Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

@Paul201 it could be totally gone for one day. even if I'll plug my ears. and the next day could be loud.
sometimes I have a few days of noise. waking up in the morning like my head is in a microwave. but sometimes it's very quite and I could find a few hours of complete silence as I said. it totally varies.
as for the sound, as many do, I have a constant (lower) beeeeeeeeeep and high cricket which goes up and down in loudness and tone, but very high.. somewhere around 13300Hz-15000Hz.

I think every case is different, There could be many causes for T, people also heal spontaneously.
that could have been what happened to me while I was doing HBOT but I if it would've happened again I would've done HBOT again. it was VERY loud and changing like crazy before my major improvement.

as for the cricket, I found out that if I could suppress anything, it's the cricket. even if it's not completely, I can mess with it. by playing a sound exactly as my own cricket sound in low volume, varying the pitch and loudness of the played sound I learned what could effect how. I'm experimenting on myself like that for months and I still think there is a magic sound formula to sync the neurons firing and I am not onto it yet. maybe one day.. try www.generalfuzz.com/acrn (neuromodulation)

all that said, a few other things should be mentioned. as I always say.. read the guidelines for sudden hearing loss.
anybody with sudden T SHOULD TAKE AN MRI scan to rule out acoustic neuroma (Vestibular schwannoma) and to take hearing tests to verify if they do have sudden hearing loss.
any major (10db-15db I would say for at least 2 frequencies) difference between the ears should point that you do.
and if you do, don't hesitate to take HBOT as it's an option in the guidelines for treating SHL.

one could also get a benefit from a medication as Gabapentin and some from Clonazepam.

and a general note for beginners.. DON'T PANIC!!! THERE IS A LOT TO TRY BEFORE YOU SHOULD!
panic could make your condition worst. you have to rest your body and brain.

and always keep in mind: spontaneous recovery can occur. sometimes it takes at least 6 months from onset.

 

@RoyZ thanks for the info, that's interesting the way your t varies so much day to day, from gone/almost gone to quite loud (is it noise exposure related?). I have a more or less constant "powerline" type of sound in my left ear with a higher pictched "crickets" tones in my right, sort of going higher then lower and fading into the distance type of way. I thought it may have been because my right ear was closest to the loud speaker but now Im not so sure, this t sound is quite common and if that's the case instead of thinking about how each individual ear is damaged by the sound im hearing, I think it may be something central that's generating the noises somehow and if one clears up then both may, maybe the sounds are linked and not each coming from a left/right ear

I only became aware of hbot this week and as of now im thinking I will not have it done since im 12 weeks in and past the date of most benefit, even thought it seems 30% do benefit post 3 months. I find it strange that a therapy that seems to work for some people is so rarely mentioned in many countries and why havnt there been more studies to back up current studies? I find the whole thing a bit odd since many of the quoted studies are quite old, its not like this is a new idea

 

@Paul201 I had a constant powerline+cricket before the improvement I got while getting HBOT (either because of it or not), it was much louder than today but it was also the beginning of T so it varied a lot.
I now have the same but at lower loudness.

My "T Doctor" is very advanced and he recommends people to get HBOT even up to 1 year. and sometimes even more.
I heard stories about people that had a benefit from it after a few years. they say it might be due to the fact that there could be some brain damage associated with the T and that HBOT helps to heal it. I wouldn't go as far as a few years but up to 6 months I wouldn't even think about it, I would go and get HBOT.

