Tinnitus from Hearing Test at Audiologist's?

Hi, is it possible to get tinnitus from an audiologist misusing the equipment? I went for a free hearing test and shortly after had pain (for the first time ever) in my left ear.

Within 2 weeks I had/have 24x7 tinnitus. I've had it for over 6 months now. I saw my doctor a few weeks later and she said I didn't have an ear infection.

The audiologist made basic mistakes typing in the appointment & contact details, so could she also have made a mistake using the equipment? (I am mildly deaf in my left ear at the higher frequency level.)

 

I'm sorry to hear that. User @dpdx has also had a very unfortunate experience with this too. Maybe he can chime in to help.

 

Could you elaborate on how the equipment was misused?

 

What do you mean by mildly deaf? Do you mean you have mild hearing loss?

It’s most likely your hearing loss is the cause.

 

Don't know how the equipment was misused as I don't know anything about it. However my imagination thinks that perhaps she made high pitched sounds repeatedly and/or for an extended period of time that I couldn't hear and thus ruined my ears. (eg adults can't hear bats but kids can.) Mild hearing loss means when I'm in the car and my mobile is in my bag I can't hear it ring but my partner could. This is before I developed T - this is why I went to an audiologist.

 

PS I didn't have T before I had my ears tested. It happened 2 weeks after the hearing test.

 

Hey Isabella, you should know it is not uncommon for T sufferers to develop T after 2 weeks out from hearing loss or trauma. It is even possible that the hearing test was the bursting of an already cracked dam. Perhaps you would have developed T regardless or as I said in the beginning of this post, simply had a delayed onset from mild hearing loss.

Do you know what caused your hearing loss?

 

I got hearing loss from ENT ear tests.

 

While a hearing test didn't cause my tinnitus, it's always worse for days after one.

 

yes it is possible to get T from an hearing test and it usually happens when they have a trainee handling the test who thinks they know what they're doing and not realizing the potential danger of doing the test. That's what happened to me where the trainee should have been wearing the same headphone but had hers turned off and blasted my right ear to the point i literally had to throw the headphones off my head violently and after the test, i had a whole new T sound in my right ear, even to this day. So patient beware that no one apparently respects the hearing test person and therefore only offers minimum wage i'd bet and you're going to get what they pay for, ie the office gets the large fee, but pays the tester peanuts apparently.

 

tinnitus truly is a nightmare, beyond the actual tinnitus. professionals and advocates haven't a clue!!!

 

I acquired T from an audiology hearing test way back in 1992. Went into the room without and came out with it. Had to be Hospitalised as if I had been in a bomb blast and given oxygen treatment but to no avail. My T has become much worse over the last year but that was the origin.
@Isabella

 

That's crazy. Was it just s regular test?

 

Yes it was and I regret it every day!
@PDodge

 

wild.

 

I wonder if it’s the test tones or sitting in a sound proof booth with ears straining to hear. I have had six tests and twice sat in a sound proof booth while someone else had a test, my t seemed equally affected by both scenarios.

In studies, the overwhelming majority of people who sit in a soundproof booth report hearing T. I wonder if they never heard it again in their lives or if it’s like opening a door and once it starts, some auditory systems are unable to turn it off.

 

@Tinker Bell For me personally, it's the tones. There's a website (Audio Notch) that allows you to measure your T and when I get to mine, I get momentary relief but it typically makes it worse for the remainder of the day.

 

Hi back everyone. Sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I didn't have a car accident or anything, so the 'trauma' I must have experienced was in the sound booth doing that hearing test that I regret ever having. Thanks for your responses everyone.