Cochlear Implants as a Treatment of Tinnitus

Specific imaging of the inner ear/fluids, I wonder is that even possible? Is there a way of doing that?

I only found this when I was researching my case,
http://vestibular.org/perilymph-fistula

 

Undecided: I wish it was that simple. Removing the CI may exacerbate CURRENT issues by adding vertigo and more neurological complications. The electrodes are in a manner - serrated so, pulling it out can further damages the cochlea structure. Damage was done when they drilled through mastoid bone and round window to put electrodes through causing fluid & pressure change complications to my prev. issues. If a child or person has congenital or other medical issues not evaluated before a CI - then those symptoms continue and/or worsen after insertion.
Trying to get help from anyone here- so I can continue on w/ my life if possible.

NiNyu: Thank you for your effort. Yes, a couple of Drs have now state I had this prior the CI, which was the cause of my T & other symptoms . I was not further evaluated & only had the CI option. I followed what I was told, went that route in desperation. It did NOTHING but exacerbated it further w/ now permanent vibrating -head- T and deafness. I did not know CIs could also worsen or create fistulas. There is one test of some sort by injecting a form of contrast dye w/ CT/MRI to see the fluid dynamics within the inner-ear. However, I cannot get one done to observe this way- only told a repetitive brain- scan. Is this the only way it's done or can one be focused on the inner-ear structures? No one will say.

 

I had tinnitus for 7 years 24/7 prior to my cochlear implant 2 weeks ago and it was manageable
But now it is so loud I can't even think
I was activated the day after surgery and the implant just seem to make it worse
Feels like tinnitus on stereo

My auditory nerve is in hypo mode and the tinnitus is unbearable
I don't want to put the cochlear on it doesn't mask the tinnitus at all
I just would prefer it to go back to normal

I have SSD and was wondering if anyone else experienced high fluctuating tinnitus after surgery and activation ?
Will it settle back to normal ?
I now have to take sleeping tablets and a relaxer, I was so at peace with my tinnitus prior this is now torture.

 

Nat1au: This has been a serious issue for many adults implanted by cochlear implants (CI) as you are experiencing now yourself. This information is not disclosed to the public by the conglomerate CI companies or by doctors as they make such huge profits by them and additional incentives. I'm curious if the audiologists or doctor(s) you met gave you a full ear workup with the many tests available for your tinnitus and informed you that the CI would exacerbate it further? Did you have this done strictly for your tinnitus? Did you benefit from hearing-aids at all?

Children who are implanted are often too young to express how they feel except through emotions and or/throwing the CI magnet/hearing aid parts therefore, their data is invalid or misinformed to the public. Of course the CI helps some who had no other congenital issues or caused by a virus (e.g. meningitis) or head/ear injuries. Your information helps others on this forum which some believe cochlear implants provide immediate hearing and/or helps tinnitus, which is definitely NOT the case but oftentimes the opposite. Only a very few subjects in short studies have indicated relief, but not a good reason to have a very invasive surgery with serious consequences.

 

I'm EX Military as well...Artillery for many years and was exposed to 180 DB plus impulse noise over 48,000 times..I had total hearing loss in right ear..(Artillery round went off inside tube a few feet from me)...half hearing loss in left ear and minor tinnitus. Finally my hearing died in the period of an hour in my left ear and the VA set me up for an implant in my left ear after steroid shots through the eardrum and a lot of testing. My tinnitus was fine for a few months and I could hear well but for 2 and a half years its gotten to the point of where I think of suicide daily....I've thought about cutting the thing out myself with a razor blade...My tinnitus is so horrible its really taking a toll on my life and marriage. I'm going back to get new mappings in a week but dont hold out much hope for relief....They brung in an "EXPERT" from Cochlear Corporation last time and from what I can tell she was nothing but a QUACK! I cant stand to wear my implants anymore.

