy. I’m not getting my hopes up regardless.

The pitch of my ringing seems to be around 1,000 Hz, maybe up to 2,000 Hz, quite a bit lower than yours.

I don’t really understand how to read the audiogram, the difference between bone/air...

 

Did I mention, the ringing/reactivity are in both ears, though the left is more constant and reactive recently (which I would have said was my good ear 6 weeks ago.)

 

@jlish

Yes, your T low frequency of 1-2KHz is relatively uncommon for noise induced damage. Noise induced damage tends to show with a notch at 4KHz, or losses at very high frequencies (and corresponding high frequency T). Your audiogram has some losses for low frequencies, and there are only a couple of bone conduction measurements that show no losses. Sometimes bone conduction measurements are not very reliable. In bone conduction mode, the sounds goes to the cochlea through the bone instead of the middle ear. The gap indicates that the cochlea is fine, and the losses might be in the middle ear. I think that you need to confirm your audiogram because of the gap, and have all the bone conduction measurements done for both ears (they are usually done up to 4KHz). Maybe your root cause is a little bit different after all. You should contact @GregCA, he is in San Jose, and has ample experience on the middle ear topic because his root cause is otosclerosis (he got surgery).
“Reactivity” is a controversial topic in the forum. The “reactivity” of my T started a few weeks after onset. It is likely a hallmark of the T developing (maladaptive neuroplasticity) and the consequence of having auditory networks partially damaged (nobody really knows).

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Like I said, I don’t want to get my hopes up. But at the same time I want to make sure this can’t be resolved...

@InfiniteLoop

 

I have had instantaneous full ear sensation, followed by the onset of tinnitus 10 days later. Having said that, my tinnitus began in the evening of the day when I saw an audiologist (as a result of having that full ear sensation), so perhaps one of the tests done by the audiologist has caused my tinnitus.

 

@jlish

You have said that you have read many of my posts? You have also said: "if it's noise induced not much can be done".
Actually a lot can be done for noise induced tinnitus and sometimes treatment isn't necessary, as it often improves by itself but takes time. Early treatment doesn't necessarily speed up this process. In fact, treating noise induced tinnitus too early could make it worse so be careful.

If you have read my post: New to tinnitus what to do, then please read it again. I will place the link below. Also, read: Tinnitus, A Personal View, again. Read: Hyperacusis, As I see it. Once you read these articles in full and not skim through them, then you will realize noise induced tinnitus does usually improve by itself without specialist treatment. If treatment is required it can also help. It can take up to 18months sometimes longer to make full recovery from "noise induced" tinnitus. By this I mean to Habituate.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

 

I would go to USF.