Best Hearing Aids to Reduce Tinnitus...

[stophiss]

@stophiss I had a private CT done on neck and mouth after my dental and not much slowed up within my mouth. Since then my face became stiff. So then I begin to question if there was more involved besides dental whiplash that straighten my neck. The SCM and other muscles can cause facial problems, but my lower teeth started to have sensations. So I had other radiological testing that found that my inferior alveolar/ mental nerve was damaged. This is the cause of my newer tinnitus.

I remember you mentioning that you had a IAN violation from dental. We were friendly before you stopped posting, but now we are neighbors.

I remember our discussions as well....

My situation has been the challenge of my life and tinnitus basically came along for the ride. Quite an unexpected companion I would have never dreamt of being tinnitus illiterate most of my life. A unnamed prominent neurosurgeon performed an ablation procedure of my inferior alveolar nerve on Feb 02. I now have profound neuroglia from the rhs my mandible up the side of my face including cheek and into my right ear. Nightmare scenario for me causing my high frequency hiss like tinnitus to spike most days. A recent visit to the neurosurgeon, he assured me he deliberately did not ablate the ganglia and the nerve over time would completely regenerate as before. He said gut it out and you will be fine in a few months. It has been 5 months now and the nerve has gone through huge changes but I am still deep in the woods on this with numbness and dysesthesia and trismus due to the IAN injury...RFA is deliberate burning of the nerve procedure to induce numbness and lack of pain.

Sounds like we are indeed brothers Greg.

A couple of questions please:

-do you know of any surgery or procedure to decouple the inferior alveolar nerve from the nerves affecting the auditory apparatus nerves causing our increase in tinnitus?

- can you describe your tinnitus please and the resulting magnitude of tinnitus increase from your dental issue? Mine is a high frequency hiss that I crudely measured to be 11K Hz...using the following on line tone generator.
https://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/

It is most prominent in my left ear which is the opposite side of my jaw/face nerve damage on the right hand side.

I am sure you like me are incredulous this has happened to us. I have had the most extraordinary health throughout my life but this has challenged me to my core of being calling upon all the willpower I can conjure to stay hopeful.

If you have any advice relative to path forward, I would sure love to hear it.

I wish you the best for strength and peace of mind.

 

[stophiss]

GregCA and Jason,
You guys are helping me so much with your great advice about hearing aids. I am so grateful to you all, Bobby and everybody that has struggled so much with this scourge and come here to help others like me in the same boat.

Many if not all of you guys prefer over the ear aids and that will be the path I will pursue as well for all the great reasons you have mentioned including the great advice about battery size relative to tinnitus specific function we all need. This is so very helpful and I will make a list of metrics based upon this thread when I make the appointment with the audiologist. I am willing to spend a bit more for the best hearing aids for our condition. I called Costco and they don't carry Signia brand which has the excellent notch therapy feature. But I did find this on line source and will contact them at some point and will share my journey with you guys in the hope to help the next person on the same path.

https://www.ziphearing.com/hearing-...erm=+signia +hearing +aids&utm_content=Signia

One thing for sure, tinnitus hasn't affected the character of those that try to help others here with this condition. You guys rock and thanks again.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@stophiss

-do you know of any surgery or procedure to decouple the inferior alveolar nerve from the nerves affecting the auditory apparatus nerves causing our increase in tinnitus?

- can you describe your tinnitus please and the resulting magnitude of tinnitus increase from your dental issue? Mine is a high frequency hiss that I crudely measured to be 11K Hz...using the following on line tone generator.
https://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/

It is most prominent in my left ear which is the opposite side of my jaw/face nerve damage on the right hand side.

Thanks for writing back with detailed information. My recent exams show violation of the mandibular incisive or inferior alveolar canal as well as the nerve and roots to adjacent teeth.

For this I need to research more ---- I have subchondral sclerosis on the superior aspect of the condylar heads and along the respective glenoid fossa. The PDL space to adjacent teeth is violated. My labial cortex is violated.

My T is high frequency and it is also more prominent in my left ear where jaw/face nerve damage is on the right hand side.

Does your front lower teeth hurt? Front of your neck? Head? Mine do. From all of this, I can't control my tongue.

I read that injections of Botulinum toxin can be used guided by electromyography near the IAN and for facial. Right massester, 35 units, left massester, 20 units, right temporalis and left, 15-20 units each. The article didn't mention how many units for the IAN area. I'm not sure about the risks.

I came across this over the last weekend.
https://www.nervemed.com/case-study-landmark-tinnitus-treatment-by-inm/

Let's stay in contact.