 

I wish i would have know this in 2011 when i had my right side cochlear implant put in...im deaf in both ears and i was told to try my right ear because the cochlea was more developed and more likely to work but after surgery my dr said hed have no problem doing left ear next which left me sorta confused but in any event the surg was pretty succesful but cant hear over ringing in right ear which is the ear i could hear out of until 2005 which i lost due to high decible enviroment even tho i was wearing ear protection anyway im hoping maybe since they bypass everything maybe this will be more effective in my left ear i actually go for my first dr appt towards the left ear surg in feb so i will let anyone interested know how thing progresse and if anyone had the same situation as i described id love hear about your expirience.....thanks

 

Some basic facts about Cochlear Implants. In most cases, they are a game changer for those who suffer profound deafness. Pretty much all new patience who receive an implant today benefit greatly from it.

I read a few posts on Tinnitus and Cochlear Implants and this is why I decided to post this thread. A few people were possibly thinking about having an implant simply to help reduce tinnitus. IF you have good hearing what so ever, don't even go there! The hearing from a Cochlear Implant is vastly different from normal hearing and once you get the surgery, there is no going back!

I am currently waiting to have an implant surgery on my left ear. I am completely deaf in both ears with residual hearing in my right ear only. I also suffer the worse damn tinnitus imaginable.

So the process of getting an implant is more than you may think. They are costly and the surgery is somewhat risky. The average price here in Canada for one implant is around $60,000 including the first year of tuning and therapy. However you may need continued tuning and therapy after a year and for the rest of your life even, making the real cost around $100,000. If you have to pay all of this out of pocket like some countries do, that's a lot of money. Fortunately for me, my first implant is covered by our health care system. Should I wish for a second one on the other ear, I need to pay out of pocket.

What I learned about these implants and tinnitus associated with them is this. The surgeon who will be doing my implant stated that if you have no tinnitus now but are deaf and wish to hear, the implant will most likely cause some tinnitus. If you are deaf and suffer severe tinnitus like myself, it has been known to reduce the tinnitus in that ear. To think about having an implant done simply to reduce tinnitus is a bad reason to have one. If I could hear at all, I would NOT even consider this surgery and implant. You will not hear the same as before. Voices will sound different. Music won't be the same etc etc. However in most cases, the implant is very helpful for the deaf. You have to train your brain to recognize the new sounds and associate them with words .

The surgery alone can and has caused other issues. To install the implant, the surgeon must make a large cut behind the ear, from top to bottom and another one towards the back of the head. They fold over the flaps of skin and begin to drill or grind down an area of your skull to fit the receiver and electronics. Once your skull has been grinded down, and the receiver fitted into the indent, they run a wire and electrode from there into your Cholera. The electrode contains hundreds of fine wires, almost like fine hairs. To get the electrode into the Cholera, they have to cut thru an area that has nerves. There are 4 main nerves in this area, 2 that control impulses for the tongue, one that controls impulses for the side of the face your having the surgery done on, and the other I believe was for eyelid impulses. They pretty much know what nerves are what, and choose to cut thru one that controls taste along the side of your tongue. In 4 out of 10 patience, they experience permanent changes to taste along the side of the tongue. Anything that you eat or drink that touches the sides of your tongue usually has a metal taste. In the beginning almost everyone who has the implant will have that taste. For some it seems to go away, or the other tongue nerve finds a way to compensate for the damaged tongue nerve. There is also a risk of damage to the facial nerve or eyelid nerve. You could have half a numb face for the rest of your life, or have issues with the eyelid. ( please note the eyelid nerve may be wrong as I forgot what the 4th nerve was for sure) Then they drill a small hole into the Cholera and insert the electrode with the tiny wires all the way around the inside of the snail like area.

After everything is in place, they stitch you up and wrap your head up like a mummy! A few weeks of healing and stitch removal, you return to the implant team and receive the Sound Processor. Most cases it is an over the ear unit that looks like a hearing aid, and has a wire that leads to a magnet and sending unit. They put the processor over your ear, and attach the sending unit via magnet to your scalp where the receiver was installed under your scalp behind your ear. Then they TURN YOU ON! Using software they adjust the sound processor initially as best they can to give you some normal hearing. You must return a week after for another tuning, then again 2 weeks later, and so on and so on until they have it tuned as best as they can. The reason for multiple tuning is your inner ear is adapting. There are no guarantees you will hear, however the hospital and surgical team that I am using have a 100% batting average. I could be the first that hears nothing? I could be the first that suffers other issues? Hope not!

