Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Ok so i have had my first session today,

Im getting it done at a local sports clinic, so i think it differs from full metal tanks as they are sort of like an inflatable bag. I think il do 6 sessions and see if i have any improvement - SSHL is just over 2 weeks old.

Cant really tell if it has made much of a difference on the tinnitus but i think i have actually recovered a slight bit of hearing from my ear. Its almost like its opened way more up. I kept clearing my ears the whole time and from depressurization i kept my ears open is that ok to do?

 

Hi guys,

Little update, i have done 5 sessions and feel i may do 1 more in a few more days

Tinnitus i am glad to say has reduced 90% !! since the first session i had a big reduction and then the consecutive days the noise has been dropping. And with less distortion ( phaser sounds from noise )

I am now officially a believer in this therapy. Its absolutley astonishing. I mean compared to the " put up with it and get physological therapy" i got from my ENT specialist, really anything would help. Im so glad i came across this forum as i was searching online in my last resort.

The hearing hasnt improved too much, infact it may have dulled a bit but the electric cricket sound has cancelled out to a faint computer hard drive sound only when i sleep.

I had some liquid oxygen injections in my ears on the last day, which resulted in really bad pain later on the night but the pain went the following day. Hope it doesnt cause any issues?

Just thought id share my experience.

 

I may have found somewhere where I would be able to get HBOT.

There is a downside that I would only be able to get 4 consecutive days a week, everyone recommends as many days a week as possible and I have no idea if at 4 days a week it is worth doing?

I have a slight fullness feeling in one of my ears, has anybody experienced HBOT with this or is it a no-no?

 

It totally escaped me using HBO for a treatment and that's annoying seeing as I'm qualified chamber attendant.
I'm used to using the US divers Table number 6. I go in with a diver with the bends and after 4 & 3/4hrs he's done. This treatment involves putting the diver at 18 meters and breathing pure oxygen for a 20 minute period then a 5 minute rest then back on again till recompression commences. They used to pay me for my time which was great but now I would do it for free if it helped my condition. Failing that I would take a dive to 45 meters (147 ft) and slowly decompress upon ascent ( staged decompression).

 

I all, I'm having Tinnitus since end of September and I'm thinking of doing HBOT.

But I'm afraid it will make my tinnitus worse.. Anyone has some input for as I read something about it?

(Here in Germany it is very expensive 243 Euro pro session)

 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is probably not a good idea. It has been used in a variety of brain injuries and illnesses without any convincing evidence of benefit. The danger is that it can stimulate damaged inner ear hair cells and sustain or worsen the experience of tinnitus, whereas if the hair cells actually died, the tinnitus from those cells would stop.

 

But if they die then doesn't that mean he gets more deaf?

Will 'stimulated' inner hair cells continue to live, and maybe get 'quietened' by the ketamine type AM101 drugs when they come on the market in a few years?

I'm genuinely a bit confused here... shouldn't we be trying to do what we can to regenerate or protect our damaged cochlears? If not then could stem cell treatments etc if/when they come online actually cause more problems for us and so be avoided?

 

Hi Dr. Ancill and others.

After having reviewed HBOT carefully I must consider it to be a last case emergency treatment for heavy hearing loss cases. As you are right there is a risk of worsening the Tinnitus, which is of course would be a terrible outcome.

So to be short on it, in my case I consider it as a gamble..

Thursday I go to ENT again and will finally decide yes or no HBOT.. Lets hope AM101 will do the job for many of us

 

If the hair cells die then there will be no further deafness as the damaged cells are non-functioning - they are sending signals all the time, hence the tinnitus. For those with progressive deafness, unfortunately, as further hair cells become affected, the tinnitus will persist and gradually work 'down frequency'.

 

I will chime in quickly having previously posted. Scroll back on this thread if you want more.
I was seriously considering HBOT a few months ago, when I was just over three months from onset. From what I researched, and doctors I talked to, I became convinced it wasn't worth the price or risk.

 

Many thanks for the clarification!