There could be many reasons that cause T, one of them is some sort of brain damage. another thing my doctor send people to do is a SPECT scan, it can show if you have any kind of damage and can tell the doctor if some kind of brain medicine or HBOT could help you. but that's not a standard and many MD's don't think this scan is meaningful (as some think about HBOT as well).

among other things I am also a guitar player (not as a profession). I have 6 guitars. before I got T i wanted to get a bass guitar so I could make my own bass lines and record them (even though I am not a bass player).
and this is how I got T. I didn't play it loud at all. I am generally not playing anything loud.
I believe it's the very low frequencies that caused vibrations and other effect on my ears that caused damage to my cochlea. as my doc believe my problem comes from it.
I also noticed that when I played the lowest A note on the bass guitar, that's the a frequency that causes resonance and shakes my house windows. if that what it does to the windows, what did it do to my ears?!
I had many quite days but couldn't resist grabbing the bass guitar about a week ago, I played it amplified but super low, at the loudness you listen to a TV set. and again immediately after a few minutes of playing I got into long time of loud T. it's loud now as I am writing these lines. but I don't really care, cause I know it will be quieter one day. if not tomorrow then in a week if not in a week than in a month.

I could see your cause was a subwoofer I actually play this bass guitar through a subwoofer and that just made my T worst last week but when I originally got T it I was playing it on headphones as well and that was the cause I believe.

but in my specific case I also have some physical things happening, like spasms in the ear, and Clonazepam helps me with that a lot and can also bring me quite, but I didn't take it for a while. I had to go back to the doc to get a new prescription and I am too busy and not desperate enough. (good bless).

as a rule of thumb you should know that in most cases it's until 6 months you can treat the T cause with HBOT.
after that it settles down and you can mostly only bring relief in some ways unless it heals by its own.

but if there is sudden hearing loss as most people have, especially noise induced,
first thing to do is steroids and ASAP (starting to take them no later than 4 weeks from onset), while getting hearing tests before and after the steroids course (most preferably test that go up to 20KHz) most of the time the damage is there iin the higher frequencies but many MD's don't think the higher frequencies test is meaningful (not my doc) and not me. I got damage right there in the higher frequencies tht would have never shown in an ordinary up to 8KHz hearing test.

second is HBOT, it could help any brain damage to heal, and I could help the inner ear to heal since there also something with oxygen levels in ear, I don't remember exactly about this one.
and no matter what is is in your body HBOT should make your body heal faster.
people with wounds get HBOT (spider bytes as well) people brain damage, after strokes and for a wide variety of other issues.

third is the medicines I mentioned in my previous post with or without a SPECT scan and a doctor that knows what it means and what to do with it to try to help you.

fourth is playing with sounds, trying to find if pink/white noise helps to suppress the T is also important, I heard that on some people it works pretty well and gives them some amount of time of quite, which could be not much but when T drives you nuts and you can lower it down it's so sweet.. the person feels in control and anxiety stress and rage levels drops down drastically and immediately.
I would also experiment with playing the same level of your T to yourself and playing with the pitch and loudness as I mentioned in my previous post. that gives me a little short temporary change sometimes.

sorry my posts are so long.. I just have to get it out

 

@RoyZ yes it was bass for a subwoofer that damaged my hearing, will organise a hearing test sometime in the next 2 weeks, im sure there must be some hearing damage, even though I think I have regained some hearing sharpness since the beginning but not all. T is more or less the same though, I would call it moderate t, but bothers me a lot at night but I can ignore it pretty well daytime, but I hear it. I will ask the audiologist about bass and its affects, I think I know the answer anyway. That's unfortunate you were playing at low and not very loud volumes and you still got t, my bass was from a movie and loud with a 12 inch powerful sub. I got too close to it being stupid and boom, t arrived. Hope your t goes back down again. Will think about that hbot and ask a few people who should know about ears and make a decision. Regards. Looks like it cant do any harm anyway.

 

I think it's worth a go based on the evidence I have seen. I think the risks are very low, and there should be a professional in the dive with you. Main thing is to just equalise your ears as much as required. Even if there is a slim chance of improvement, I think it's worth a go.

 

@RoyZ what pressure depth do you go up to in your hbot treatment, today was my 3rd month with T, I found a place that has hbot so I will give it a go next week.
Is there a recommended pressure to treat T?

 

I believe around 40 feet.