Some stories I read in threads on CI are sad. Some people have suffered worse issues from the surgery. I am so sorry to hear that. For anyone who decides they need one to hear anything, I suggest you research the hospital and implant team in depth. Once it is implanted, the damage is most likely done even if they remove it!

 

@MikeP505 are cochlear implants expensive?

 

@gotyoubynuts

The initial real cost for the implant, surgery and 1st year follow up with tuning and therapy is around $60,000 Canadian.

That is for EACH implant.

 

I want peace in ears. They hurt, I would break jaws or get that. I want the tinnitus out.
TMJ is jaws causing the tinnitus in the ears too. Cochlea is to get out, I would both.
Cochlea implants are about $100,000. I have done my home work. I want to live not
be a tinny tinny person. You get the meaning. There must be a way out of this.
I guess that you have to be rich to get help. It is a same. when I saw boy crying on here today.
I am sorry every one.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21756468

RESULTS: All 26 patients reported a subjective benefit from CI. Tinnitus loudness reduced significantly after CI from 8.6 to 2.2 on the VAS (scale: 0-10).

Seems to be very effective and is statistically significant but the study had a small sample size and used subjective criteria as well as it only studied people with single ear issues. What isn't known is if the patients had tinnitus in one ear or both.

Why are there small sample sizes and so few studies on tinnitus? Too bad it's so expensive to get an implant as well as downsides but it does shed more light on what might work on tinnitus. Just based on this I would think that a lack of audible stimulus should increase or even cause tinnitus. If hair cells in a certain Hz range are dead then that could cause a lack of audible stimulus for certain neurons in the brain.

 

There are other reports of people with CIs getting T when they didn't have it before or their T increasing.

 

I think if cochlear implants help T, it might be due to the very comprehensive training process and therapy patients go through after the implant. They literally have to learn to hear all over again. So, if successful, their auditory system is pretty much rewired.
Read a personal story from a person who got a CI, and what she described when the device was turned on, seemed to me like severe tinnitus. It was all cowbells, very loud. I would soil my pants at this, but to her, being stone deaf, it was encouraging. With training, slowly but surely, the cacophony started to make sense. She didn't say if she had any T left after getting used to the implant, but I don't think she cares.

 

I am writing in January, 2018.
If anyone has had a cochlear implant recently who also had tinnitus and hyperacusis would they please post their experience.
Thank you.
Juliana

 

Hi Juliana,
Did you follow the traditional corticosteroid treatment after sudden hearing loss? (either oral or intratympanic)
What does your audiogram look like?

 

Hello,

I have very recently received a Cochlear Implant for treatment of tinnitus after suffering sudden hearing loss in my right ear over 3 years ago. I have had severe tinnitus ever since and am now hoping to connect with anyone who has been through this process. I am the first patient in the clinic that completed the surgery to have received a CI as treatment for tinnitus.

I had my CI surgery 1 week ago, am currently in recovery and now riding a new wave of experience as my T has taken on a new life post surgery. It was somewhat muted for the first couple days as I rode out the after effects of the anesthesia and has come back with a vengeance. It is now severe and has been so for the last three days. I am hoping there is someone out there who has been through this who could share their experience post surgery and pre activation as I am back in a hard place right now.

I am not set to receive CI activation until mid May and am understanding that not until the implant begins functioning will the masking and relearning to hear begin.

many thanks

 

I did read a while back that CI can sometimes be quite successful at dealing with T.

So you only have a CI in the right ear and natural hearing in the left ear?

 

It makes since that cochlear implants would decrease tinnitus for one simple reason.

The cochlear implants stimulates the auditory nerve fibers that lack or have weak signals and the brain rewires itself by decreasing the central gain. Tinnitus and amplification related Hyperacusis would be reduced.