 

I had checked into the procedure 10 years ago from an advertisement that sounded convincing. However, the proposal that came back was almost $42,000 - multiple treatments per week for a couple of months.

A Warrant Officer for the National Guard is a good friend and he took the opportunity to contract the Air Force flight surgeons & medicals that treated pressure related illnesses via hyperbaric treatments. The official word from the Chief on the topic...given his 40 years of squaring away pilots and divers was "use the money to buy a house. The Oxygen saturation under pressure has it's place with high circulation to deliver and remove (burns and infused grafts)..." but in this area of treatment...not so much if anything at all.

The snake oil salespeople are all over the place plying their wares on the desperate; the despairing; depressed and anxious during a low mood cycle.

 

Unfortunately, there are many who try and profit from any chronic illness or chronic symptoms (pain, tinnitus, etc) as these conditions naturally wax and wane. So there are always people who will tell you that ".........." (fill in the blank) cured their whatever. While most doctors do not understand tinnitus, it is wholly wrong to conclude that means that there are effective treatments but the doctors don't know about them. There is no 'cure' out there but snake oil is always available.....for the right price!!

 

You guys are right, it's sad, lets hope Auris Medical will highly speed and sharpen things up... (AM101 drugs)

 

Hi,
how often and for how long is HBOT therapy recommended for treating tinnitus?
Thanks!

 

Whilst reading this thread, I don't see many positive results from HBOT.
I have tinnitus for 1 month now, but am hesitant of trying Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy because I am afraid of the risks.

Is there anyone here with positive feedback on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

 

If you read all the way back though this thread, JohnDoe, you will find a few positive comments. But I believe there were more nays than yays. My advice: move on. There are other alternative therapies with less risk and costing less money.

 

The clinic I found says they will go to 2,5 bar which is the same as diving 17 m deep. When I asked what the risks were, they did not go into specifics.

These are some of the risks I found online:

"possible complications during HBO therapy include barotraumatic lesions (middle ear, nasal sinuses, inner ear, lung, teeth), oxygen toxicity (central nervous system, lung), confinement anxiety, and ocular effects (myopia, cataract growth)."

followed by the conclusion:

"Patients scheduled for HBO therapy need a careful pre-examination and monitoring. If safety guidelines are strictly followed, HBO therapy is a modality with an acceptable rate of complications. The predominant complication is represented by pressure equalization problems within the middle ear. Serious complications rarely occur."

- source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10685584

I really don't know what to do. I'm in my 5th week of tinnitus and getting desperate. Not trying something seems like an hourglass going empty. Will I have to listen to this sound for the rest of my life?

 

To reiterate a previous post, my doctor at the HBOT chamber said approximately 50% had some sort of positive effects whilst the other 50% felt nothing. I didn't hear any negative reports.

My attitude was and continues to be, there is a small window of opportunity - best to take it rather than wondering about it for perhaps the rest of your life. I spent 2k on it, it didn't work, but I do have peace of mind.

 

Yeah, but what if i go in and the Tinnitus gets worse? Or I get one of the side-effects an thus something else to be sad about.

My Tinnitus was caused by the loud noise of an MRI. This is considered a safe machine by many doctors. Then there was me.

 

I'm afraid I can't tell you that mate and unfortunately I don't think doctors can either. But at the time I was really desperate, risks were not really a consideration as I thought I was on the way out anyway. However I still don't consider HBOT to be high risk and if you feel uncomfortable you can stop the descent at any time. Either way stick around for a few months as regardless of what you do, you will get used to it and adapt your life around it. In short, it's shit but not nearly as shit as I thought it would be.

​

 

10 Years ago especially, the amount of 42,000$ is way out of proportion. treatment today from what I read usually go for about 100-200$ a time and you need at least 20 so that should've ended up in about 2000-4000$.

that said,

There are many ENT specialists who know nothing about how Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment can or might help to reduce or eliminate the tinnitus. and you should all know that.

however, apparently, there are some doctors who knows.