 

@Matt01 @Mo_Mo Keep in mind the people (they were nurses in my case) take these dives a few times a week for years.
it is indeed very important to equalize the pressure in your ears. I am talking about constant non-stop equalizing while "descending" (not really descending but elevating the pressure level). if your ear/s left not equalized you could suffer from ear pain and can cause damage to them. therefor if anyone is feeling pain during the "descending" they tell the nurses about it and they stop descending until you think you are good to continue.
other than that you should eat before the treatment as if you don't your blood sugar level could drop and you could pass out (I was pretty dizzy once eating just 2 hours before the treatment) they say you should it something, even if it's just a slice of bread.
and other than that, I've seen dozens of different people and little children taking the treatment with no adverse effects.

The therapeutic pressure of which HBOT is been administrated for many (if not all) types of illnesses is 2 Bars.
it's like being 10 meters under water which the pressure there is 2 Bars.
on the ground at sea level the atmospheric pressure is 1 bar. hence the name "Hyper"-"Baric".
I am pretty sure whoever researched HBOT done all the necessary tests to find out what is the optimal pressure level at which the body heels itself better and faster. and I would believe it's the standard pressure level for administrating HBOT around the world.

only divers with decompression illness (DCI) needs the pressure level to be matched to the depth they were staying at and slowly and gradually releasing the pressure.

 

I am beginning to think this is tentatively having some improvement for me. On a broader point, the more I read about possible supplements, sound therapy, devices, etc, I honestly think there are not too many things that can actually cure tinnitus. If you think about oxygen, it is required for healing tissue in the body, for that reason, there is medical backing for this treatment. I am sort of at a loss why we don't have much wider trials in more countries to confirm this? Maybe it's the high cost.

The only practical difficulty in starting this early, is that you really need to see an ENT and have a MRI scan and other tests before you embark on any off piste treatment, as you need to first rule out things like an acoustic neuroma. Therefore, I do think in practice it's very difficult to start this inside about 8 weeks.

 

it's best started within a few days after onset, sooner the better

 

Yes, but in practice I don't see how anybody can do this. If you suddenly start with tinnitus, you really should see a specialist first and also have an MRI scan etc. I started this around 8 weeks. Also, it's worth noting that whilst people say you should attend consecutive days, the people I have spoken to say it's more about number of times rather than consecutive days.

 

My T is, I suppose, idiopathic -- not induced by noise trauma. Do the data suggest that HBOT will do any good for me? T started about three weeks ago.

 

I Started getting T almost 3 weeks ago now I've started doing Hbot I've only done two so far and its only open 4 days a week so I'm gonna try and have it 4 times a week for the next couple of months or so.

Its only costs £10 ($15) not had any improvement so far and I've still not seen an ENT thank you NHS they'll be in contact by the 30th to give me an appointment that will no doubt be weeks away too.

 

Interesting.. I was thinking of doing hbo therapy. Where are you having your therapy done (company name, location) and is it £10 a session or every week?

 

@Gon where are you getting the Hbot done? That is seriously cheap.

 

I done 2 sessions first one 21, second one 12 times and i didn't notice nothing. First one was in 3 months after i got tinnitus, second one 20 days after worsening

 

I read an article about someone who was having hbot for their MS and results were noted after a month of treatment so perhaps you need to do more than 1 session to see results such as nerve healing.

 

Its a Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre in Rotherham UK its run by volunteers they let non multiple sclerosis people use it as long as they can fit you in.

Its £10 for the first session of the week then £6 each for the rest with a one off £15 membership fee for the year.

 

i finished with it june last year, no results after 6 months

plus some people got worse because it put you under high pressure so eardrums got damaged or hissing air out made them more problem

 

Hi!
I think I got my tinnitus from sawing floor panels without proper ear protection in January. Interesting thing was that I did not notice anything unusual until 24 h hours. First symptom was funny echoing sound but there was no tinnitus. Tinnitus started on the 3. Morning and I was not concerned until it had lasted 1 week. I googled different tinnitus forums and went to doctor. I got cortisone and Betaserc. In addition I used nearly all possible dietary supplements that help preventing tinnitus.
After 2 weeks I decided to try HBOT. I went to clinic and nurse said that my tinnitus will be gone. I was surprised for that kind of optimism because I had read that it is very unlikely to tinnitus fade away that easily. I could not hear tinnitus when I was in the chamber but it always come back. I took 5 treatment just to be sure that I use every possible way to help preventing tinnitus to become chronic.
I still have tinnitus but I am vigorously searching new ways to treat it. Looks like many treatment work best when done in early phase. Maybe HBOT should be done in coulple of days from tinnitus start.

