A friend of mine asked me to post here on his behalf. Like many of you, he's been having a terrible time dealing with his ear issues and related problems.
About four years ago, after attending a concert, he developed bilateral subjective tinnitus, hyperacusis and aural fullness. He has mild sensorineural hearing loss. His symptoms have worsened progressively over the past four years, with more drastic changes happening in response to a few loud noise exposures. Right now he hears a dozen or so different tinnitus tones, some of which are at a frequency he can no longer hear.
As a result of his ear issues, his sleep is completely disrupted; he'll typically get four hours of broken sleep per night. Some nights he doesn't sleep at all.
He has mild Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. As a child he had Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. In the past he's had a couple of episodes of vestibular neuritis.
He's seen several audiologists and ENTs, plus a couple of neurologists. He's also had a tympanogram, CAT scan and MRI done, and there is no apparent physical problem causing all this.
So far he's tried sound therapy, acupuncture, neurofeedback, noise-generating hearing aids and cognitive behavioral therapy. Right now he's trying out auricular vagus nerve stimulation. So far, unfortunately, nothing has helped.
We'd really love any advice or just shared experience from people who have similar symptoms. In particular, is there anyone else out there with aural fullness that worsens with every loud noise exposure?
About four years ago, after attending a concert, he developed bilateral subjective tinnitus, hyperacusis and aural fullness. He has mild sensorineural hearing loss. His symptoms have worsened progressively over the past four years, with more drastic changes happening in response to a few loud noise exposures. Right now he hears a dozen or so different tinnitus tones, some of which are at a frequency he can no longer hear.
As a result of his ear issues, his sleep is completely disrupted; he'll typically get four hours of broken sleep per night. Some nights he doesn't sleep at all.
He has mild Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. As a child he had Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. In the past he's had a couple of episodes of vestibular neuritis.
He's seen several audiologists and ENTs, plus a couple of neurologists. He's also had a tympanogram, CAT scan and MRI done, and there is no apparent physical problem causing all this.
So far he's tried sound therapy, acupuncture, neurofeedback, noise-generating hearing aids and cognitive behavioral therapy. Right now he's trying out auricular vagus nerve stimulation. So far, unfortunately, nothing has helped.
We'd really love any advice or just shared experience from people who have similar symptoms. In particular, is there anyone else out there with aural fullness that worsens with every loud noise exposure?