Tinnitus in Both Ears from Working at an Automotive Assembly Plant: Can I Get Short-Term Disability?

Hello,

I’ve had tinnitus in both ears since September 2020. At first I was hoping it would go away, then I saw my doctor and she told me I had moderate to severe hearing loss after having a hearing test done.

The ringing in my ears is unbearable, I get 3-4 hours a sleep a night. I work in an auto plant which I think is the cause of it because of the noise.I wear ear plugs while I’m at work.

I’m off work and trying to get short-term disability. Can anyone tell me if I’d be able to get short-term disability for tinnitus? Or does my employer have to accommodate me and put me in a different area where it’s quieter? They may not be able to do this. They rather see people quit than accommodate them. I want to work but not sure if I can at my present job.

 

I got short term disability through my employer's insurance for tinnitus. They sent some forms I had my ENT fill out and fax back.

 

I think you might want to do what you can to be away from noise for a while.

If your tinnitus begins fading a month or two after you stop being exposed to noise, it ought to continue to fade and in 1-3 years you will hopefully get to the "can hear it only in quiet room" stage. Don't assume that you will be stuck with the noise you hear now for the rest of your life.

You will want to make sure that you don't hurt your ears during this period of vulnerability as your body is healing. You will want to avoid taking ototoxic drugs, avoid microsuction or syringing (performed when you need to clean wax out of your ears; a manual tool should be used), and not let your dental hygienist use an ultrasonic scaling tool on you (a manual tool should be used). For more details, see

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

P.S. The only thing you can do is do sound masking at night. Play nature sounds (the sound of crickets works well with high pitch tone tinnitus). The idea is to give yourself something else to listen to besides your tinnitus. After 15 minutes, you will be able to start focusing on the nature sounds instead of your tinnitus, and hopefully that will allow you to get to sleep.

 

In the US, if your employer will not give you any disability, you would go to a workers' comp lawyer. They would then work to get you compensation from your employer. They do not charge anything up front until you get compensation. I'm not sure how it works in your country, but maybe that will give you some ideas to pursue within the legal bounds of where you live.

 

Are you still on short term disability GBB? Will you eventually be on long term? I don’t have an ENT appointment til March because of COVID-19.

Does anyone know if tinnitus is permanent?

 

Sorry I was never notified of this comment. I'm no longer on short term disability - in total I was out for 3 months. I *think* my tinnitus has calmed 1-2 points out of 10 though I would still rank it a 7-8. I work an office job so fortunately my office conditions do not pose an immediate threat to my health.