 

Many say its best to start HBOT within 3 months and to have like 10-15 treatments its cheap for me so I'm gonna keep doing it.

I'm gonna be seeing an ENT about signing up for the AM 101 too they only want people for within 3 months now.

 

I'm going to try hbot starting in two days. I've had t and h for 6 weeks now.

 

how much are you paying for it? how many sessions will you have?

 

Don't know yet. Have to talk with the doc. I'll post the recommendation when they suggest one. I can start the same day. I think cost is high though, $170 for 1.5 hours....but this is bay area California. Everything's expensive.

 

I went for consult. Nice people...but got a bit of a 'this is a sham' feeling for tinnitus. Plus, the cost was redonkulous...$350/per. No go for me.

I want to expand a bit further on the HBOT experience I had, err, or almost had. Firstly, I'm an engineer and scientist and an ex born again christian (now athiest). This has led me to be highly skeptical of anything which does not have either 1) a logical explanation of why an input leads to a particular output, 2) sufficient, undeniable evidence of the output based on the input.

The staff were very friendly, and all tried their best to look very medically professional. I believe there were 5 people at the clinic. A couple were EMTs (something which takes perhaps a few weeks of classroom training and to be 18 years of age). The main doctor was a Doctor of osteopathy. She 'examined' me. She was absolutely gorgeous, about 40, and very friendly. The younger staff were friendly good looking folks also. Her examination consisted of some irrelevant questions, testing my reflexes, and checking my nose...telling me I have allergies (which I know).

Then she gave me some sort of mystical cranial massage. I believe its called cranial sacral, part of the Osteopathy specialty. It involved nothing more than placing her hands in various places on my head and applying a little pressure. While I quite enjoyed having her beautiful hands rubbing my head , my "bullsh!t" meter was going off. She even told me that she had cured tinnitus in a couple of people with just this technique.

Afterward, I was woozy from being massaged, and felt like I needed a cigarette as her perfume was still lingering in my nose. But, I knew then that this was total, and utter BS of the most ridiculous kind. The only thing I wanted was HBOT. When they did get around to offering HBOT, it was $350 per session.

Long and short of it is, this place full of good-looking men and women, located in a posh part of town, caters to people with more money than sense. They'll gladly complement you, laugh with you, and show some questionable studies. But, what they won't do is help with your Tinnitus or Hyperacusis in a scientific way, aside from perhaps the placebo affect.

The 'doctor' asked me if I was still with my girlfriend who caused this nonsense, I regrettably said yes. I would have liked to have exchanged massages, free of charge of course

 

Hello everyone , I've had tinnitus for 8 days now and I'm starting with HBOT TOMORROW I will keep u updated

 

How many sessions have you booked? How expensive is it?

Thanks for updates.

 

I've booked 15 sessions I did 2 already , I live in Dubai it's quite expensive here it's about 350 dollars per session , so I've payed around 4,900 dollars for it , but I must say its worth it and they've told me it's reallly help full and could cure tinnitus or reduce it significantly good luck

 

I just did my first session a couple hours ago. Not sure what the depth was, paid about $65 for an hour.

I have had high pitched tinnitus for about 4 weeks now, not sure if I should continue the HBOT as I'm scared ear popping from the pressure might cause damage.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I had an MRI and saw an ENT, no one mentioned anything about a Eustachian tube issue...

 

Today is my 8th session of HBOT. It helps a little for any one who is planning to try it , u can ask me more if you want