Is Tympanometry Safe?

I have H & T and I was wondering if tympanometry is safe.

"Next, they’ll place a probe-type device in your ear canal. It may feel a little uncomfortable, and you’ll hear loud tones as the device begins to take measurements. This test changes the air pressure in your ear to make the eardrum move back and forth. Measurements of the movement of your eardrum are recorded in a tympanogram."

How loud are the tones? Will the procedure make T worse?

How about other tests? Hearing test beeps are loud as hell...how about any other tests they do?

Is there any real good reason to even perform them..it's not like they are going to be able to make T/H go away or what

 

Not loud at all. I had an MRI with 30dB earplugs in and that was still many times louder than tympanometry. Oddly, there is another post that thinks theirs may have been made worse by tympanometry, but it made no difference at all to mine.

I guess you suffer with pretty severe hyperacusis. My hearing comes back as "normal", so I can hear most of them very clearly and I don't regard the louder ones as particularly loud - even though I do suffer hyperacusis. The whole point is to see how quietly you can hear, so there is no need for them to start out loudly. Perhaps you could ask that it starts at 60 or 70 dBA?

It's a good question. I suppose if you have had these tests before and they were normal and you have no reason to suspect a change, then maybe there isn't a point. However, I do know someone that suffers with tinnitus as a consequence of severely notched hearing loss and whenever he puts his hearing aid in, the tinnitus almost vanishes, as his auditory system is no longer putting so much gain into those frequencies.

Tympanometry is also pretty useless at identifying all but the most severe of middle ear issues. Based on my symptoms I was diagnosed with ETD by 2 different doctors, but on both occasions the tympanometry came back as within range of normal. Effectively, I don't have a middle ear filled with fluid, so the gummy and narrowed tubes don't show up - for some people, it just doesn't work.

Taken from the NHS research paper Interventions for adult Eustachian tube dysfunction: a systematic review:

"Eustachian tube dysfunction may occur when the mucosal lining of the tube is swollen, or does not open or close properly. It can occur after the start of a cold and other nose, sinus, ear and throat infections. If the tube is dysfunctional, symptoms such as muffled hearing, pain, tinnitus, reduced hearing, a feeling of fullness in the ear or problems with balance may occur. Long-term ETD has been associated with damage to the middle ear and the eardrum. Complications include otitis media with effusion (glue ear), middle ear atelectasis (retraction of the eardrum) and chronic otitis media. The precise function and mechanisms of the Eustachian tube, the underlying causes of dysfunction and the broader problems associated with middle ear ventilation are complex and not fully understood. From a diagnostic perspective, ETD is also poorly defined.


There are a number of treatment options aimed at improving Eustachian tube function, but there is limited consensus about management."

 

Wow nice that the guy with notched hearing has found a good solution to his problem!

How does ETD affect your life if you don't mind me asking?

 

I have tinnitus that is not caused by ETD anyway - but the 2 were caused at the same time. It is a pretty unusual form as it was caused by a drug allergy (not ototoxicity, but an allergic reaction). Part off it comes and goes with the wind, can be in the middle of my head, or in one ear, so I have no control over when it will be bad, or when it will disappear completely for a few hours - which it does most days at some point, before returning later.

As regards the ETD, this is totally predictable. On days when my sinuses feel open and clear, this does not appear - at all! I can yawn, hiccup, etc. and there is no extra noise in my right ear. However, totally predictably, every single day I wake in the morning with a ring in my right ear and if I yawn it is accompanied by a squelching noise inside my ear. I have isolated this to the physical act of lying down, not being asleep. Alternatively, if I feel stuffy and yawn, hiccup, or belch for that matter, a ringing appears in my right ear. I know exactly when it is going to be bad, even before it can be heard as I can feel the tubes all gumming up. Equally, however, if I pop that ear, or open my jaw widely to open the tubes up (and it pops as it doesn't always), the noise will totally vanish.

Whilst it is depressing that there is nothing they can do for typical tinnitus, I must admit to being shocked at the total lack of any treatment available for something so obviously mechanical.

