Otoacoustic Emissions Test (Tinnitus Update)

For any and all who have been struggling with Tinnitus I'm wondering if any of you might have had an audiology test, and if so did it include Otoacoustic Emissions Test? This test is VERY important as it measures the condition of your inner and outer hair cells. The condition of your outer hair cells might be a key to understanding Tinnitus.

Thanks.

 

Yes. It was done for me. It showed good results. Only at around 6-8 kHz, it showed a slight loss. And here also my hearing loss is. And here is where also my T is. I guess it is there, but I cannot exactly match it. It is high-pitched, like the noise of an old TV.

 

Not to me. I have had only the very basic audiogram to my knowledge...

 

absent otoacoustic emissions in people with normal hearing may provide clarity as to where Tinnitus persists.

I would encourage all individuals with normal hearing to have an otoacoustic test (OAE) if they have normal hearing yet ringing/whoosing in the ears.

 

I recently had an updated version of the OAE done which instead of testing rows of hair cells it tests individual sections of haircells its meant to be more accurate.Funny enough mine came back perfect although my audiologist did say there was a slight dip at 4000hz in my right ear that was so minute it wasnt worth talking about.So perfect hearing but yet I still have T and H funny that.

 

Hey guys I just did mine yesterday and it showed I have no hearing loss yet I have a really high pitch like that sound when a tap is going if you know what I mean

 

Hi Andrew and Bill-

OAE (otoacoustic emission tests) are marked as Present or Absent in reading. I assume both of you had OAE that were present?

Was your OAE test both distortion and transient emissions?

 

No sorry I just had one at the doctors think it went up to 8000

 

i would suggest an OAE test as it can tell you if your outer hair cells or cochlear might be damaged. reading should be ABSENT or PRESENT.

 

@bill 112 so you had this test with H and you were fine? is the sound they play in your ear loud? I am.in terrible setback and worried. I go this afternoon for.mine.

 

I had Otoacoustic Emissions Test done, and it was not loud at all. I almost couldnt hear it But it came back fine, and they said that there was nothing wrong with my hair cells.

If I remember right, you had some kind of TN symptoms along with your T?

Do you have any idea what set your T off? Also, do you have any clue if it could be neck related in your case?

 

Thanks @Mr. Cartman for your reply, it makes me feel more at ease....Yes I have some facial nerve pain that comes and goes (Thankfully!! )and I believe it stems from my jaw joints. Sometimes changing position in my neck spikes my T..well alot actually. so I do believe there is some neck involvement (SCM) with my T. I had mild whiplash from bike accident last summer which seem to worsen my tmj and perhaps brought about TN symptoms, a chiro agreed with me.... also with nerve pain onset, I had sensitive hearing which I now know to be H...however it did go away within a few days only to return with full on T in December. I say full on T as I have had very mild T for as long as I can remember and thought it was normal growing up..but I mean super mild..quiet room at night type...but it NEVER bothered me..

anyways I also had my right ear syringed last summer after water became trapped for 3 days from swimming and impacted wax.. .....and I took clonazepam for 3 months and then stopped c/t for a week in early december..though I did not feel any effects from that and I still dont feel dependent...so I have some possible reasons for my now T and H and I am just trying to figure them out so I know how to treat them. The plan is to treat my jaw and hopefully see some improvement.

This morning I woke to an inflammed right jaw joint and my T is louder...however I did also eat a crapload of junk food/ sodium last night too

anyway. .what I really want is for my H to go away.. it does also seem worse when my T spikes.

 

oh I also have TTS that worsens in setbacks. .

 

Thanks for your reply

I do believe that the mild whiplash could be the culprit of T and H, as that was exactly what happened to me as well.
Also theres is a guy in here (chronicburn) he also suspects that his T could have been set off by a motor cycle accident.

Ive tried to learn some things about hyperacusis, but it seems like there is a lot of vague information.

