Tinnitus: any ideas?

Flickerfusion · 06-06-2020 2:16pm #1

I have tinnitus in one ear. It was definitely caused by physical damage due to chronic middle ear infections in my early teens and then ear surgery, which may or may not have contributed.

Anyway, it’s really loud and I can’t make it stop and I have serious difficulty ignoring it.

It’s like very high pitched tone that sounds a bit like the feedback you would get if you held a microphone to a speaker. It’s louder than background noise - I would say maybe as loud as a car engine.

It like a constant tone that shifts frequency around a point.

Occasionally just out of the blue I will get like a silence where the hearing in the ear changes and a loud tone that sounds a bit like what you’d hear when RTE 1 used to go off the air. That will just last for maybe 5 or 6 seconds and if I click my ears by swallowing or gently “pop” them it stops.

It’s enough to distract me mid conversation or make me stop while doing a presentation.

Anyway, I’m just finding I can’t concentrate. Even reading a book becomes difficult. I try listening to music on headphones and so on but it’s pointless. All I can do is either put up with it or go do something physical like go for walk.

I’ve tried explaining it to my GP and I got referred back to an ENT who was just very dismissive about it and really condescending. He offered no solution or further investigation.

The other thing I’m not understanding is that while I can come out as ok on an audio gram, on my right side anyway and have maybe 20-25% hearing loss on the left side and only at the upper frequencies but it also doesn’t respond to some of the low frequencies at all and seems to be getting worse, I can’t hear people if more than one person is talking to me in a noisy environment.

Like in a pub, I just can’t participate in the din. I have to have them on my right side or look at them face on.

I can hear quite normally (other than the tinnitus) in a quiet environment.

Also if I sleep on my right side, the alarm doesn’t wake me. I can’t hear it, yet I will get told that I can hear the pure tones on an audio gram OK.

Mostly I sort of struggle to hear them though as they’re coming in over loud tinnitus, so I just about make them out.

Any ideas? Just getting really fed with it, especially the inability to concentrate. I’ve found it a million times worse during the lock down as I don’t have the distractions of an office and colleagues and I find working on my own all I can hear is this endless noise.

tayto lover · 06-06-2020 2:19pm

Have a chat with your pharmacist.
I had it and it was caused by some of the medication I have to take. He just changed the brand and it went away.

Flickerfusion · 06-06-2020 2:36pm

I don’t take any medication and it was caused by ear damage.

con747 · 06-06-2020 2:43pm

It's something you just have to get used to, there are some sound therapies that can help but they never worked for me. You can find them online.

khalessi · 06-06-2020 2:43pm

I dont know if this helps but there is The Irish Tinnitus Association which facilitates a dedicated helpline in Dublin on a weekly basis every Thursday from 10am to 12 noon, if you dont get answers here.

https://www.chime.ie/services/tinnitus-helpline

NSAman · 06-06-2020 2:45pm

might be an old wives tale.. and don’t mock me for saying this please....

When it happens to me, I concentrate on something for a long time... as advised by my grand mother years ago... it alleviates the ringing.

Rodney Bathgate · 06-06-2020 2:48pm

I try to avoid silence when at home. Have the radio on in the background.

antix80 · 06-06-2020 2:54pm

Flickerfusion wrote: »

I have tinnitus in one ear. It was definitely caused by physical damage due to chronic middle ear infections in my early teens and then ear surgery, which may or may not have contributed.

I have it too. Caused by a prolonged period of stress and maybe medication.

If your ENT was dismissive , it's because it's not an ENT issue as far as they're concerned. My ENT referred me for an MRI and it showed nothing, as expected. Referred for a hearing test and had some hearing loss - hearing loss and tinnitus usually go hand in hand.

For me, stress makes it worse - that's when my ear is most likely to pop. Alcohol, sugar, caffeine all make it worse.

I think you'll just have to make peace with it. Try counselling.

Try the tinnitus maskers on youtube while you work. One that worked well for me was the sound of water with random high-pitch beeps. I played it through a speaker on a low enough volume and the beeps provided relief that lasts even a few minutes after turning it off.