Update: I read when a tooth is pulled, there's a 75 chance that bacteria and toxins will be trapped into the gum before healing. This can be more dangerous if a nerve was violated. High doses of prednisone can help kill toxins and bacteria or it could do more damage by weakening surrounding teeth.

 

[RingerBell]

Unless your hearing requires it, I'd stay away from the "in the ear" aids (those that fill your canal): they tend to give you a feeling of "being clogged", exacerbate occlusion effects, and can - in time - irritate the delicate skin of the ear canal from the simple friction.

Does it help if the "in the ear" aid is like a silicone plug with multiple holes? (Probably not for the irritation part, but for the other things you mentioned)

 

[stophiss]

@stophiss


Thanks for writing back with detailed information. My recent exams show violation of the mandibular incisive or inferior alveolar canal as well as the nerve and roots to adjacent teeth.

For this I need to research more ---- I have subchondral sclerosis on the superior aspect of the condylar heads and along the respective glenoid fossa. The PDL space to adjacent teeth is violated. My labial cortex is violated.

My T is high frequency and it is also more prominent in my left ear where jaw/face nerve damage is on the right hand side.

Does your front lower teeth hurt? Front of your neck? Head? Mine do. From all of this, I can't control my tongue.

I read that injections of Botulinum toxin can be used guided by electromyography near the IAN and for facial. Right massester, 35 units, left massester, 20 units, right temporalis and left, 15-20 units each. The article didn't mention how many units for the IAN area. I'm not sure about the risks.

I came across this over the last weekend.
https://www.nervemed.com/case-study-landmark-tinnitus-treatment-by-inm/

Let's stay in contact.

Update: I read when a tooth is pulled, there's a 75 chance that bacteria and toxins will be trapped into the gum before healing. This can be more dangerous if a nerve was violated. High doses of prednisone can help kill toxins and bacteria or it could do more damage by weakening surrounding teeth.

Yes, we will stay in contact for sure Greg and thanks for your detailed description. You have been through a lot...perhaps more than me and you have my profound respect for your lucidity. I have read about Botox for nerve numbing. Issue I have with it...seems like a last resort. Of course current medical science can't repair nerves with any efficacy. Nerves truly are the black hole of the medical community I have learned corresponding with conservatively 100 people throughout the world with IAN injuries and pouring over seemingly indecipherable medical literature and case studies. I took a deep dive into this hoping and searching for answers only to learn there are few good solutions...not unlike tinnitus.

Interesting our tinnitus is similar. I believe I have high frequency hearing loss in my left ear but the nerve injury may be the gasoline on the fire of tinnitus. Only speculation.

I do not have many of the symptoms you describe. My teeth and gum are principally numb on the right lower side due not only to the initial tooth extraction..no. 32 molar aka wisdom tooth deeply impacted and horizontal... that precipitated considerable neuropathy but once again with the ablation. When I floss on the lower right quadrant, doesn't seem those teeth belong to me. I do have some sensation in my local gum there but very feint. Front of my neck doesn't hurt. I have trigeminal neuralgia like symptoms on my face with sparking near my ear intermittently as the nerve regenerates, axons regrow which can be painful return of sensation. My tongue was originally palsied by the ablation which resulted in palsy aka trismus of my jaw as well related to further injury to the IAN. Slowly my tongue is redeveloping some dexterity and my jaw is opening more normally but still only about 70% or so and I have considerable stiffness in my chin area which is common to IAN injuries. I have no apparent TMJ and previous jaw articulation was perfect. No clicking now. My jaw does track to the right when opening though now. I had quite a bit of tongue pain from the first injury to the IAN which subsided in about 2 years only to inherit pain again from the RFA. No words to express the disappointment of how I was maimed by the RFA procedure. I thought worse case symptoms would be copious numbness aka benign. Completely the opposite. Neuropathy emanating from the jaw line up my cheek and into my ear. The doctor that performed the procedure who is brilliant said the procedure went perfectly. The result was disastrous and I am at this point completely relying on the healing power of the human body to recover. He suggests no cutting or more ablation at this point. None of this was expected by the RFA procedure.

Greg I am happy to provide whatever further detail I can. I have more questions than answers and I have studied this like a 3rd year medical student searching for answers and have very few. I only hope and prey my recent consultation with the neurosurgeon who said be patient for recovery of the nerve is right. I met two families in the waiting room where this doctor saved the lives of their family member with brain surgery. He is probably among the smartest people in the US and yet this still happened to me.