 

The test was hella loud to me. It made me cringe every time it made a beep. I didn't have any hearing damage but be careful.

 

I had the tympanometry done today and yes, my right ear is ringing super loud now. Louder than it used to. I don't think this procedure is safe for tinnitus sufferers.

 

i think there is a potential to exacerbate tinnitus temporarily but not cause permanent damage.

 

I've had a few and it was far from loud, it not supposed to make any sound actually.

 

Why didn't you search this forum for threads about this procedure before having the procedure?! I remember reading a number of posts where people shared that their T became unbearable/debilitating as a result of tympanometry.

I hope this won't be the case for you. But that was reckless. Also, given the nature of the procedure one doesn't need to know anything about the experiences of other people to know that tympanometry is probably not safe for someone suffering from T.

 

I have had the test done a couple times this year. No change to my tinnitus or hearing. So not sure I’d claim it’s unsafe for hyperacusis and tinnitus sufferers.

It’s like everything from ear wax removal to wearing headphones: some are fine, some are not, and some have severe anxiety.

 

It is like playing the Russian Roulette, surviving, and saying that this is evidence that the Russian Roulette is a safe activity. The fact that some people got shot in the head (had a horrific spike) proves that it is unsafe. The fact that some people were ok, doesn't prove that it is safe.

 

I’ve had this test done twice at two different ENTs so far.
The first one was quite OK, like soft vibrations through my ears.
The second one was extremely loud so I refused to have it in my “bad” ear.
My advice would be that if you suffer from tinnitus and hyperacusis or sound-sensitive tinnitus, have your LDLs first checked or ask your clinician about the loudness of the equipment before doing this test.

 

The tympanometry test really shouldn't be that loud... I've had it done many times with no problems. What kind of equipment are your audiologists using? I decline to take the acoustic reflex test because of the loudness.

 

Ok, I have to confess that I mixed up tympanometry test with an acoustic reflex test. Still the description below seems to imply that it is a bad idea to do this test.

 

No medical test sounds like a good idea based on its description — for anyone. Read the description for a colonoscopy. Yet it’s an important diagnosis test.

As @Alue said, it really should not be loud. Acoustic reflex is louder.

 

My case now. It's 2:02 here and it literally woke me up from sleeping!! Oh my god, it's loud. Not even joking

Why?? I went to a good hospital and wanted the hyperbaric chamber treatment. This ENT INSISTED that I first must have this test done to see how my muscles contract around the stirrup bone so that she can give me a recommendation for the chamber, otherwise, in her words the hyperbaric oxygen therapy could potentialy be dangerous for me (somehing about changing the pressure and inner ear bleeding - losing hearing).

I first refused! I really did. I even walked out of the audiometry room. I said I've got tinnitus and am scared this might make it worse. The nurse then got angry with me, told me to go outside and called the doctor. ENT then goes that I shouldn't really be worried, that it is a safe procedure. She said she's got tinnitus herself and that little kids undergo this procedure and literally REASSURED me that tympanometry will not worsen my T!!

I am not joking btw. This is all true. Well, a screaming loud rininging in my bad ear just woke me up ( 2:42 am here and I'm using the shower sound effect on here full blast to cover up the ringing. Omfg. I was such a retard for EVER allowing myself to do this. They said that the measuring device is constructed in such a way as not to harm anyone!! Otherwise they wouldn't be doing it. Even the nurses said it then... I am not exaggerating one bit. I swear, when I say the whole department calmed me down and reassured me again and again so I finally then agreed and had it done. It took less than 15 secs one ear. Well, I now URGE, absolutely URGE everybody with tinnitus do not play this Russian roulette!

Debilitating - IS the right word here. I'll be rushing to A&E soon now. I hope it is not too late for me. I'm just afraid that all they will be able to really do is to just give me a higher level of Clonazepam or something to put me to sleep. GOD DAMN! I needed this for the Hyperbaric oxygen therapy but it seems that EVERYTHING I do is just a mistake., that makes my conditition even worse

Is this maaad ringing spike EVER gonna go away or is it now there with me for good?? Does anybody have any idea?? Pleeeease

 

I have no idea. This was supposed to be one of the better hospitals about 2 hours driving away from where I live. I only went there because I heard they offer HBOT therapy AND Silverstein MicroWick treatment (steroids right in the. e.)

