Hearing Blasted During Microsuction with Dire Consequences

Anyone have much luck after a negative microsuction experience?

I started developing a strong tinnitus earlier this month after I had accidentally exposed myself to my headphones at maximum volume for 2 seconds; I've made this mistake before, but this last time was the loudest it's been. I measured the blast to be something like 95 to 105 dB.

What was especially annoying is that at the same time I was also infected with COVID-19, making the source of the tinnitus questionable. I have had bouts of it before, but nothing like it was during and after COVID-19. After looking into what I thought was ear congestion, I was convinced I had an ear infection from the whole thing and called up my GP.

Now for the horrifying part. My GP couldn't see my ear drums so she recommended I see an ENT; For a whole 5 or so minutes this ENT dude exposed me to sounds seemingly the same if not louder than the blast I've taken from my headphones. I've told him my story and somehow he still thought it's a good idea to do this sh*t. It's crazy. I'm reading that microsuction isn't supposed to cause any pain - and it had for me sharply on 3 occasions. He ended it after I moved away after getting a harsh hiss from tinnitus. He asked me if my hearing was better and I couldn't even tell.

My hearing hasn't been the same since; it's all sorts of messed up. Everything seems to have the sound of a coating of metal over it, like the treble has been increased on my hearing but I feel as though it's no longer as deep or as full as before. It's like half muffled and then half not; could this be hyperacusis?

I've been mentally exhausted from this whole thing. My anxiety disorder is always 10/10. I've slept for like 6 whole hours since this thing happened 4 days ago and I'm living with earplugs at all times to avoid freaking out more.

This microsuction thing is incredibly evil. How the hell is this practice allowed?

 

Yes, this sounds like typical treatment of tinnitus from our so called "Medical Professionals." They just can't help making tinnitus worse for people and then telling them "to live with it."

No, I don't think it's hyperacusis. It could be distortions (dysacusis).

I recommend Prednisone at this stage.

It's the best chance of restoring normality at this acute stage, hopefully reversing the damage the ENT did.

Make it clear to the doctor (possibly ER/A&E) that your hearing is damaged. If you are in the UK they are quite strict about issuing this steroid.

 

I definitely have some permanent hearing loss from this procedure. Is having your ears feel empty/not full a symptom of hearing loss? When I'm not wearing plugs or headphones I feel like I have two big holes on the sides of my head, something sort of similar to the feeling you get when on an airplane. I feel like I need to pop my ears but can't. The closest most relevant piece of information I could find says that when damage to the inner ear occurs sometimes the brain can become confused. Something maybe brain plasticity/healing would clear up?

Has anyone had a bout of hearing loss and had this or a similar sensation; and if so has it ever resolved?

 

Hi @Spliffurt,

I'm so sorry to read that you too have been negatively affected by microsuction. I had this procedure done almost 7 years ago and it caused all sorts of problems for me, including tinnitus, hyperacusis and hearing loss. Sadly ENTs and audiologists are still practicing microsuction without a second thought. I hope you are lucky and have seen some improvement in your situation since your ordeal.

 

Unfortunately not really. I've tried desperately hard to get the best help I could following it. Everyone sort of looked at me like I had three heads. In all honesty I'm really fucking pissed. I'm not at all the person to have been chosen for this, and to give a picture, I spent weeks in a mental ward a few years back. I used to be a musician and this passed month my mind has gone to some pretty dark places. I don't think anyone should be put into this position for simply having too much wax in their ears. It blows my fucking mind.

If there's anything I or any of us can do at all to rid the world of this legit Nazi level shit, I'm down. I tried to see if there was anything that I could get involved with; like a petition of sorts that I could sign, but I couldn't really find one around. Maybe if enough people gave it attention the medical world would better understand why this shit sucks. I'm assuming they don't know or don't care enough because hearing tests aren't very accurate.

 

Any improvements @Spliffurt? I’m 3 weeks in after microsuction.

 

Not recently no; kinda dealing with this whole other thing with my hearing and a dizzy spell I had, but regarding the microsuction I can say that afterwards I was dealing with a pretty bad hyper sensitivity to sounds; stuff like the shower and traffic, and that definitely did get a lot better months in, like almost half a year; to the point where I was able to start to ease my way back into music production in headphones without protection, something during the first month I didn't think I'd ever do again really.

I eventually saw a second ENT and he gave me this stuff called Fluticasone, a nasal steroid that actually helped me out a lot and fixed whatever imbalanced thing it actually was I was dealing with from COVID-19.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself lol, kinda forgot what I posted before.