My thoughts are with you who no doubt feels the same I do about how this could have happened to guys like us. I will tell you the young people I saw at the neurosurgery center who were crippled and in wheelchairs with slurred speech...waiting to see my doctor...was heart breaking. I drove home almost 200 miles feeling fortunate.

My Best.

 

[GregCA]

Does it help if the "in the ear" aid is like a silicone plug with multiple holes? (Probably not for the irritation part, but for the other things you mentioned)

I'd imagine the "airing out" helps the clogged feeling and occlusion effect, but I haven't tried it myself, so I'm not sure whether it makes a big difference or not. I don't think it can hurt though.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@stophiss

My teeth and gum are principally numb on the right lower side due not only to the initial tooth extraction..no. 32 molar aka wisdom tooth deeply impacted and horizontal... that precipitated considerable neuropathy but once again with the ablation. When I floss on the lower right quadrant, doesn't seem those teeth belong to me. I do have some sensation in my local gum there but very feint. Front of my neck doesn't hurt. I have trigeminal neuralgia like symptoms on my face with sparking near my ear intermittently as the nerve regenerates, axons regrow which can be painful return of sensation. My tongue was originally palsied by the ablation which resulted in palsy aka trismus of my jaw as well related to further injury to the IAN. Slowly my tongue is redeveloping some dexterity and my jaw is opening more normally but still only about 70% or so and I have considerable stiffness in my chin area which is common to IAN injuries. I have no apparent TMJ and previous jaw articulation was perfect. No clicking now. My jaw does track to the right when opening though now. I had quite a bit of tongue pain from the first injury to the IAN which subsided in about 2 years only to inherit pain again from the RFA. No words to express the disappointment of how I was maimed by the RFA procedure. I thought worse case symptoms would be copious numbness aka benign. Completely the opposite. Neuropathy emanating from the jaw line up my cheek and into my ear. The doctor that performed the procedure who is brilliant said the procedure went perfectly. The result was disastrous and I am at this point completely relying on the healing power of the human body to recover. He suggests no cutting or more ablation at this point. None of this was expected by the RFA procedure.

My situation started months after a lower front tooth was removed. I received instant tinnitus when drilling was done into new bone growth damaging that area and my IAN. Pressure to my jaw also caused whiplash that includes my neck. IAN trauma or/and a thousand others possible complications from mouth/dental procedures leading to the problems that we are discussing happens more with dental implant drilling. I have ALL of the problems that you mention including palsy aka trismus. My tongue, mouth and both upper and lower lips burn. Inside my mouth there is always film. My tongue is white and I developed lingual dystonia - moving tongue and oromandibular dystonia. I loss a lot of gum tissue in the area of implant. Facial nerves have stiffen my face. My front teeth feel like they don't belong to me as they feel like wood. My jaw is now not in place when I lay on either side.

I went back to my dentist and told him about what is happening and he just folded his arms and had no comment. Not all dentist and doctors are dishonest as they will try to correct mistakes if possible. In our situation other than a burning tongue the untreated window for recovery is usually 4 months. The limitation time to sue any medical professional is one year, so some crummy medical professionals will slide those of us without strong medical research abilities. One dentist said on a dental medical site where they discuss problems (they use a made up forum name) is that a good dentist will discuss all the small print and then will go over the patients medical history and finally do a physical exam beyond the mouth that would include the neck. One study that I read said that some dentist don't have proper head rests or use chin support. The mouth is only supposed to be open for a few minutes at a time as it's known that any longer jaw problems can develop. Proper irrigation using the right solutions and proper nerve blocks are a problem in dentistry.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@stophiss I was a little straight forward concerning our conditions in above post, because I'm upset that we both are going thru all this.

There are others who have dental, facial nerve problems, jaw problems and TMJ/D, but few has ever posted with our related conditions.

There was once a poster who had a burning tongue which is often related to the lingual nerve.
Some others have posted above sensitive teeth which can also connect to the inferior alveolar nerve or infection. Puckering is related to the orbicularis muscle and some on dental boards have that problem.
With myself having all in this paragraph plus burning lips and facial tightness and sore chin, I'm now sure that jaw nerve violation with infection is the cause of my newer loud Tinnitus.

Maybe we should continue any discussion in private since what we have going isn't a concern for most all here. We are the same age. I am remember spending several weeks in Florida when I was a lot younger. I was a happy person then.
My thoughts are also with you.

 

[stophiss]

@stophiss I was a little straight forward concerning our conditions in above post, because I'm upset that we both are going thru all this.

There are others who have dental, facial nerve problems, jaw problems and TMJ/D, but few has ever posted with our related conditions.