I was treated by a doctor which is the head of the ENT unit in a main hospital here in Israel where I live.

this doctor is probably an excellent and a leading doctor. I had sudden hearing loss and he put me on steroids for a week and i got most of my hearing back. but as a secondary symptom I got tinnitus. so,
even though this doctor is probably an excellent doctor (and a surgeon and all that), he told me that if it won't go away of its own (since it's new) I should live with it and there is nothing to do.

now listen to this. in his hospital unit, there is another doctor which is an ENT specialist.
apparently, he conducted a research about the treatment of tinnitus with HBO.
and he is examining patients and telling them if the treatment is suitable for them.

from another live person conversation with the doctor that is the head of the hyperbaric unit in a hospital here, he told me that about 60% to 70% of the people that were found suitable by the previous ENT specialist get the tinnitus sounds to reduce and even eliminate at all. and that is a fact.

He also told me that he is not an ENT doctor but he knows to tell that the problem could originate from one of two places:

1) In the ear itself- then, there is some kind of "mechanical" issue that was caused by loud sounds or a shock wave.
in this case he said, the treatment is not sure to help but could also be suggested in some cases in order prevent further deterioration.

2) In the brain- apparently there might be something wrong in the areas that are suppose to interpret the signals coming from the ear. and the sound that we hear is actually coming from the brain.
in this case the patients are more likely to be suitable to HBOT as oxygen level in the body are raised to 20 times higher as they are normally are and that happens in the brain as well. and this is what is suppose to help to cure the damaged areas. this article from 2009 talks about it.

He also said it's not about how much time has passed since onset as where is the problem is coming from (1 or 2).
I am a month away from onset.

now, don't take anything hard as iron here, he is not an ENT doctor.
I've also read that tinnitus that comes secondary to sudden hearing loss is the typical scenario for being treated with HBO with success. that is what I have. and I cross my fingers that the doctor will tell me that HBO could help me but on the other hand, by what the former doctor said, it seems that my damage was "mechanical" as it was noise induced. so don't take nothing for sure here, I am still investigating with the appropriate doctors.

now who knows to tell where is my tinnitus is coming from and how? (I don't know yet)

where I live, there are a few leading ENT specialists. they are very respectable doctors worldwide with decades of experience and that conducted studies and taught in respectable universities and so on... I've talked to a few of them. it appears everybody who is not familiar with the method of treating tinnitus with HBO say it won't help and even the one that treated me who was the head of the ENT unit said that it did not show any significant results in studies and that it cannot be made conventional treatment. most of the doctors, even if they are specialists, they are NOT specialists for Hyperbaric oxygen treatment. if you take and expert for HBO and an expert for ENT and combine them together, you get something that might be able to know what it can do for you.

so from all these doctors, only TWO, are apparently the only ones that knows exactly how HBOT can help the situation and who is suitable for the treatment.
I got to these doctors through the two (out of 3) HBO clinics around me.
the clinics here will not treat you unless you go through these doctors that are known to know how HBO really works and if the treatment is suitable for you.

the first doctor I tried to reach is overseas for another month and a half.
the second one I got his secretary to squeeze me in right before he leaves for a month. lucky me.

so I am going to see him tomorrow. he is a professor actually. he was treating patients with HBOT from a very long time. and he is s also a long time researcher. something to do with the naval forces here as well.

so, I just got the idea, if you have questions and the questions could apply to me as well so I will be able to raise them, shoot, and I'll ask the professor.

I can tell you my first question:

How does a doctor determine if HBOT is suitable to the person or not?

if this professor will say the treatment is suitable for me, I will be staring the treatment in a matter of a week or two. for 20 consecutive days (I think) 5 days a week. I will update daily after I'll (hopefully) begin.
for general knowledge, each time will last 2 hours and will cost me $100.

for those who are afraid of the treatment, I've been told the possible side effects of treatment are very rare. the only thing is that you should pump your ears sometimes to prevent ear damage like ear drum raptures and stuff. they also said the other thing that might happen is seizures. but these are extremely rare and happens to 1-2 persons a year (out of a thousand maybe) in the clinic.

according to this study from 1998:

If the onset of affliction was more than 2 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks:

4% no longer experienced tinnitus,
81.3% observed an intensity decrease
1.2% an intensity increase of their tinnitus condition.
13.5% remained unchanged.