Flickerfusion · 06-06-2020 3:00pm

Tried getting used to it. I’ve had it for since I was about 6.
It incorporates into my dreams and all sorts of stuff. If it’s very bad I will her a somewhat weird dream that I’m floating and it’s just this endless high pitched tone.

This isn’t mild stuff - it will literally wake me at night. I’ve woken up because the noise is so loud it wakes me out of deep sleep or it will incorporate into whatever I’m dreaming. Often if it’s very bad I will get this weird nightmare that I’m floating and there’s just this horrible high pitched noise.

When I was at school I could hear a lot less than people realised and I would sometime zone out to try and ignore this noise issue. All it resulted in was teachers throwing books on my desk or yelling into my face and calling me a space cadet.

Only discovered I wasn’t able to hear properly when I was about 15 and had surgery to correct middle ear problems and graft the ear drum, but it’s just never ever been right. It only got picked up because I stared getting chronic ear infections with discharge and stuff.

I’ve managed to get a degree and learn a couple of languages but it’s still just always there and it’s a *huge* issue for concentration.

Also the sleep issues are not good.

Like just to give a sense of it - right now I have the radio on with classical music and this is louder than any other sound in the room. At least as loud as a vacuum cleaner and sounds like an AM radio that’s been mistuned. That really high pitched screechy noise.

It’ll cool down after a few hours but it never goes away and it’s also associated with a sort of sore / tingly sensation in my ear.

antix80 · 06-06-2020 3:13pm

If you can afford it, keep getting medical advice to try to fix it.

But the best bet the moment is learning to cope - counselling. Strategies to get to sleep, stop letting it in on you. If your friends ask you to crowded places, politely refuse- remind them you have tinnitus, can't participate in conversations and it aggravates your condition.

Definitely look into masking devices or just audio played through a speaker .

A hearing aid might help as you'll hear conversation more clearly and may even be able to program them with a frequency that matches and counteracts your tinnitus.

I googled this but try it or other online or in-person resources https://www.chime.ie/services/tinnitus-helpline

Rodney Bathgate · 06-06-2020 3:16pm

Not sure about continued medical advice. My (private) consultant gave me a leaflet and basically said I would get used to it.

what the hell! · 06-06-2020 3:20pm

Have you tried getting your B12 levels checked? Next time you're in the GP ask them to check for you. There are some studies out there that say taking B12 supplements can help. My herbalist told me to get it checked.

Flickerfusion · 06-06-2020 3:22pm

The issue is it will literally wake me from deep sleep. Like it’s an alarm clock. I will wake up from deep sleep. I don’t know how I can ignore it.

Also the sudden bouts of it are loud enough to actually make me stop with I’m doing and hold my ear.

I’ve learnt to not do that but it’s not easy to do. Like I can suddenly stop mid sentence because I basically have what sounds like microphone feedback at loud volume on one side.

I think I need a new ENT. The sense I got was the current one goes into legally defensive mode rather than wanting to even look.

I’ve never had an MRI or a scan. I went to an ENT on the continent when I was working over there and they weren’t entirely sure what had been done to the ear during surgery, as my ear canal was modified in shape and so on, but that’s not explained on the notes or the description of the procedure.

It’s down as a tympanoplasty but also seems I had a canaloplasty & meatoplasty and that wasn’t actually discussed in the 1990s when it happened.

I’ve a scar right down a bit behind the of the back of my ear and a couple of inches up into my scalp

All I can really tell you is the surgery took about 4.5 hours and then required 3 further trips to a day ward and short general anaesthetics to change dressings and after that I was still ending up in the ENT clinic getting micro suction for years after when the external ear would block up or become infected.

I’ve even had fungal infections of the external ear due due debris build up which was absolutely horrible and needed weekly trips for microsuction and anti fungal paste sitting in my ear.

I was advised to put baby oil in my ear (by the previous ENT) to prevent debris build up and it really never worked.

Also I still get fairly regular middle ear infections. This year has been good but typically I’ve had maybe two to three a year for as long as I can remember.

Also, if I wear in-ear headphones, they fall out on the left side.

[Deleted User] · 06-06-2020 3:30pm

Could you try a white noise machine for at night, it can help block out some frequencies I use one when my tinnitus is bad, mind isn't chronic though. Maybe you could get an app to try first.

