Did Ultrasound Ever Affect Your Tinnitus?

[RudyL90]

Hey there,

I recently achieved my Master of Science degree in physics and soon I will have to choose between two jobs offers.
One of them is a job as R&D scientist, in which I will work with ultrasound on a daily basis. I think that this job suits me best.

Now, I can imagine that not many of you experience ultrasound on a daily basis (most likely none of you)... But has any of you ever experienced an effect of ultrasound on your tinnitus? Perhaps you went to the hospital for ultrasound imaging and then your tinnitus changed?

Kind regards,
Rudy

 

[leledany]

Life is more important than a job, however to give you a better advice you must say us how you get T

 

[RudyL90]

Life is more important indeed. I do not want my job to change my T and thereby effect my life and that is why I ask this question here.

My T was purely caused by health anxiety. It was one of the symptoms and it got worse because I was anxious about my T too. My life is a lot better now. T is still there, but I am able to live my life without having to focus on my T all the time. It only bothers me in silence. But I do not want it to become worse due to regular exposure to ultrasound. :')

 

[leledany]

For me is a total mistery how one person can get T from anxiety (I suffered for panic attack for many years in my youth). If what you claim is really true, you should not have problem to work with ultrasound or at least you have the same risk as a normal person. It is totally different if you had acquired T from loud noises like my case

 

[Julien87]

The dentist used what I think is an ultrasonic (or suprasonic ?) tool once for plaque removal. It was especially noisy for me. Strangely, following this, my T randomly turned into a louder and very high pitch noise for some minutes at night. Fortunately it only lasted about ten days, but now I ask the dentist not to use this tool anymore because I am scared it happens again and it becomes permanent.

 

[Tinker Bell]

The dentist used what I think is an ultrasonic (or suprasonic ?) tool once for plaque removal. It was especially noisy for me. Strangely, following this, my T randomly turned into a louder and very high pitch noise for some minutes at night. Fortunately it only lasted about ten days, but now I ask the dentist not to use this tool anymore because I am scared it happens again and it becomes permanent.

Ultrasound devices used for imaging and ultrasonic dental devices are not the exact same device. Ultrasound machines use sound waves at frequencies higher than the human ear can hear. Obviously, ultrasonic dental cleaning devices are loud and emit a very audible high pitch noise.

Due to two very high risk pregnancies and other health concerns, I have had more than 25 ultrasounds. No impact on my hearing. No impact on my children's hearing either.

Ultrasound technicians administer multiple ultrasounds a day. Unless there is evidence of greater hearing loss in ultrasound techs versus the general public, I think you should be okay, @RudyL90.

 

[Aegaeon]

You can't even hear the medical ultrasound, how it would affect your tinnitus? This is laughable. You need to relax and take it easy.

 

[Julien87]

Thank you for the info @Tinker Bell

 

[leledany]

You can't even hear the medical ultrasound, how it would affect your tinnitus? This is laughable. You need to relax and take it easy.

It does exist ultrasound weapons the could cause severe problem to the ears even if the sound is not hearable. Pls inform yourself

 

[Aegaeon]

It does exist ultrasound weapons the could cause severe problem to the ears even if the sound is not hearable. Pls inform yourself

If this is what the author will use in his practice then I have to apologize. Definitely you need quite some protection then and still it might not be safe enough.
I responded to his question of whether hospital utrasound can affect the tinnitus based on my experience.

 

[jeannie]

I have had ultra sounds and it did not affect my Tinnitus at all.

 

[vermillion]

You can't even hear the medical ultrasound, how it would affect your tinnitus? This is laughable. You need to relax and take it easy.

It does exist ultrasound weapons the could cause severe problem to the ears even if the sound is not hearable. Pls inform yourself

Maybe you mean ultrasonic weapons.

SONIC BOOM!

 

[JurgenG]

Life is more important than a job, however to give you a better advice you must say us how you get T

Well, by that advice everyone with any form of T should not leave the house.. I try to stay away from loud jobs, since I am a freelancer, but many of my colleagues just continue safely.

 

[RudyL90]

Thank you all for your replies. I've been so busy that I did not take the time to visit the forum.
Eventually I chose for the other job. Not because I was afraid of the ultrasonic sound, but for different reasons. It was a hard decision.

I do believe that ultrasonic sound might effect T, but in a similar way as hearable sound could effect T. It's the loudness rather than the pitch that matters... Problem is that since you cannot hear ultrasonic sound, you cannot detect whether the sound will damage you.

Thanks again and I wish you all the best!

 

[MadelineS]

I'm in an accelerated ultrasound program. I had only ever noticed very mild tinnitus before starting the program... I only realized how bad it had gotten when I started studying for finals and the ringing was making studying such a challenge. Although the ultrasound waves can't be heard, the PRF of the transducers are within the audible range. Not sure if that's what caused my problems, but I'm about to start my second semester tomorrow and I'm nervous that the constant exposure to ultrasound is what has caused this sudden worsening in my tinnitus.

 

[Tony Phylactou]

Hey there,

I recently achieved my Master of Science degree in physics and soon I will have to choose between two jobs offers.
One of them is a job as R&D scientist, in which I will work with ultrasound on a daily basis. I think that this job suits me best.

Now, I can imagine that not many of you experience ultrasound on a daily basis (most likely none of you)... But has any of you ever experienced an effect of ultrasound on your tinnitus? Perhaps you went to the hospital for ultrasound imaging and then your tinnitus changed?

Kind regards,
Rudy

I had cataract operation using ultra sound and my tinnitus has reached the top, and I have not been the same person since then. Mind you that happened about a week-10 days after, unless it started then and has been gradually increased. My doctors say it is due to stress but I am not 100% convinced. Before I had it done I asked the opinion of 4 ENT doctors and they all said ultra sound cannot damage my ears. I wish I never made that decision because I could have my eye done 2 or 3 years later.

 

[RudyL90]

I eventually chose a job in which I did not have to work with ultrasound as much (I still do though). So far, I have not noticed any consequences.
I do believe that ultrasound can damage your hearing, but whether it does greatly depends on the ultrasound its intensity. The intensity of the ultrasound in my experiments is low: therefore I deem it safe.

 

[all to gain]

I had cataract operation using ultra sound and my tinnitus has reached the top, and I have not been the same person since then. Mind you that happened about a week-10 days after, unless it started then and has been gradually increased. My doctors say it is due to stress but I am not 100% convinced. Before I had it done I asked the opinion of 4 ENT doctors and they all said ultra sound cannot damage my ears. I wish I never made that decision because I could have my eye done 2 or 3 years later.

So the cataract operation made your tinnitus worse? Did it go back to baseline eventually?
I need cataract surgery within the next year. Why does everything have to be so complicated.