 

I have about 40% hearing in my left ear, wear a hearing aid there. I have had the CI surgery on my right ear

 

I have a question. Do People who have received CI have the chance to restore their hearing if of course the pharmacists make a "cure" for hearing loss in the future? I mean does the CI make more damage to the inner ear so that there is no turning back after you put IT in?

 

Since CIs seem to be the

Agree with everything you Said, but, still no drugs... Sorry :/

 

Good question, I wondered this the other day...

 

Now that we have evidence that reversing hearing loss will reverse tinnitus. Can researchers for tinnitus please focus on science of hearing loss repair instead of trying to find the exact locations in the brain that are producing the tinnitus signal?

 

The procedure is non-reversible

 

I have SSD due to sudden hearing loss a year ago because of a Stapedectomy that went wrong. I developed Tinnitus and I am thinking on having a CI to deal with this problem. I would love to hear someone with experience on this matter. Did the CI helped you (or not) with the T? Thanks!

 

Great! Some research on T is being do right in my country.
I hear the Dutch government is now testing HBOT for military personel in Holland as well to treat hearing damage. So lots of testing for treatments against hearing damage is happening here in Holland.

You worked in a high decibel environment and still got the ringing sound, thats odd. Im following a technical study right now but will work in a high decibel environment in the near future.
What was the decibel amount your worked in and what was your level of protection if I may ask??
Im still figuring out, what level of protection would be sufficent in such environments.

 

Cochlear implant surgery does damage the inner ear hair cells, but not as much as it used to. Surgery has gotten better, to the point where some people retain their residual hearing even after surgery. But who's to say that whatever cure they come up with wouldn't cause those hair cells to regrow anyway?

You have to balance that risk with the fact that a cure for the inner ear wouldn't suddenly restore natural hearing. If you have long term deafness, then your brain would need to be retrained to interpret the sounds. It's why cochlear implants are most successful in small children and patients who have had natural hearing with a short deafness period.

-Mike

 

I'm going through the insurance approval process now for a CI myself, so no personal experience yet. But I have talked with many SSD people who got a CI. All the feedback I have heard has been positive as far as improving their overall hearing and reducing tinnitus while wearing the CI.

There are SSD Cochlear Implant groups on Facebook you may want to check out.

-Mike

 

To alexh and Mike:

I have had my CI on for just about a month now and have had very positive effects in this device helping me to deal with my T as this was my primary motivation for undergoing CI surgery. The activation process for me resulted in the immediate return of approx. 55% voice recognition which in of itself was incredible. The programming I currently have in place however picks up all ambient noise so I do experience a fair amount of white noise as my brain struggles to reconcile the various competing sounds as it is a process to learn how to hear again. As a result I am constantly adjusting the settings for my CI based on the surrounding environment so as to not have too much or too loud of sound which in turn can trigger my T.

In terms of the effectiveness in dealing with my T, the impact has been profound. With the return of sound, albeit robotic and mechanical sound at this point, the net effect is that for me my brain has re-engaged with the experience of hearing and has resulted in a significant reduction in the priority my T maintains in my conscious state. I am finding that at the end of the day I am not exhausted and feeling defeated, wanting to find a dark corner to curl up and hide in like a wounded animal. By hearing the world again, I am still engaged at the end of the day with energy and a positive approach and am with the capacity to cope with my T when I take my CI off at night. In turn as my T has become secondary in my day to day I am finding that I am maintaining the severity at a much lower and constant level than before. It is still there but far less prevalent and severe. We will see how far I am able to push it down, hopefully to where it belongs which is somewhere else

All very hard to put into words and effectively explain - as it is when you are trying to explain T to someone who has no idea.

As far as the risks highlighted by others that the surgery can present, provided you are with a capable surgeon this operation is becoming much more commonplace with a very high degree of success and very low probability of complication. If the options is available and you suffer from profound hearing loss with no chance of correction, I would not hesitate to recommend a CI as a means of coping with T.

Best of Luck!

 

Thank for the feedback about CI's reducing tinnitus. This supports the body of evidence that tinnitus can be treated by reversing hearing loss on a biological level.

http://frequencytx.com/ hearing loss theraputics become avalible to help the masses who do not qualify for cochlear implants.