Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

[Goofy]

What do you think to having more HBO?

At this point I am not sure. My T seems more sensitve now.

 

[Goofy]

FINALLY my T has calmed down; I thought it would never happen. Went for a walk today and picked up aluminum cans out of the road ditch. I live in the country and I will never understand why people are so lazy they can't take their trash home with them. Instead they throw it out in the road ditch. Sorry for venting.

I have been trying to mask my T some during the day with a frequency finder I found. It seems to help a little sometimes. I am supposed to take a trip to Germany in a week and have to decide Monday if I am going or not. If I continue to feel better I might, but I am a little worried about my T spiking with the long flight.

 

[Hudson]

I am at about ~6 weeks since I slightly worsened my tinnitus by being in a bar for a few hours with no ear plugs. Thoughts on weather it would be worth it to try HBOT? I have no idea how I would go about doing it
. I live in the states, I have pretty good insurance but I am assuming I would need a physicians referral? Or just call up the hospital and ask to have it done for recent hearing damage?

 

[Louise]

How did you get it Hudson?

 

[Louise]

FINALLY my T has calmed down; I thought it would never happen. Went for a walk today and picked up aluminum cans out of the road ditch. I live in the country and I will never understand why people are so lazy they can't take their trash home with them. Instead they throw it out in the road ditch. Sorry for venting.

I have been trying to mask my T some during the day with a frequency finder I found. It seems to help a little sometimes. I am supposed to take a trip to Germany in a week and have to decide Monday if I am going or not. If I continue to feel better I might, but I am a little worried about my T spiking with the long flight.

Its good news Goofy. About the T not the cans

Can you read up about flights with T, there should be info on here. I'd hate for you to worsen it again by taking a flight.

 

[Hudson]

I have had T since I was 17 (27 now). I was in a bar and they had some loud non-live music.... I suppose I am wasting my time thinking it can help.

 

[Hudson]

So does anyone think HBOT might be beneficial to me? I could at least call up the department to ask if they would do it. Note, I have had tinnitus for nearly 10 years, but recently made it a bit worse. I am wondering if the HBOT could help alleviate the recent worsening or if I am just pissing in the wind.

 

[Louise]

I dont like to be the foreteller of doom but I dont think it could help. I have worsened by T with noise a few times since I've had it but the noise was not at a dmaging level, for normal ears anyway. So I dont know if lesser noise now damages vulnerable ears, though I cant see it would after 10 years, or whether the T reacts somehow.

Anything is worth a try though and its better to try and fail than to never try at all and keep wondering and kicking yourself in case it would have helped. Then again, there's the school of thought that to keep trying and failing is harmful to the psyche. I dont know. I dont know, flip a coin?

 

[Markku]

@Hudson:

"If the onset of affliction was longer than 3 months up to several years, no hearing improvement can be expected in the majority of patients (fig. 3); however, one third of the cases reported an intensity decrease of tinnitus, 60-62% reported no change and 4-7% noticed a temporary intensity increase (fig. 4)."

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy.211/page-7#post-9834

It's up to you... but don't expect much... if you can bear the cost (I don't know how much they charge for it where you live) and want to see what it does to you, then go for it.

Flip a coin, indeed.

 

[Goofy]

It has been 5 days now that my T is back to a manageable state. I am thankful for that and hope it stays that way for a while. I have been taking LipoFlavinoid again for over a week now after stopping them for a week and also add gingko pills. I am not sure if that is what helped my T to low again or not. T is so unpredictable and it is hard to tell what helps sometimes.

I am leaving Sunday on a business trip to Germany and will return Friday. I am a little anxious about the trip and hope my T stays low. I have requested seats at or in front of the wings and have noise canceling headphones.

 

[Louise]

Good luck Goofy. Do noise cancelling headphones actually protect your ears from noise?

 

[Markku]

Good luck Goofy. Do noise cancelling headphones actually protect your ears from noise?

Yes they do! And are very good at that. Perfect for plane trips.

http://en-us.sennheiser.com/professional-dj-headphones-noise-cancelling-hd-280-pro
Up to 32 dB of ambient noise attenuation

other good ones, more expensive: http://en-de.sennheiser.com/dj-headphones-noise-reduction-hifi-stereo-hd-25-1-ii

Bose has the QuietComfort line etc.

 

[Louise]

Thats good then, I didnt know if they were just meant to negate outside noise by playing different noise in.

 

[Goofy]

Good luck Goofy. Do noise cancelling headphones actually protect your ears from noise?

They are full over the ear headphones and is suppose reduce up to 18 decibels of active noise reduction. I will also have earplugs with me.

 

[Louise]

Sounds like you'll be ok then. Let us know how you go on with the flight.

 

[Plucky]

So does anyone think HBOT might be beneficial to me? I could at least call up the department to ask if they would do it. Note, I have had tinnitus for nearly 10 years, but recently made it a bit worse. I am wondering if the HBOT could help alleviate the recent worsening or if I am just pissing in the wind.

Hudson, I just finished ten consecutive days of HBOT here in northeast USA with no positive results, negative result was 1500.00 out of pocket. I found a private HBOT facility, and the treatments are not usually covered. You can try to get a prescription from your dr or see a staff dr. for 100$ more. Your price / results may vary

 

[Goofy]

Sounds like you'll be ok then. Let us know how you go on with the flight.