Mine is related to physical body so stretching and exercise helps me, maybe some stretching could help you I'm not sure but it might be worth a try.

They also say mindfulness and meditating on the noise itself is meant to have helped a lot of people and to get used.

Just some things I've read or come across in my experience

faceman · 06-06-2020 3:32pm

Hi OP. Firstly you have my sympathies. It’s very hard for people who don’t have tinnitus, including doctors and ENTs, to understand what you’re going through.

I have chronic ‘T’ since I was 14 and have lived with it all my life. It’s loud, I hear it constantly and when it’s really bad I even hear it while I dream. When I was in my 20’s it had a hugely detrimental impact on life before I turned things around. I won’t have a solution for you but can hopefully help you would some resources.

Forget support in Ireland. It’s useless. I had same experience with an ENT when I was 21. The ENT is just going to confirm you have it and that it’s not caused by any other more serious issues

Tinnitus is of no danger to you directly. What does impact is the mental toll. Therefore what can bring success is focussing on retraining your mindset to see it as non threatening. Think of the buzzing of your fridge in the kitchen. You don’t notice it until you start focussing on it. That’s what my relationship with T is like.

Couple of things you can do

Look up and join the British Tinnitus Association. They’re great, have a regular magazine and do great work with support and research

Check out the Irish company Restored Hearing. They have an app with a sound file that can help temporarily mask or subdue your tinnitus sound. May not work for everyone. I had success with it but my T is very loud so it didn’t eliminate it

There’s a doctor in the US who specialises in T called Stephen Nagler. He also has it so understands. He has a Discussion forum online Too
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/forums/dr-stephen-nagler-md.72/

And the general forum: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/

If sleeping is a problem you need to relook at bedtime. You could get a custom masker build for you that mimics your T and temporary suppresses the sound. You can also get pillows with speakers built in to play white noise

I have headphones I can sleep in that play white noise or music to distract me

Only go to bed when you’re tired. If you can’t sleep, get up no matter what time it is. It’s key to avoid putting yourself in situations where you’ll just focus on the noise

Daytimes are usually easier. Similar to above avoid locations or scenarios where you are focussing on the noise.

Best of luck OP, you can and will conquer this. It will take time and believe me there was a time in my life where I thought it would be impossible but now despite the volume of my T it doesn’t affect me at all as I have retrained my brain to ignore it most of the time

Treppen · 06-06-2020 3:33pm

I had it sporadic so it would come and go about once for a few months every 4 years. Stress related somewhat. At it's worst it was To the point of Loss of vision (like I'm spinning) with vomiting etc. Have to lie down for 2 hours.

But now it's seems like it's back for good (going on for a year now). No vertigo or spins this time, just deaf as a post and screeching in one ear .

I remember the first time I had it I Was on a diving course for 2 weeks in Thailand and the salt water or pressure or whatever just cured it! So I've heard some people having success (or just temporary relief) with the hyperbaric chambers. I might try that sometime.

Definitely diet effects it:
alcohol (strong craft stuff is the worst)
Cheeses (again the mature crafty stuff is the worst)
Chocolate.
Fatty carvery meals.

There's some Irish company that offers some type of solution but I haven't looked into it.

I used to take a choir and play with orchestra but had to give it up cos it just sounded like cats and sirens screeching together in a metal room so I could barely stay in time.

Also as a teacher I now have to warn students that they have to be quiet and speek one at a time slowly so I can help them.... ya that works out no problems at all.lol.

TL;Dr do a daily diving course in Thailand for 2 weeks

antix80 · 06-06-2020 3:39pm

Here's the youtube vid i find useful..
https://youtu.be/nKo4jYDO9FQ

Start with the volume high and lower it until it's barely audible but still works. I use it when tinnitus is particularly bad, and I'll often have some actual music playing in the background so i dont even hear the masking audio.

Not saying this one will work for you but you might find one that does.

Flickerfusion · 06-06-2020 3:40pm

I think I’ve had it since I was about 4 or 5. I don’t really remember not having it and I had a lot of ear problems as a child.

The biggest issue is that while I can ignore the fridge level noises it makes all the time, I can’t ignore the loud sounds I get when it’s gone into this kind of mode.