However, I did come across some information about hyperacusis that points out a direct connection between stapedius and its motoric function being one cause, which I have suspected for some time:

Paralysis of the stapedius, such as in injury to the facial nerve (CN VII) allows wider oscillation of the stapes, resulting in heightened reaction of the auditory ossicles to sound vibration. This condition, known as hyperacusis, causes normal sounds to be perceived as very loud.

In many cases I believe it could be entirly psychological related though, but at least it seems like there is another connection as well.

Yeah, I think that the SCM alone is capable of producing some nasty stuff. I also read that it is capable of affecting the muscles of mastication as well.

What I have noticed is that all the muscles on the the left side of my neck/shoulder area is less flexible and probably a bit shorter than on the right, and the clavicular head of my SCM is just not good compared to the right one.

Also, this is the muscle that got a serious over-stretch together with the sternal head of my SCM when all this happened. Its probably something that has been building up for a long time and the sudden neck movement brought it to a boiling point.

It seems like I too have some inflammation going on in the left jaw area as well.. Or at least it feels like it.

I have found that anti-inflammatoric gel actually works if I put it on my jaw joint area, and a bit below.
Also, I use it on my neck.. That seems to work as well

It could be that all this is actually caused by our neck.. Im reading and testing out a lot of stuff, and I will let you know if something works

What I have found to work though, is to gently stretch a few of the muscles in the neck/shoulder area left side, as they seem to be a bit shortened in my case, but Im very causious when I do this.

Those are: SCM, levator scapulae, trapezius, scalene and pectoralis, and probably a few more

 

@Mr. Cartman on my way to appt but just had to respond regarding the stape muscle and your finding! I have often wondered this myself and when I get back will get more in depth!

talk soon.

 

I also want to tell you another thing I did notice. I was having all sorts of weird muscle spasms in the left side of my jaw/neck area. It literally felt like my body was trying to pull something into place.

And for some reason, I was trying to stretch my scalene muscles, and when I bent my head down (chin touching the breast bone) and turned my head to the right, there was nothing wrong, but when I turned my head to the left, it felt like something was dislocated in the left side of my lower neck. I did this several times, until my head smoothly could be turned to the left as well, and now it seems like whatever it was, is now working properly, and the muscles spasms have pretty much gone away. I found this kinda interesting as well, as it literally felt like something was dislocated there for a while.

And it felt like it kind of originated right under the clavicular head of my SCM.

C yah

 

The OAE machine at my school is wacky, sometimes it shows normal OAEs and other times damage. We are getting a new one soon though so I can't wait to run my OAE then! (I have tinnitus and normal thresholds)

 

Hey Ashley- what school are you at?

 

Sorry not responding to you sooner but its not loud at all,its like a weird electrical sound they play,like a vump vump vump chic chic chic kinda sound really dificult to explain but dont worry youll be fine.

 

Is there a reason to do an OAE test if you do actually have some hearing loss? And what about a BERA and pressure test? So far ive only had a basic audiogram which showed hearing loss at 4khz. I guess they stop all tests after that I am able to have the other tests done, but are they useful?

 

Yes they are Cor,middle ear tests should be carried out to rule out any simple mechanical cause which could possibly be rectified.An OAE test is benifical as it gives a much clearer picture on haircell damage and function and gives audiologists a much better view on your inner ear condition.

 

I've had OAE tests twice in the last 2 years and showing the same results. Only 1000 Hz and 2000 Hz are present (a light bit of 3000 Hz in one ear), but anything over that is absent.

On the other hand, my audiogram test is within' normal, from what my doctor says.




I'm living with T since 03/2011. My T is a constant 14.5 KHz ringing, binaural, going from 50db to 90db (mostly 90 lately).

Can anyone explain me the meaning of the OAE readings? Also, why is my T at 14.5khz while my audiogram says I have a lost at 4 and 6khz?

Thanks for your help!