 

B**CH....

Keep in mind that most spikes are temporary spikes and that temporary spikes can last over a week. So try not to freak out. Chances are you will still be ok.

 

Go and get some prednisone. However, if you tell them why you are having a spike, they won't give you a prednisone prescription. Lie to them that you had to turn off a screaming fire alarm, and that now your T is spiking. Get prednisone as soon as you can. Also take NAC.

 

I have hyperacusis and I never once found the tympanometry test loud or uncomfortable. That's why I wonder if, one people are mixing up that test with the acoustic reflex test, or two the audiologist is using really outdated crappy equipment to perform the test. Thinking back, I have had 4 different audiologist perform the test, and two of them have done it multiple times.

 

It has got now so bad that I'm almost crying overhere. The same pain that kept me awake for weeks upon my onset of the tinnitus. It is extremely loud now in pitch and it seems getting louder I just dont know what tf to do now..

I took 2 pills of Clonazepam right when I got home. I was so scared after the procedure that I went to another hospital emergency psychiatry right away to talk to someone there and ask again, possibly making them call another ENT specialist & ask. ALL they did was "Yeah, if there's pain take more Clonazepam" and that it all 'constructed in my head'

This was btw a university teaching hospital. They just don't give a f*** do they?? Jesus Christ please help

 

They don't know that our ears are more sensitive than that of healthy people. There are no published studies about it. They don't know.

 

I sent an urgent email to my GP. She replied she wants to see me right away in the morning. That we need to do smth about this. WILL definitelly ask about the Prednisone and some strong drugs to make go into coma bec this is horrible

 

Don't panic. If you panic, it will interfere with your healing. The thing is that if you compare the probability that you will end up being ok, with the probability that you will not be ok, the former is much greater than the latter. Try to think of it as a temporary spike that is very unpleasant but that is not too scary, as it is bound to fade.

 

It could be?? I am virtually no expert but was listening to expert's advice as what to do and followed... They shoved a plug in the both of my ears then sudden noises came out, different intensity, loudness and bitch.

I googled now it's called tympanometry??

This is what's in the medical note:

Terapie: sine
audio: normakuzie bilat
TM: A/A, SR +/+

 

Did she include the acoustic reflex test while doing the tympanometry?

 

Don't ask for drugs to get you into coma - your doctor will then be less likely to give prednisone to you. If you appear to be agitated, the doctor will conclude that prednisone will make you even more agitated, and won't give it to you. Once I made the mistake of bursting into tears (when a doctor asked me "how are you?"). The doctor refused to give prednisone to me.

I suggest that you go to the emergency Now. Tell them a bogus story about having to turn off a screaming home fire alarm. First of all you will get to have prednisone sooner this way (and this makes a difference). Second of all, your doctor might NOT give prednisone to you as the test is assumed to be not loud enough to do any damage to the ear (as the doctors at that hospital had indicated). Also your doctor might be concerned about you being too agitated to handle prednisone. Even if your doctor is good enough to give prednisone to you, it will be good to have extra prednisone from the ER. The complete prednisone course is 14 days + tapering, the dose is X mg per day, where X is your weight in kg. Your doctor is likely to give you a smaller dose and smaller number of pills than what I described above. If you succeed in getting some prednisone from the ER, you can use those extra pills to get your prednisone course closer to what I described above.

 

It is painful, Bill. It screams loud and sometimes a shooting pain goes straight from my ear to about the jaw joint. I know there is a trigeminal nerv, but that's not the case now.

 

T is always horrific when it first comes on, or when it spikes. Most of the time it eventually fades (although it can take weeks or months for that to happen).

 

I declined typomantry, whatever it is called. I was scared about doing it.