It’s louder than say someone speaking at normal volume and I can’t hear stuff past it. So all I can do when this happens is be on my own or go to bed.

When it wakes me at night it’s similarly loud. Just microphone feedback noise and a feeling that I’m dizzy and or moving and feel like I’ve sea sickness and get a sort of full and twitchy in my ear and face.

Often that tends to predict the onset of a middle ear infection and I need antibiotics and I get that maybe 2 to 6 times a year.

Sometimes if I take a nasal spray and decongestants I can get it down without recourse to the GP, but I would typically end up on antibiotics maybe twice a year.

My ear also sounds and feels like there’s fluid in it all the time. It crackles and the hearing varies depending on how I position my head. Sometimes it nearly feels like there’s something “loose” in my ear. Like the hearing will just cease completely and when I jiggle it around a bit it comes back.

I explained all this to the ENT multiple times and they just act like I’m mentally ill.

The GP just tells me that the ear drum is opaque because of the graft and he can’t see anything beyond it and the continental ENT said the same.

An audiologist showed me it with a camera a couple or years ago and it just looks white and has sort of square edges, if that makes sense.

antix80 · 06-06-2020 4:09pm

Not a doctor but surely an mri is an obvious step... Even if you go private it's not expensive.

Treppen · 06-06-2020 4:12pm

antix80 wrote: »

Not a doctor but surely an mri is an obvious step... Even if you go private it's not expensive.

Ya good idea to rule stuff out.

Treppen · 06-06-2020 4:17pm

antix80 wrote: »

Here's the youtube vid i find useful..
https://youtu.be/qb5oCi71GCo

Start with the volume high and lower it until it's barely audible but still works. I use it when tinnitus is particularly bad, and I'll often have some actual music playing in the background so i dont even hear the masking audio.

Not saying this one will work for you but you might find one that does.

Ha that video is good, drowns it out definitely , feels like my deaf ear is getting exercise too with the random bleeps.

antix80 · 06-06-2020 6:08pm

Treppen wrote: »

Ha that video is good, drowns it out definitely , feels like my deaf ear is getting exercise too with the random bleeps.

I changed the link.. The higher sounds aren't meant to screech
This might be better https://youtu.be/nKo4jYDO9FQ

Flickerfusion · 06-06-2020 7:20pm

Weirdly, that video seems to make it even louder

Found the high pitched beeps almost hurt.

Think I’ll just have to find a better ENT as I think there’s something physically wrong.

What I find is the sound in that ear feels “squelchy”. It’s hard to explain, but sharp sounds make a noise that sounds like something being squelched - like a sticky substance. I get that with beats of drums and so on, which is why I rarely enjoy music.

Same happens if someone shouts. It just sounds all distorted and squelchy.

Like when I should hear a crisp drum beat, I just hear it on one side and a kinda sticky noise on the left.

Treppen · 06-06-2020 7:56pm

Ya that's higher frequencies

IrishHomer · 10-06-2020 9:00am

OP

I'm identical to yourself!

I've discussed my problem on this forum previously.

In the past few years I've seen three ENT specialist and gave had two MRI carried out.

Nothing showed up, ear tests said one ear is fine and my right ear has hearing loss and that's the one that is screaming.

All three specialists just told me to learn to accept it and ignore it.

In the past few months mine is getting worse and is horrendous.

Mine also wakes me up usually around 4wm and then the noise is too loud to relax or sleep. I even put on ear buds to try relax and occupy my brain but the Tinnitus is louder and it overpowers the music.

Nobody seems to appreciate how bad mine is I'm even feeling a bit suicidal lately.

I too have been putting lots of olive oil in my ears as they have always been very waxy and I've had them syringed from an early age. I think mine were probably badly impacted with wax and I recall several ear infections I the past that may have caused the damage.

I'm now 50 yrs old.

My last ENT visit and MRI was in Clane private hospital and I was extremely dissatisfied with service!

The MRI computer was broken and they failed to give me a copy of the MRI disk.

I got the impression the specialist never properly saw the MRi and he basically just gave me the usual waffle about techniques on how to cope.