 

@davidchampoux

If you ask @attheedgeofscience if you can post your audiogram to him and can he kindly explain them please. I am sure that he can help to explain the audiogram to you and then of course it is explained publicly on the forum so we all learn from it.
He is very knowledgeable and I hope will be happy to do this for you (and us).
Please send your post to him in this way putting your request directly to him by saying @attheedgeofscience and attaching your audiogram with it - even on this thread ccos he will know that you have asked him as he will get an alert due to his name being posted with the request.
@attheedgeofscience - hope you dont mind me suggesting this to this chap but i know that you know how to interpret these audiograms.....so trying to help....

 

what is an OAE test? is it an ordinary audiogram hearing test?

 

http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Otoacoustic-Emissions/

 

I suppose @attheedgeofscience will chime up has he has been mentionned here a few times! I would appreciate any info... Thanks!

 

No problem. But this will just be quickly. No proper explanations. Just the facts.

Overall your hearing is okay, but your left ear shows classic early stage noise induced hearing loss. This hearing loss presents itself as a notch on the audiogram at 4 kHz. As the loss worsens it will grow into a "cookie bite" (you are not there yet). NIHL is different from presbycusis/ski-slope hearing loss.

Your right ear also has some loss at 6 kHz, but it is unclear what is going on here. For some reason, there does not seem to be a bone conduction test done on your left ear? The bone conduction test for your right ear shows no significant deviation (vs. air conduction test) - which is as it should be. The hearing test included the 3 kHz frequency; the 0,125 kHz frequency was not included.

According to standard audiology literature, your hearing would - regardless of your age - be described as normal. The older you are, the better your relative hearing would be, of course (but normal in all cases). However, according to the literature of inner ear specialist such as Dr. Wilden, your hearing (like most people in a noisy world) is beginning to show signs of inner ear overstrain. If you have tinnitus, it is probably because of damage to your cochlea ("dips" on an audiogram is never a good thing).

Your hearing test did not include the very high frequencies.

That is what I see.

[P.S. I wonder if you have been exposed to one-sided noise for a period of time eg. playing a certain instrument in a band...]

 

@davidchampoux

yes @attheedgeofscience is very knowledgeable and should be able to explain your hearing test to you if he is happy to do so........he is known here as ATEOS for short and he is a great guy with lots and lots of knowledge.
Try to ask him if he can have a look at the pictures of your audio test and he may be kind enough to do it if he can is willing and has the time........up to him but I can only suggest this if you would like some more clarification on your hearing test...........

 

@attheedgeofscience, thank you very much for your explanations. I recently did a HF audiogram that showed a dip at 14KHz (please see attached picture), but my feeling is that the equipment used might have not been perfectly calibrated, as I can clearly hear up to 15 KHz (verified in my studio) without much level difference, then it drops hardly. Also, the earphones used for the test were kind of old pro-summer/cheap Sennheiser which I wouldn't be surprised that were not flat at all... I would never rely on them (especially for hearing tests), personally.



It is highly probable that I have a lost or dip in the high frequencies, but I don't think I'm 40 db down on the right side. I would definitely hear/feel it in my studio work, and it would translate pretty badly for others who listen to my mixes...

My initial question was about the correlation between the audiogram LF/MF/ or HF, and the OAE test. If my OAE says no response on 3-4-5-6KHz, then why my audiogram is 'somewhat' normal?

Also, regarding your question on a specific placement in a musical band; I'm a bass player doing many different gigs, and I don't always play in the same spot. I've been wearing in-ear monitors (that I always keep as low as possible, with a very relaxed mix), or 25 db molded musician ear plugs when using floor monitors. I don't see any explanation why one side can be differently damaged.

 

@attheedgeofscience

thank you so much......hope you dont mind me suggesting your help??! thank you again

i have no dips on my audio so that means that i have no cochlear damage then
by dips i presume you mean along the way from 1hz to 8hz? only some hearing loss at 8hz