If HBO therapy was administered at a later stage, but still within 3 months following onset of affliction:

7% no longer suffered from tinnitus,
44% reported an intensity decrease, a similar percentage noticed no change and
5% a temporary deterioration of their tinnitus condition.

If the onset of affliction was longer than 3 months up to several years,
33% of the cases reported an intensity decrease of tinnitus, (cool fact)
60-62% reported no change and
4-7% noticed a temporary intensity increase

In conclusion, it may be deduced that HBO therapy is recommended and warranted in those patients with idiopathic sudden deafness, acoustic trauma or noise-induced hearing loss within 3 months after onset of disorder.

so you can see the numbers are not so much against you, I would definitely take the chance and do it.



I'll post an update after the meeting with the professor.

All the best to you all,

Roy.

 

Joe
Thanx for the info; have you noticed any improvement? I'm interested/curious.

Thanx again

Mark

 

I pondered long and hard and decided to try it. I am in my seventh week now . I went to the Hospital where the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is administered and asked for explenations since I was very afraid. I am still afraid, but a bit less.

I'm having my first hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment (dive) today. I'll let you guys know how it went.

 

Has anybody tried this treatment with T that has lasted longer than 3months?

 

I would be interested in knowing if there are any reliable and verifiable studies published in any legitimate scientific journals concluding that HBO is more effective than placebo for tinnitus of any duration - recent onset or otherwise. To my current understanding specifically for tinnitus HBO is a bunch of wishful thinking and voodoo - but I am trying to keep an open mind and would love to see a study attesting to its efficacy.

Stephen Nagler

 

Update:

I've met the professor.
I took another hearing test on my own opinion. in the last 3 days i felt my hearing in the left ear was dulled. so I wanted to have the most updated data before I meet him.
so it turns out I have a small deterioration. and it's just chance that I wanted to get to the professor to treat the tinnitus with HBO but instead I got a new course of steroids (second time). so my own treatment right now is as follows:
1. steroids by mouth. for 11 days, tapered down. starting 60mg a day of predinsone.
if it doesn't work:
2. Intratympanic steroids (injections to the ear) with HBOT or without.
if it doesn't work then:
3. HBOT.

I've learned from him that tinnitus that appears secondary to sudden hearing loss is much different than tinnitus that appears with no known cause (idiopathic).

Tinnitus that appears after hearing loss:Tinnitus in this case is secondary and a symptom of the sudden hearing loss and is directly caused by it. treating the hearing loss will give a good chance of getting rid of the tinnitus (prof' said). it is a case where the sounds are like phantom. The brain makes up these sounds since there is something wrong with the cells that are responsible to some specific frequencies. Usually in sudden hearing loss caused by noise exposure- the loss is on the higher frequencies. (mine is between 4000-8000), after the first steroids treatment I had, my hearing was almost normal but with T, and then after more than a week there was a deterioration. One possible cause for this might be that the problem I had/have didn't had to be on the range of the hearing test. It means that the test goes up to 8000hz and humans hear up to 20000hz (as if) and the problem could be on a high frequency like 10000hz or 15000hz and that's why a hearing test could show that everything is back to normal while it's not. He also told me to avoid caffeine for now in any case since it shrinks the blood vessels and would harm blood flow through the ear.
He also said that oxygen is good for the ear and help to cure it from the sudden deafness and on the contrary, lack of oxygen is harmful, people with sudden deafness that need to fly have to wear oxygen masks since the oxygen levels in the aircraft are low and they could put their ears health at risk. Same goes for high altitudes on land like mountains (as in 2000 meters and up.)
He also said that loud noises or music is a big no no. But low-medium volume is even good for me. Probably because it stimulates the damages cells(?).
he also said that there are guidelines, more specifically called:
(the) "American academy of otolaryngology head and neck surgery guidelines".
unfortunately there are not guidelines for treating tinnitus that began with no hearing loss.
but the guidelines for treating sudden hearing loss are here.

