How Does a Hearing Test / Audiometry Work? Can It Negatively Affect Tinnitus? Having One Tomorrow

Okay, got an hearing test with an audiologist tomorrow that specializes in testing for tinnitus. Last time I had one was when I was 12 or so, and I'm 66 now.

Can someone fill me on how this works, and more importantly will it affect the tinnitus?

 

I have no idea, I have to take one this upcoming week so I might not be much of help. But, if you want to play on the safe side, you can go on my bookmarks and read on what tests to avoid and such with an educated mind.

 

Thanks, will check it out.

 

I wrote this recently to forum member who was afraid that playing sounds into his ears during hearing test will make his tinnitus worse.

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According to my experience you should not worry about tones played into your ear. Audiologist will play tones at different frequencies, but only until you will start to hear them. In other words, as soon as you will barely start to hear specific frequency he will stop, and move to next frequency. For example he will start play certain frequency at very low volume like 5 dB and maybe you will not able to hear it, then he will increase volume to 10 dB and then 15 dB until you will be able to hear it. As soon as you hear sound you will have to notify him and he will move to next frequency.

So no need to be worry about that you will damage your hearing or increase tinnitus because of audio test.
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It won't make your tinnitus worse, but the hearing test isn't accurate as it only test the bare vitals of human hearing. Hearing loss in complex noise or very high frequencies will go untested.

Virtually all tinnitus sufferers have hearing loss, even if it doesn't show up on the test.

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks!

 

I've never really had any hearing loss, at least not really noticeable before. My T had come randomly and was gone after a few months(this was in 2016). It was only after I am experiencing MEM now that my hearing in my affected ear started to show a difference compared to my normal ear. Even then, it was weeks after I got MEM. What does that mean?

 

So how did it go?

 

Went well GregCA, and thanks for asking!. Some loss in the 8-10k range, but audiologist says normal for my age, and no concerns there. She thinks the T. may be permanant and pushing for coping mechanisms, but then again, those are paid sessions. Also met with a Balance therapist and I have BPPV and doing exercises to help with that. Also now have a concussion doctor, who also has T., which is good. Both he and the balance therapist are optimistic that the T. will resolve. Doc says at least 50/50. He also found an inflamed Eustachian tube while looking in the nostril with a scope, and it's on the side where the T. is. I'm getting about 5 good days where it is barely noticeable, then followed by a bad day. Definite improvement as it was constant before, at a higher level. I have a low hiss (new sound) that is barely there today. There is also some evidence that BPPV can cause tinnitus. http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/articles/benign-paroxysmal-positional-vertigo-and-tinnitus.pdf

 

I've downloaded the pdf file, but can you give me a condensed explanation of what BPPV is?

 

http://www.neuropt.org/docs/vsig-english-pt-fact-sheets/what-is-bppv.pdf?sfvrsn=bc469c90_2

 

Everybody on the planet has hearing loss except for babies and small children. Our upper frequencies gradually fade over time and nobody can escape this, so expecting everyone to have perfect hearing is unrealistic. The question then becomes: what hearing loss is considered noteworthy enough, and at what point is this hidden threshold crossed? There isn’t a clear consensus, yet.

You’re right about speech-in-noise being a better predictor for cochlea synaptopathy or hidden hearing loss, but this is still a relatively new concept and not much is really known about it. Some studies have indicated that people with tinnitus show a reduction in wave I during an ABR test and it’s theorised that wave V increases as a compensatory response, which in turn increases the gain of one’s central nervous system. This is a potential mechanism for tinnitus, but there is likely more to it than that from a strictly hearing loss point of view.

We know from Dr Shore’s work that fusiform cells in the DCN can become hyperactive in brains that have tinnitus, and this can create synchronicity in other areas of the auditory cortex and brain which could create the perception of noise. However, Dr Rauschecker postulates that in order to perceive these noises our limbic system has to be malfunctioning, as he believes they are usually filtered out before they reach the higher functioning parts of the brain (where it can reach our conscious awareness). This essentially means that everyone with hearing loss has some form of tinnitus signal being generated within their brain, but only a certain percentage pick up that signal and tune into it. Once it is detected it seems incredibly difficult to “un-hear” it and fMRI studies (Fatima Hussain, for example) have shown that people with tinnitus tend to light up other areas of their brain (compared to non-tinnitus sufferers) under certain conditions. There also seems to be involvement from other areas of the brain relating to memory, behaviour, and emotion, like the caudate and putamen (dorsal striatum), nucleus accumbens, ventromedial caudate, and ventral putamen (ventral striatum) and the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, etc, etc (again coming back to the limbic system). This suggests that the way in which one deals with their initial experience of “hearing” tinnitus may have more longterm ramifications. This is why many people advocate the importance of relaxing, de-stressing, and utilising things like CBT, mindfulness and meditation. That’s not to say those things will definitely help, but calming one’s CNS is always a good place to start; especially immediately after onset.

 

But what if one suffers from T due to other causes, like TMJ? Would the brain of that person potentially have the same things going on?