I'm Afraid My Tinnitus Is a Symptom of Me Losing My Hearing — Feeling a Bit Helpless

Hi All!

I'm feeling a bit helpless and I just wish I didn't have this. I'm scared of this being a symptom of me losing my hearing since I have already subnormal hearing. Normally I would go to a doctor and ask but at this time is not possible and it's making me feel really anxious. Also, I'm leaving abroad away from my family. I think I have been with this tinnitus at least five days (not much, I know)... but how can I know if it's here to stay? I guess I'm just seeking for some nice words and virtual hugs.

Best of all,

Laura

 

Hi Laura,

Unfortunately nobody can tell you any odds if you don't know your root cause. Tinnitus is often due to hearing loss. What causes your "subnormal hearing"?

 

Hi GregCA,

I was just born like that I think. I sometimes had temporal tinnitus, for minutes or seconds, normally associated with loud sounds exposure...

 

Have you ever had a hearing test done?
If so, are you comfortable posting your audiogram here? (you can blank out any personal info)

 

Yes, many times. This is the last one. There hasn't been any change since the one before this one (I don't have it with me now tho).

Many thanks.

 

It looks like you mostly have high frequency hearing loss, and unfortunately, at the moment, there is no cure for that. This could well be your root cause - it is quite a common root cause: as we age, we lose our high frequency hearing (presbycusis).

Does your tinnitus sound like a high pitch noise? or a low rumble?

Have you ever tried hearing aids?

 

Yeah... stupid ear.

What do you mean how do my tinnitus sounds like?

No, I haven't. Mainly because I've been told I don't need. Do you think that would help with the tinnitus?

 

I mean it literally: what does your tinnitus sound like? You do have tinnitus, right? That's a sound that has no external source, yet you perceive it. What does that sound like? (there are variants)

Quite possibly. I have similar losses to yours, and I find that my hearing aid helps. It's worth a try, IMO.

 

F-X322 will probably help her.

 

Hi there, sorry to jump on the thread. Is there a meaning to the tinnitus? I.e., if it’s low does that mean there is hearing loss in normal levels or if it high does that mean there is loss in the high frequencies?

 

Oh ok, I thought you were referring to the letter T hahahah. I would describe it as a sort of mixed pitch. I think the baseline is high pitch but then it kinda varies. Normally when I have just woken up it's quite high in volume.

Ok, I will ask for hearing aids.

Thanks for replying!

 

Your hearing is not too bad. Anything above the horizontal line in the audiogram is considered to be normal, so you just have some hearing loss in high frequencies, that are not so important to understand speech.

Tinnitus is somehow linked to hearing loss, so the dip in your audiogram at high frequencies may have to do with your tinnitus. Sometimes tinnitus comes and goes, so it may fade in time, if you are lucky.

Best luck!

 

Hi Juan!
thanks for your comment, it's really hopeful I hope you're doing well.

All the best,

Laura

 

Hi Lucy,

I don't really know :/ Hopefully some of the people here know

All the best,

Laura

 

They are actually quite important to understand speech: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5634744/

Excerpt:
The loss of high-frequency audibility contributes to poorer speech recognition and increased listening effort in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) compared to listeners with normal hearing (NH) (Hicks and Tharpe 2002; Rakerd et al, 1996; Stelmachowicz et al, 2001). The limited high-frequency gain available in hearing aids (5–6 kHz: Dillon et al, 2001), herein referred to as restricted bandwidth (RBW), combined with the drop in speech level and increased hearing loss with higher frequencies means that listeners with SNHL still may exhibit poorer audibility in the higher frequencies despite using amplification (Kimlinger et al, 2015). Poor high-frequency audibility is more problematic for children than for adults because children require greater audibility of high-frequency sounds than adults in order to obtain equivalent speech recognition (Stelmachowicz et al, 2001, 2007).

 

The story of my life haha

 

I have read a bunch of articles that say so, but it is not my personal experience. I talk out of personal experience, having progressed from very good hearing at high frequencies to some hearing loss...

In my personal case I started noticing real trouble when the low frequencies started deteriorating, although they are still within normal hearing thresholds.

On top ot that, ENTs usually say that higher frequencies are not so important for speech recognition. I don't know why they say that, but that seems to be the more widespread opinion or belief...

 

Yeah, in my personal experience, when I'm in a group of people it is very hard to follow the conversation, not so much when is one on one but still... I will ask my ENT if I could get a hearing aid. How I always was told that it wouldn't make any real difference I never asked more but now that you say that it has worked for you, I'll ask.

Thanks