Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Where do people from the UK go to get this treatment? I'm from Manchester but I am prepared to travel anywhere to give this a try. I started with the devils noise in my ears just over a week a go. Thanks Steven

 

Hi all. New member but have had tinnitus since the age of ten, am 41 now. I have found out that when I go on long flights (ten hours +++) my tinnitus is gone for two to three weeks. I have a hum in my right ear. This hum is totally gone after these long flights and then slowly starts to come back after two to three weeks. I can also stop the hum if I click my teeth together or tap the right side of my head with my fingertips... I can also start the humming in the ear with the same teethclicking or tapping with fingers... Sounds crazy I know... But that's how it is...

I have of course told this to my doctor and several specialists I've met through the years but I only get "hmmm, interesting". My father in law used to work as a engineer for the medical branch in 3M and they did lots of research in tinnitus and found out that there are many types of tinnitus and they worked on protoypes of earplugs you could wear during night that created either over or underpressure in the ear during night so you could be tinnitusfree during the day.

The last specialist I saw took his time to ask a hospital nearby if I could use the hyperbaric chamber to see if it could help my tinnitus. I am positive that it would help but it would have to be for a whole night... An hour here or hour there would probably not help me... (Short flights does not help my tinnitus...) I got a letter today where they declined my specialist question due to the fact that there were no research available suggesting HBO helped tinnitus...

Anyways, long post here. Thanks for reading and I would love to hear what other people think about this. Maybe there are others out there with the same type of tinnitus as me?

 

You should go to a private (pay out of your own pocket) HBOT center. Try it out.

 

No research? The UHMS (Undersea & Hyperbarics medical society) has approved the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a treatment of inner ear disorders. They've been using HBO in Germany and Japan to treat tinnitus for 30 years now. Maybe call them up and hit them with a few of those facts? Ignorant pricks.

Also, I highly doubt they'll put you in a chamber for a whole day or night. There is no toilet in the chamber, you'd probably become restless for that many hours, and depending on the chamber itself they'd might have you take breaks every so often (every 2 hrs or so) to let you breathe normal atmosphere to make sure you don't suffer of oxygen poisoning.

More importantly, an HBO chamber is pressurized, equivalently as you diving into water, whereas as an aircraft, during ascent, the cabin looses pressure, so an HBO chamber would not be what you're looking for. But, luckily the solution for you is much simpler; spend a day in the mountains! Thinner atmosphere, less pressure; just like being in an aircraft cabin. Many people misunderstand this.

 

I can't afford the HBOT in the US and I'm handicapped from hearing loss and have bad speech comprehension

 

Hello there!

How many have had considerable success with HBOT?

Thank you,

Katarina

 

If your T is due to acoustic trauma then HBO is effective and has been used in Europe and Japan for many years now.

 

How quickly after acoustic injury does HBO have to be initiated for it to be of any benefit? I'm sure immediately afterword is ideal, but is a week, two weeks, a month too late?

 

I think it's three months...but the sooner the better.
www.tinnitusformula.com/library/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-for-tinnitus/#.VpHvcYITHqA

 

That's kind of an old research study, but it's better than nothing. Can someone wear earplugs during HBO?

Has anyone here on tinnitustalk had any success with it?

 

Earplugs? I guess.. But you may want to keep your outer ear clear of obstruction for the compression and decompression. The chamber isn't really very loud.

 

From my understanding the hair cells and neuro connections die off fairly quickly following acoustic trauma. If it's initiated before they die off it could help, but who knows how short this time frame is. Once they are dead I don't think HBO or prednisone will help.

I wish I knew this before my injury.

 

Hello! Please advise: can Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy make Hyperacusis worse? I have heard that it is quite noisy inside the chamber and you can can hear your breathing - through the mask - extra loud. I am tempted to try it (as a treatment of my tinnitus) but I am anxious about the noise levels (since I also suffer from Hyperacusis). I can wear my Peltor ear muffs in there but I am still worried, especially since the breathing sound - and oxygen pumping in - are sounds within me, not outside! Any views on this?

Thank you in advance!

 

@Katarina

Only loud part of the "dive" is the beginning when they pressure the tank. During that time you can use ear muffs/plugs etc. or just plug your ears with fingers as I did. After that you put the mask on and it's pretty much silent after that.

The chamber I was in had 3 different types of masks and only one of them produced some sort of sound. I'd describe it "Darth Vader breathing" but even it was the loudest, it wasn't even nearly loud enough to make me feel uncomfortable with my mild hyperacousis.