Made it to Germany, the first 2hr flight was manageable. T was a little bothersome and the headphones helped some. The second 10hr flight was a different story. Tried sleeping on plane and that did work to well got a little sleep but not much. At about the 8hr mark I was ready to get off the plane. My t would not let up. I think the biggest problem was leaving 12:00pm(cst) Sunday losing 7hr time difference and landing 8:30am German time and then staying up till 11:00pm. Today was a little better. Hope the return home on Friday goes better.
I brought some Amitriptyline with me but have never taken it since having T. Don't know if it would help or not. Does anyone have a suggestion???

 

[Louise]

So it was lack of sleep rather than than the plane noise or compression that made the T worse?

Amitriptyline is the anti-D that is recommended for T. It can reduce the noise. There's been a study or two about it. I got some last year but wouldnt take it when the patient info leaflet listed tinnitus as a side effect. Not all meds put that as a known side effect so I just didnt risk it.

What would you hope to achieve by taking it, the anti-D effect or sleep enhancement?

 

[Goofy]

So it was lack of sleep rather than than the plane noise or compression that made the T worse?]
What would you hope to achieve by taking it, the anti-D effect or sleep enhancement?

I think it was a combination of sleep and plane.

Sleep would be good and if it helped a little with T would be great.

 

[Louise]

Are you going to take the Amitrip then Goofy?

 

[Goofy]

Are you going to take the Amitrip then Goofy?

I don't think I will yet. I am going to get an appointment with an audiologist next week and see what he suggests.

I made it home from Germany after 22hrs of travel. My T doesn't like long flights. I mowed part of my yard today for about an hour total. The first 30 min. T didn't seem to change, stopped for about 15 min. and mowed for another 30 min. and when I got done my T was a little aggravated. Need to finish mowing but will wait and see my T is like in then morning.

 

[Louise]

A lot of people wear earplugs for mowing. Its too loud. If you use a decibel meter on it you will see. I use plugs for hoovering too.

Doubt your audiologist will know about drugs. In the end itll be to you to dig up all the info you can from the net and make your own decision. That seems to be the way of things with T, its very DIY

 

[Goofy]

A lot of people wear earplugs for mowing. Its too loud. If you use a decibel meter on it you will see. I use plugs for hoovering too.

Doubt your audiologist will know about drugs. In the end itll be to you to dig up all the info you can from the net and make your own decision. That seems to be the way of things with T, its very DIY

My T bad this morning. I don't know if it was from the mowing or being at my daughters Prom for a little while last night. I did wear earplugs and earmuffs while mowing to help protect my ears but didn't wear my earplugs the whole time I was at the prom. I sure hope it goes back down today. It always worries me went it increases.
I am going to the audiologist in hope of being able to mask and get custom fit ear plugs.

 

[izis]

Hello I'm new here.
Just wanted to say, I did the HBOT treatment, started 14 days after the catastrophic clubbing event which left me with an incredibly loud ringing noise in my left ear and 50dB hearing loss at 4000hz. I did 10 sessions (100euros each one) and my T calmed down to a more pleasant hiss after the 4th one.

I think hyperbaric chamber SHOULD be advised immediately for every patient who comes to the doctor after exposure to loud noise left them with tinnitus and/or hearing damage. Of course it's not 100% sure it will work, but it CAN, while crying at home like a whiny little baby CAN'T. It's expensive, but worth trying. It saved my life. Doctors don't know about it, several Ear, Nose, Throat specialists I spoke to didn't even heard of it being useful for acoustic trauma.
Luckily, I did the research myself and found this topic on the forum and immediately arranged the treatment.
Thank you everyone.

You can read my full story in the Introduce yourself section of the forum.
If you have any questions about this treatment you can ask me.

 

[Louise]

Thanks for the post Izis. Its so good to hear that it has helped someone as its one of the very few things that we can do.

I agree that doctors and ENT etc don't know anything about this treatment and they are the ones who should know.

When I found out about it, it was too late, I'd had T for over 3 months.

 

[Goofy]

I agree that doctors and ENT etc don't know anything about this treatment and they are the ones who should know.

My ENT did want me to do the treatments. He said it would make it worse. Well I did it anyway and had a few days of really low T. I think I was to close to the onset is why it did last.

 

[Louise]

I'm surprised the ENT even knew about it. I always wish I had found it in time. I was about 4 months after onset when I discovered it properly. I'd spent the first months wasting my time on another treatment

 

[izis]

In fact, one ENT knew about it. I remember when I already decided to do the treatment I spoke with him, but he discouraged the idea by saying it's only useful in the first 24 hours.

 

[Louise]

So he had heard about it but didn't 'know' about it and hence the stupid advice on 24 hours. Good job you did your own research.

 

[izis]

yes, like that, sorry for my english, it isn't my first language and I don't live in an english speaking country.

But it's quite possible that, even with the degree of damage I had, HBOT could completely heal my hearing if I theoretically got there right after the party.. but was still drunk so it would be difficult