ENT Should Have..

[gary]

I have read so many post here about people getting the same " there's nothing I can do, learn to live with it" from their ENT, it a damn shame. I am sure ENT's see many of T patience, they should at the least, have inquired about a psychiatrist or psychologist, for T patience.

Here you are, with this strange noise in your head, anxious, depressed, sleep deprived, possibly thinking suicide, all the while, looking to him for some sort of relief, and are just told to live with it.

Something is very wrong here. All ENT's that see T patience should have a psychiatrist or psychologist's contact information on hand, at all times, to give to T patience's. By the time a person ends up in an ENT's office, most are already a nervous wreck, some ready to crack up.

Is it that hard for an ENT to recommend a psychiatrist, or psychologist's, for his T patient to learn coping skills and get medication to calm the anxiety?

 

[Amelia]

You are so right. My ENT was much more interested in my sinus issues than my T - pretty much glossed over it

 

[vickilynn]

Sounds like they don't give a rip. They would if it were them.

 

[JTP]

I agree. And tinnitus is not by far the only ailment that gets that brush off.

 

[Lulubug69]

Maybe it's because they just don't know enough about it that they'd rather deal with the known ENT issues. I had my women's health nurse practitioner take more interest in my T than my ENT.

 

[erik]

My ENT did refer me to a Psychiatrist but I am thinking that is not the norm. Most ENT's are not equipped to handle patients with T. T patients tend to be distressed, frantic and panicking when they go to see the ENT (understandably so).

The job of the ENT is not to cure your T. I sure they would if they could however. The job of your ENT is to make sure there isn't something life-threatening or serious like an Acoustic Neuroma which may be the cause of your T. They are there to rule out the possible physical causes for your T with hearing tests, physical tests and MRI's. Once they do that and if they find no discernible cause for your T, there is little they can do. At that point it is up to you to seek out a psychiatrist, counseling or other resources.

That being said, at the time I saw a few ENT's I was seriously distressed and felt as you did that they don't give a rip about my T. Maybe that is true or maybe after ruling out the serious causes there is nothing left they can do for you. My GP was much more understanding and as GP's treat a variety of conditions, this make sense.

In my first 6 months with T, I had seen countless specialists and doctors from D.O's to ENT's to GPs to Neurologists to Otolaryngologists to Audiologists to Acupuncturists to Chiropractors to Naturopaths and in every case I was far more knowledgeable about T and little any of their treatments could do for my T.

 

[gary]

My ENT did refer me to a Psychiatrist but I am thinking that is not the norm. Most ENT's are not equipped to handle patients with T. T patients tend to be distressed, frantic and panicking when they go to see the ENT (understandably so).

The job of the ENT is not to cure your T. I sure they would if they could however. The job of your ENT is to make sure there isn't something life-threatening or serious like an Acoustic Neuroma which may be the cause of your T. They are there to rule out the possible physical causes for your T with hearing tests, physical tests and MRI's. Once they do that and if they find no discernible cause for your T, there is little they can do. At that point it is up to you to seek out a psychiatrist, counseling or other resources.

That being said, at the time I saw a few ENT's I was seriously distressed and felt as you did that they don't give a rip about my T. Maybe that is true or maybe after ruling out the serious causes there is nothing left they can do for you. My GP was much more understanding and as GP's treat a variety of conditions, this make sense.

In my first 6 months with T, I had seen countless specialists and doctors from D.O's to ENT's to GPs to Neurologists to Otolaryngologists to Audiologists to Acupuncturists to Chiropractors to Naturopaths and in every case I was far more knowledgeable about T and little any of their treatments could do for my T.

I agree, an ENT can only use what tools he has to work with, but I strongly feel, that follow up mental care like your ENT provided for you, should be part of the whole T process. a lot of people have no idea where to find a Psychiatrist that can help them. I think the ENT's should have a much better perspective of who to see, rather than the T patient.

 

[Leah]

Erik I know you are

 

[Riikka]

One ENT recommended sound therapy to me (listening to nature sounds for several hours a day) and it actually has helped me quite a lot. But that was a specialist that I had found myself.

The first ENT I met after acquiring tinnitus gave me the usual "There is nothing that can be done" answer, that left me quite devastated. Tinnitus is quite common, I wonder why ENT's aren't educated about the treatment of tinnitus patients. I also feel doctors should be more educated about psychology and how they can influence patients (for the good and the bad).

 

[Amelia]

I also wonder if they are dismissing because they think we "brought this on ourselves" ... Everyone I speak to about T think that I spent hours abusing my ears with noise when that wasn't the case at all

 

[Luca]

The ENT should have patience with his patients.

 

[daedalus]

An ENT should have:

-A brain. I mean, seriously...

-A neurologist interested in tinnitus and maybe a psychiatrist (also knowledgeable about tinnitus)

Your mileage may very but the first physician i met who was serious about tinnitus was a neurologist. After i don't recall how many pathetic ENTs. I guess the big thing for the ENT are throat cancers and the likes. Tinnitus is a neurological condition needing skills beyond their reach.

I wonder who the future "tinnitus specialists" will be when the first treatments will become popular. My bet is on neurologists.

 

[Owch]

Why doesn't the ENT specialisation try to publicise the dangers of excessive noise, ototoxic chemicals and other factors which can lead to hearing damage and tinnitus? My own level of knowledge about this condition and its causes before I got it was woeful, and now I hear so many stories about younger people getting it after a night clubbing or similar (how many times do the kids get told not to do drugs, but do they ever get told to protect their ears?) I think the total refusal of the profession to raise the issue in public borders on willful neglect

The absurd analogy of a dentist 'not telling people to brush their teeth' rather comes to mind here. There is clearly an issue in this particular branch of medicine