As general comment: I did HBOT at 5 weeks mark. 5 sessions in consecutive days. It did nothing for me and tbh, I've never met anyone how has gotten positive results regarding T.

It may save your hearing to some extent when done right after acoustic trauma.

If I had to decide again, I'd invest the money (800 euros) I put in HBOT rather to LLLT even tho I'm pretty skeptic about it aswell.

 

i have difficulty popping my right ear, would HBOT pressurization mess with my ear? I think i have ssnhl because my right ear has a slight fullness to it still.

 

It could be a problem if you are unable to equalize.

 

Have you med "tympanometry" (measure of the pressure in your middle ear ?). My ENT said me the sensation of fullness is one of the symptoms of neuronal disorder (with hyperacusis & T) cause my ears seems perfect.

 

This is the Manchester place - http://www.tmstc.org/

I'm planning on going to the one in Leeds, I've had tinnitus for just over a month now and the sooner I initiate treatment the better. I've no idea how effective it'll be but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

 

HBOT causes middle ear trauma and leads to ET dysfunction.

one of the downsides of HBOT. I did 6 sessions and felt it worked but by the 5th sessions my ears were plugged afterwards. not sure if I want to continue at this point

 

No. It may cause middle ear barotrauma if you have ET dysfunction already. If you have no issues equilibrating air pressure there is not going to be any problems.

 

many studies say at least 40-50% of people undergoing HBOT suffer from Barotrauma.

even among people who can auto-inflate, barotrauma still occurs.

the feeling of stuffiness in your ear afterwards is a type of barotrauma. I'm just afraid it will chronically damage my eustachian tube.

 

Hi @Boy Helios, did you stopped your HBOT treatment? I did once session and I had to cancell my next two because I almost couldn't UnPop my ears. I hope you are going good.

 

Not in Japan this is not at all recommended by ENTS

 

I did 8 sessions six days after the acoustic trauma. No adverse effects. No benefit. Only boredom. In Italy it is paid by the italian sanity if you make the request with an ENT. For that I tried.

 

I only did six sessions and stopped due to my ear getting plugged aka barotrauma.

it caused T in both of my ears as both ears were plugged for well over a month. But initially after 3-4 sessions it cured my hyperacusis. I also think long term it was good. If people want to do it they need to make sure they correctly equalize their ear pressure.

I would HBOT in the beginning just to get the recovery process going, but the risk of barotrauma is very high and it takes a long time to recover.

 

hey guys don't know why this thought come up in my mind
I have weak ear nerve due to low blood circulation ENT said if blood flow restored in auditory nerve my tinnitus and hearing loss might be reversed I have snhl 50% in both ear and T
I lost my hearing by time so it's has been years since it started but tinnitus started just 3 months ago
one ent said HBOT might help u

I'm thinking to give it shot

any suggestions ?

regards !!

 

6 weeks since T began...snhl..right ear- 45db at 4k - 9th day did 14 day pregn taper - 40 db improvement 2k...then did pregn injection..no improvement...Question: has anyone done HBOT in California?
If so, where and any comments...greatly appreciate any input as I am looking at options within the 90 day period ..also, if you have a place in the US outside Cal you feel strongly about, then would also like to hear about it...


Thanks!

 

I went to my first hyperbaric therapy today. I have teriible tinnitus yet the thing that gives me anxiety is hyperacusis. Came home relaxed no hyperacusis. Oh my god it feels good. No pain upon sound. Ive signed up for 12 secession. Ill put my two cents in when Im done. The bad side is its expensive and it lasts for around 5 months. Another good point is it lessons the anxiety.

 

Hello together! I am new in this unfortunately "unhappy" community :/ I have TT since 2 months in one ear, hearing loss is about 20-30db only from 9.5-10,5 khz on left ear, rest and other ear is completly fine.

Reason unknown, maybe Motocycle wind noise because started one day after motorcycling BUT I used hearing protection.

Tried all stuff from Pentoxifyllin, Injections with Cortison, Gingko, Magnesium, and some other stuff but no real relief yet.

I am thinking about HBO as last option to get rid of this annoying 10kHz fuzz.

My main question :

Has anybody tried the HBO (in the early phase) and checked the influence on hearing loss afterwards ??

Because I think this is the only option to really determine if HBO is having the positive effect it is meant to have to get more oxygen into hearing cells to regenerate them - whitout any personal and psychological influence.


Also for other tipps what do in the last month of "official acute stadium" or for such a seldom very high frequency 10 khz Tinnitus I would be happy !

Thanks and relief to us all!

 

The hyperacusis comes and goes.....I still have 6 chamber sessions.