For Tinnitus not caused by sudden hearing loss: unfortunately friends he said it is much harder to treat. So I've asked if HBOT can help and he said there was a study that it helps 25% of the patients but it is not clear why or why the tinnitus is caused. 25% is 1 to 4, I would have taken this chance if I was in that position. He said that even if the chance is low and it's not a conventional treatment, it doesn't say it doesn't work. It just means it doesn't work for most of the people. but there are no guidelines for treating tinnitus with HBO.
So if there is a good chance. Again, if it was me? I wouldn't hesitate to try.

A lesson I've learned is: Don't diagnose yourself too, or be too certain of your medical situation. It could be a lot different than what you believe. A consultation with an ENT specialist is always the best thing to do when you still don't know your final situation. And the best thing you can do is look for an ENT doctor that is also an HBO specialist. These are hard to find but might be found.
I am not a doctor but i think there is a need to take an MRI test to rule out acoustic neuroma. Which is a little thing that sits on the end of the nerve in the ear. and I think its treatable.
In any case I will give you updates if I'll get into HBOT or if my T will change by the steroids.

Good luck for everyone!

Roy.

 

You probably would know better than I, Dr. Nagler. But in my research as I was considering HBOT, the answer came up: no. There is no serious, impartial research that proves this therapy works on tinnitus, although it does for other things, primarily wound care. But I found several freestanding facilities in my area (some with no MD on staff) happy to treat me -- for hundreds of dollars per session. I say no thanks, at least until there is more evidence.

 

Keep us posted, @JohnDoe. I remain open to all reasonable strategies.

 

Another thing I would like to add as a thought of a very interesting possible situation Ive mentioned earlier.

as the professor I've been to said, it is likely that people get ISSNHL (idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, also known as Sudden deafness or SHL- Sudden hearing loss) but it is on higher (or lower?) frequencies than the average person usually hears.
The range of the hearing test usually goes up to 8000hz and humans hear up to 20000hz (not really) and the problem could be on a higher frequency like 10000hz or 15000hz and that's why a hearing test couldn't show sudden hearing loss on these frequencies since it only goes up to 8000hz.

this is why after I ended a course of steroids the audiology test showed my hearing was almost back to normal but I still had Tinnitus. that means there was probably still a loss on higher frequencies that the test didn't reveal. and after a few days there was a deterioration that another audiology test did show (on frequencies that it can, mine was 4000-8000).

that means there is a loss in hearing on higher frequencies than the person could hear and it is not felt by the person either. this loss of hearing can cause tinnitus. and if was treated with steroids at the beginning of it, they might have been able to cure it, but if a person cannot hear these frequencies in the first place, there is no way to test for them in an audiology test or the person will feel the loss by himself. furthermore, no doctor will subscribe steroids to someone who has a case that looks just like idiopathic tinnitus (of unknown cause) for this little chance.
the question that arises here is: if there is a case of unknown cause of tinnitus, how do doctors rule out the possibility for sudden hearing loss if the audiology test will not reveal a loss on higher frequencies? the prof' I've been to said they don't know what causes this kind of idiopathic (of unknown cause) Tinnitus. I find this interesting.

just a note: you can take any good hearing person and test if s/he can hear these higher frequencies using this tone generator and you'll see hearing is limited (you should play the sound through a device that is capable of getting to these high frequencies like high quality headphones.)
you can also let other people hear what your Tinnitus sounds like using this tone generator.

how all this relates to HBO? (which is why I am posting all this stuff here, I hope it's appropriate but I believe it is)
again I am not a doctor but I think that the reason that HBOT would be able to treat some of the people (25% according to one study said the prof') is that these patients might had sudden hearing loss on frequencies that they couldn't hear even before the sudden hearing loss. and that cause the brain to produce phantom sounds (Tinnitus) and even after a long while HBOT might help to cure this situation and reduce the intensity and/or change the pitch of the sound.

these are just my thoughts. would appreciate if you'll respond with your thoughts to the issues I brought up.

Thanks and good luck to everyone..

Roy.