Will Increasing Hearing Loss Make My Tinnitus Worse?

Looking for some advice and encouragement...

I have (mild) low frequency hearing loss in my left ear and (moderate) high frequency hearing loss in right ear and I'm in my mid forties. I have moderate 6-7/10 tinnitus in my left ear. Having just had another hearing test, it looks as though my hearing is getting worse with age - it seems to run in my family. Is it the case that I can expect a worsening of my tinnitus?

My tinnitus was not caused by noise but I think it has something to do with air pressure (maybe started from an old barotrauma injury when I was 19) as I frequently get pain in my left ear as well.

Bit of background - I've had 'bad' tinnitus for the past 4 years and a few months ago was accepted by the NHS on to TRT treatment. It's sporadic treatment - I have a counselling session about once a month and am due to get fitted with hearing aids. I've been given WNGs but so far they are not making a difference. I don't think the hearing aids will work as I have low pitch hearing loss in my left ear and a high pitch tinnitus. Am I right in thinking this?

It's been a real hard journey for me - my partner left me because I became suicidal over the noise, I have been unable to work and I moved in with my parents who keep an eye on me. To say I am struggling is a bit of an understatement. I could really do with some words of encouragement at the moment as I seem to be getting closer and closer to the dreaded 'S'... Please can anyone with maybe a similar cause of their tinnitus point me in the directions of treatments that might work?

Thank you all,
Yup...

 

Very sorry to hear about your struggles with tinnitus, @yup.

Not necessarily. While hearing loss do have a factor in tinnitus severity, it isn't always a 1:1 correlation. My tinnitus has worsened quite a bit, but not due to hearing loss, so there's quite a lot of variables that goes into tinnitus severity. Just for an anecdote; my grandfather got noise induced tinnitus while working with machinery for many years, and his baseline has remained the same even though old age has taken a big toll on his hearing. So age related hearing loss, as any form of hearing loss, can impact tinnitus, or not.

Do you know why it became more severe 4 years ago?

I'm awfully sorry to hear about your struggle. Has the tinnitus increased further recently, or why do you feel you're getting closer to the dreaded 'S'?

Here's a hug for you.

Wish you well,
Stacken

 

Feeling blue myself, so not much to say other than that you’re young enough to still have a life after they hopefully get a drug to market that might help us.

 

I think tinnitus is related to hearing loss and is "filling the void" left by frequencies we can no longer hear due to hearing loss. At least that is my personal experience.

 

Makes sense but I sure hope not. I’m 46. If it gets much worse I won’t be able to cope. Right now I can deal with it barely but there no room for it to worsen.

 

@yup, my hearing loss in the left ear has worsened significantly since tinnitus onset, and the tinnitus is a little bit more intense, but overall is in the same range (quite severe) that I had when I started the tinnitus journey almost 8 years ago. This is just one data point and I have no idea how the future will look like.

 

@yup, I asked my ENT and otologist the same question. They both gave me the same answer. Which was, not necessarily.

There are people who get tinnitus and it stays completely stable even though their hearing declines as they age.

Conversely, there are other people that are very sensitive and have had worsening tinnitus as they lose hearing.

The one thing my otologist said is that there is no correlation between one’s audiogram (level of hearing loss) and how severe they experience tinnitus to be.

 

Thank you everyone who replied. I can't tell you how much that means to be. Anyone who does not have tinnitus just has no idea just how exhausting it is.

Update - I got hearing aids fitted yesterday. They have programmed white noise into them so right now I am sitting listening to this noise. On the plus side, although I can still hear my tinnitus, strangely it is not consuming me. The white noise seems to be so much more powerful via hearing aids than earbuds or via an App. Not louder but somehow more powerful. I managed to stand in a quiet room and patiently have a conversation with my dad (who is really very deaf - he lip reads) . Usually I can't manage this because the tinnitus makes me very agitated and short tempered.

The deafness is genetic. I was never warned otherwise I would have protected my ears much more than I did ( no earplugs at raves etc in the 90's). My dad does not have tinnitus despite his deafness.

My doctor has offered me medication for my depression and anxiety but like many on here I am too scared to take anything because it can make tinnitus worse and I simply can't afford to have that happen.