There was once a poster who had a burning tongue which is often related to the lingual nerve.
Some others have posted above sensitive teeth which can also connect to the inferior alveolar nerve or infection. Puckering is related to the orbicularis muscle and some on dental boards have that problem.
With myself having all in this paragraph plus burning lips and facial tightness and sore chin, I'm now sure that jaw nerve violation with infection is the cause of my newer loud Tinnitus.

Maybe we should continue any discussion in private since what we have going isn't a concern for most all here. We are the same age. I am remember spending several weeks in Florida when I was a lot younger. I was a happy person then.
My thoughts are also with you.

Our paths are indeed similar Greg. I can tell you so many related stories of sufferers throughout the world with what we have. Yes, dental implants have likely precipitated an epidemic throughout the world of IAN injuries. I have corresponded with many. Also common with jaw relocation procedures, routine novicane injections...countless ways the IAN can be injured with a variety of nerve damage related symptoms. Molar extractions like I have pretty lead the pack due to proximity of large tooth root structure relative to IAN position.

Probably best to take our specific discussion off line however as you propose.

But back to hearing aids. Even if you and I had good hearing throughout our lives, don't rule out an interaction. Perhaps you haven't. Tinnitus among the elderly runs in my family. My grandma had it horrifically until she passed and my Mom has it and older brother has it to a degree. I presume you have had your hearing checked. Have you sought hearing aids to take the edge off your tinnitus?

My point is, in spite of my IAN injury, I believe I may have been predisposed to tinnitus. I am a pretty careful guy with my hearing but no question a lifetime of intermittent load music and equipment maybe a contributor.

I was fooling around with the on line tone generator and pretty clear that my left year with the greater tinnitus has more profound high frequency hearing loss. Hearing aids may fill in this lost frequency as suggested by many helped by hearing aids I have spoken to. No doubt my IAN injury is contributor but not sure what level. Any nerve damage around the auditory nerves can't be a good thing for tinnitus.

I hope you continue to improve. I can also tell you stories of people that have gradually over a ten year period recovered slowly from discomfort associated with an IAN injury. It isn't a 4 month binary window you likely know.
I was still recovering at the 3 year mark my first time around with this only to be reinjured by the RFA procedure inexplicably and back to square one. Can't make this stuff up Greg.

If you want a profile in courage, I suggest you study the life of FDR who couldn't walk a step in his late 30's and went on to be our only 4 term president. He lived with unconscionable nerve damage in his lower extremities due to polio which he contracted freakishly. A man of incredible intellect and beauty and privilege who lived with unfathomable pain and crippled and went on to live a much fuller life in spite of something much more daunting we have to contend with. He simply refused to let the scourge of polio beat him. A man given so much more than just about anyone in society and yet had so much taken away.

 

[stophiss]

BobbyH,
I sent you a PM wondering if you received your new Signia Hearing Aids with Notch Therapy?
If so, curious if they have lowered your tinnitus?

If you get a chance, please provide an update and hope you are well.

 

[MichaelF6161]

@stophiss,

Any updates? Did you get the Signia with notch therapy HA's? I'm set up with an audiologist on November 5th to talk about HA's, maskers, etc. and in doing some research, I too am piqued by the notch therapy offering.

Thank in advance for any information.

ATB,
Michael

 

[JohnAdams]

wouldn't hearing aids basically be the same thing as earbuds and potentially cause harm?

 

[MichaelF6161]

wouldn't hearing aids basically be the same thing as earbuds and potentially cause harm?

Good logic, and I thought the same thing. Evidently, there are experts here who raise the red flag on ear buds and headphones regarding making tinnitus worse, yet there are multiple therapies offered by multiple manufacturers of HA's that deliver the same sound directly to the ear canal.

Not quite following how one is harmful and the other isn't. Yes, I understand someone may increase the volume beyond a healthy level on ear buds/head phones, but frankly the way the HA industry is headed, the top ones have apps now and you can control a variety of the settings including the amplification and the volume of sound therapies.

Can someone point me to studies indicating that headphones/ear buds, played at a safe volume, of course, are harmful to tinnitus sufferers?

Thanks

 

[glennbama]

I was set to order my HA's online through ZipHearing but then I found Hearing Revolution, another online retailer who beat Zips price considerably and offered the same one year service with a local audiologist. I met the local audiologist and am very impressed. Now I am waiting until January when my insurance will kick in some for the HA's. Based on my own research and advice of the audiologist, I am going with the Signia NX5 rechargeable with notch therapy. The great thing is you have 60 days to try them and if you want to switch to another brand, you can do it until you find the brand you like best.