I've contacted Clane ten times since January and no CD was ever sent. In March just after Covid lockdown I got though to them and they insisted I'd have to travel to the hospital in person and collect the CD.

I live 80km from Clane and I explained I can't travel due to lockdown restrictions. They said no way would they post it.

I feel like contacting my health insurance and telling them of the poor service from Clane hospital.

Flickerfusion · 10-06-2020 12:36pm

Sorry to hear that.

That sounds ridiculously bad service. I would start by sending a letter to the hospital management outlining that you need that DVD and they haven't provided it. They're supposed to have a formal complaints procedure. If you get nowhere with that, private hospitals have been subject to HIQA monitoring since 2016, so you can raise a concern that way too, if you've exhausted the hospital's complaints procedure.

You'd wonder about some aspects of healthcare here, both public and private, there's a tendency to just be extremely high handed and unhelpful.

I've actually found Apple AirPods (not the noise cancelling type) quite effective at night as they don't plug your ear - they sit loose in your out ear and are wireless, so you can reasonably comfortably leave them in with soft music on. That seems to help a lot.

I've also found audiologists seem to be a better route than ENT. If you've regular wax build ups, look at asking an audiologist who can do microsuction under vision - it's far, far more gentle and much safer than having your ear syringed, as they can see what they're doing and there's no pressure put on your ear drum.

The other tinnitus supports that have been mentioned are via deaf organisations. Maybe email : https://www.corkdeaf.ie/cork-tinnitus/ and see if they might be able to advise you on services in Dublin / Kildare?

antix80 · 10-06-2020 3:49pm

IrishHomer wrote: »

In the past few years I've seen three ENT specialist and gave had two MRI carried out.

I think you need to have a read about what ENTs do. They do not treat hearing loss, and your tinnitus is likely caused by hearing loss.

IrishHomer wrote: »

All three specialists just told me to learn to accept it and ignore it.

They probably even gave you a leaflet on "Living with Tinnitus" .. seriously , they've done their job. They examined your ear, referred you for an MRI.. they're not going to do brain surgery on you.

IrishHomer · 10-06-2020 4:37pm

Flickerfusion wrote: »

Sorry to hear that.

That sounds ridiculously bad service. I would start by sending a letter to the hospital management outlining that you need that DVD and they haven't provided it. They're supposed to have a formal complaints procedure. If you get nowhere with that, private hospitals have been subject to HIQA monitoring since 2016, so you can raise a concern that way too, if you've exhausted the hospital's complaints procedure.

You'd wonder about some aspects of healthcare here, both public and private, there's a tendency to just be extremely high handed and unhelpful.

I've actually found Apple AirPods (not the noise cancelling type) quite effective at night as they don't plug your ear - they sit loose in your out ear and are wireless, so you can reasonably comfortably leave them in with soft music on. That seems to help a lot.

I've also found audiologists seem to be a better route than ENT. If you've regular wax build ups, look at asking an audiologist who can do microsuction under vision - it's far, far more gentle and much safer than having your ear syringed, as they can see what they're doing and there's no pressure put on your ear drum.

The other tinnitus supports that have been mentioned are via deaf organisations. Maybe email : https://www.corkdeaf.ie/cork-tinnitus/ and see if they might be able to advise you on services in Dublin / Kildare?

I actually attempted to purchase the Bose buds last week but they have disconued them due to a battery flaw.

I'm based in the Midlands

Flickerfusion · 10-06-2020 6:47pm

antix80 wrote: »

I think you need to have a read about what ENTs do. They do not treat hearing loss, and your tinnitus is likely caused by hearing loss.

They absolutely do treat hearing loss. A very large % of the surgeries carried out by ENT specialists / otologists are reconstructive tympanic membrane and middle ear surgeries.

There's also a whole branch of neurotology which tends to deal with inner ear and neurology of hearing.

These should include (albeit a shockingly small number in Ireland i.e. 1 at the moment) ENT specialists who provide cochlear implant surgery.

99nsr125 · 10-06-2020 6:55pm

Flickerfusion wrote: »

I don’t take any medication and it was caused by ear damage.

Try Zirk

Treppen · 07-07-2020 6:57pm

99nsr125 wrote: »

Try Zirk

SERC?

Tinnitus: any ideas?

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