Teacher Troubles

This is a new thing for me and I feel like it is making me crazy. I am a third grade school teacher. I have always had a very busy, somewhat noisy classroom. My kids are happy, excited learners. Suddenly they have a teacher that is spastic and unorganized. The high pitched constant ringing in my head makes me forgetful and chaotic. I'm not nearly as tolerant of their eight year old noises. I can find no peace. Everyday I say, "It's all in your head. Ignore it." And every day at 3:30 I am completely exhausted and near tears. I have Doctors appointment this Monday and I want to know how best to explain my symptoms and what aspects of my life are relevant.

 

After developing tinnitus myself back in 2013, I recall Dr. Wilden - who was my first contact in a very long list of contacts - mentioned a press release he had made earlier that year and which was lying on a table in his reception area. The article concerned how noisy the school environments can be - particularly for children (but invariably the same applies for teachers, I would guess).

Anyway, attached is the press release (in German) - explaining how the classrooms can reach decibels in excess of 100 dB...

 

I read a similar study in France. 120 dbl during break when teachers keep an eye on pupils... I feel that when I developed H. I lived surrounded by 2 schools...that's very noisy.

Teachers develop T/H. I have in my french contacts, one teacher who stopped working several months because of high pitch T...she works again now for the replacement of another sick teacher .... who has T and depressed...

Risky job/activities : soldier, policeman, hunter, musician, & teacher

 

Thank you for your input. I find that my husband's delicious home brew, a fan blowing near my head, and a Benadryl are the ticket to a good night's sleep. Next week is spring break. Maybe I'll come to terms with this and won't be such a grump when we get back. I have a German friend. She will read the study to me. Thanks.

 

Hi I developed T at Christmas so been just over 3months for me.Read my thread to see how I struggled at the first weeks. I work in a big High school and I had to take 7 weeks off work to cope.The hardest thing was getting back to work.The school is now so noisy with T and noise sensitivity. The children seem louder always shrieking,break times and lesson change over I use ear plugs to cope.The school bell is so loud now and I have not faced fire alarm practice yet. I need to work but am unsure if my job is making my ears get worse or not get better. Good to talk to someone else with similar problems. I am on Easter holiday and my ears have settled a bit to fuzzing not ringing. I will have to see if they go worse again once back at work in the school. It is horrid that this T could cause us to lose our job and income.

 

Aww,
Totally understand about how you feel at school as the little ducks can get really noisy.
I work in a school too and enjoy every minute with the children ......
I try move away from loud girlie screams on the school yard......
I am on two week school holidays at the moment and enjoying some relaxing time away....lots of love glynis

 

Welcome to the forum @Marte,
Perhaps at this stage of suffering from a new T, when your nerves are very stressed with anxiety and tension, consider wearing musician ear plugs so you can still hear the kids but the loud noises can be filtered out. As you can tell from glynis' example, after a while of getting used to T and being no longer emotionally affected by it, you can handle the kids' noises again without ear plugs. Here is the link to a musician ear plug, for example:

http://www.amazon.com/Alpine-Hearin...4674&sr=8-1&keywords=alpine+musician+earplugs

 

@Marte

Hugs. I was you a couple of years ago. I could not even read a book to my students. The roaring/ringing sound in my ear did not allow me to concentrate. My T was quite severe when it started. There were times when I could not mask it. It was awful. I was a mess! It took about 6-8 months were I could get to a point where it did not bother me.

Fast forward to now. I am just fine in a classroom. My T seems MUCH lower. The only time I really notice it now is at night when I am trying to sleep. I don't use any fans or masking. I take a Meletonin supplement to help me sleep. I try to keep the stress at bay because that will cause problems for me.

Hang in there. You will be fine when you become adjusted.

 

Gosh, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to teach and have T. Well, I can a little bit as I had to go to my son's trampoline party today with a lot of screaming kids, and music played far too loud. I had ear plugs in, but left and sat in the car til they were done.

My primary job is RV sales, and I get irritable having to show people round and talk to them, not to mention the phone calls etc. It's hard for me to do this, I feel for you with such a high communication job such as teaching, I hope you come through quicker than me. I am a little fortunate in that I could probably quit this job now and fall back on my web business if I need to, but with the busy season coming up, I'd be losing out on a lot of money, which could be spent in treatment.

Hope you are able to find a good solution. It sure sucks.

 

Thanks everybody! I hope I am doing this chat thing correctly. I am assuming that if I push the thumbs up then it is a good thing and it means thank you and that I appreciate your reply. It's great to have people out there to talk about this to. It brings my family down for me to complain about it and it really does no good. Thanks again!

 

Hey @Marte , I don't work with children, but you wouldn't believe how University students and even MBA's can behave like 5 year olds from time to time . I was in way worst shape when this started with me, nowadays I can stand a crowd but clapping always gets me. I agree with @billie48 on this. When I'm going near a crowd, I always carry one Alpine on my pocket and a spare one in my case. What I like about them is that since they got filters, you can hear just fine, they'll lower the sound but not distort it too much.

I got back to participating in seminars, conferences, etc. Maybe a year from now you won't need them, but for now it is what it is, and those work fine.

Hope it helps

 

Thanks. I will order some. I found this forum at just the right time. My T was making me very self centered. I could not get out of my head. The support of everyone out there plus this spring break time away from the classroom has done wonders. Last night I went to sleep without taking anything to induce drowsiness. I took a long hot showere and enjoyed the sound of the water rushing past my ears. I climbed into bed with a fan nearby and focused on the sound of my breathing. I slept like a baby!

 

How are you now?

 

I am at a wits end with my T. Going for a stapedectomy in late February to try and fix my lost hearing. Hopefully that takes it away. I am stressed out to the max to the point of depression and am lagging behind in my work. Going to see the Dr this week.

 

Good luck! A stapedotomy has a good chance of getting rid of T for good, especially if you don't have any cochlear involvement and your otosclerosis is mostly a matter of middle ear.
Are you taking fluoride? (or any other bone remodeling med)

 

@Alain Bock ,
My son has had his ear bones out and a new drum age 7 he also had a second op at 16.
He can hear ok and about 40db loss in that ear.
He could not have corrective surgery to have implants put in due to where his nerve was in his middle ear.
Please dont worry as he went on great and had packing in his ear removed about 4 weeks after.
You only have a little cut above your ear and then down inside your ear .
You only have about 6 stitches and the inside is not stitched and heals itself with treated packing.
You can not see a scar when it fades...
Good luck and let us know how you go on....you will be fine...lots of love glynis