Hi guys,
I'm probably hear to just pen my story as much as anything else. I've read over these forums countless times over the past 10 years, particularly over these past nine months.
Whilst my tinnitus is not debilitatingly loud, as many of you unfortunately have to endure, I am puttng it all here in the hope that someoe may benefit from it, or to know that my story lines up closely with that of others.
I have had constant tinnitus since about 2002, but it had never really bothered me. It was something I could hear if I competely blocked my ears, or if I listened out for it late on a quiet night. It didn't come as too much of a surprise that I had tinnitus to a small extent, I had been to my fair share of raves, clubs, parties and everything that goes with it, listened to headphones and I have been around fiearms (always with the use of hearing protection) my entire life.
Aout 9 months ago in early Octoer 2014 I had one incident on a hunting trip where I fired 3 rounds from a .243 calibre rifle before realising that I did not have my haring protecion in. This is rare for me, as I am usually very pedantic when it comes to protecting my ears. That night I dealt with the usual slight increase in tinnitus that one would expect after such an exposure. In the days that followed I did not recall noticing any level of tinnitus that I would consider out of the ordinary and thought little more of it.
Approximately two weeks later I was sitting at my desk in the office at work, when I noticed that my tinnitus was exceptionally loud, where usually it is inaudible in the ambience of the fairly quiet office. It was actually at the point of being extremely distracting and became an immediate concern to me.
I began referring to "Dr Google" frantically as I am sure we all do, as I had hoped that it wasn't the recent noise exposure that had caused this, and soon found myself reading about conditions such as Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. It was at this point that I realised that I couldn't perform the Valsalva manouver at all, my tubes were completely blocked up. A few weeks prior I had returned from a work trip to the Philippines and while there I had a lingering virus/flu that lasted for a couple of weeks and had spend a lot of time flying during the tail end of the virus. Another possible cause I suspected?
After dealing with this for a number of days, I made the trip to my GP who prescribed me a short course of oral Prednisolone and Stemetil. After a couple of days this did provide some relief, reducing the tinnitus by close to 50%, and whilst it wasn't 'back to normal' it was enough that I was beginning to feel a real sense of returning to normality emotionally, and a feeling that it was a hurdle I could now put behind me, having been through the psychological torment that we can all relate to following the sudden onset of tinnitus. I could also finally Valsalva, albeit only with a tilting of my head to each side to help 'pop' the ear on the opposite side.
Unfortunately however, once I ceased the Prednisolone the tinnitus came back within 12 hours or so, with a vengeance. It was unbearably loud.
I returned to my GP who gave me a referral on to an ENT specialist. The ENT's first observation was that I have a severe nasal septum deviation and so cramped was my nasal passage due to the deviation and turbinates that she couldn't fit the camera into my right nostril to examine my Eustachian tubes (ET). She advised that septoplasty and turbinate reduction may resolve the problem, but even if it does not, I suffer from a number of other problems as a result of my nasal issues that in themself would warrant the surgery.
I was referred to an audiologist who performed a hearing and a tympanometry test which revealed that my ear pressure was 'normal' (A) suggesting no eustachian tube dysfunction. This was incredibly frustrating as I knew that my ET's were in a bit of a mess. She also stated that I had some high frequency hearing loss, particularly in my right ear which she said was consistent with noise induced hearing loss. My hearing loss isn't bad, but it is enough that at a noisy restaurant or bar I may have some minor difficulty hearing the person on the far side of the counter.
Soon after I recommenced treatment with some remaining Prednisolone and found that soon after I again experienced noticable relief, with a reduction in tinnitus and increased ease in Valsalva which returned to the way it was again following the cessation of the treatment.
The ENT soon after had me try Nasonex Allergy spray, which has worked to a small extent with increased ease in breathing through my nose and a slight reduction in the tinnitus level. I was sent for a blood test to reveal if I had any allergies, all tests came back negative.
In addition to the tinnitus and blocked ET and tinnitus, I have also had constant crackling and popping and 'squelching' noises when tilting my head or when swallowing. When I form a pressure bubble of air inside my cheeks there is a crunching noise as my ET's expand which is audible to other people if the room is quiet. My ENT was perplexed when she heard this, she couldn't believe it and her response was something along the lines of "that shouldn't happen". She has said that there may be a viral cause and has sent me away for another blood test to test for a large number of illnesses including Hep, HIV and Toxoplasmosis among many others to rule each of these out.
During this consultation she also discussed with me my audiometry results, and much of what she said seemed to contradict the words of the audiologist. For example, she said that my hearing loss is only in one frequency and only on the right side, although she said there was also some very minor loss on the left. She said that noise induced hearing loss would generally be across more than one frequency and across both ears, not just one. If anything, my left ear should theoretically be worse as I am a right handed shooter, however my right ear is worse. She said this suggested a viral cause rather than a noise induced or genetic one. I have also since had an MRI which came back normal and ruled out any accoustic neuroma or other abnormality.
Despite all of this, the underlying message in each of my consultations has been that this may not be curable, and I may ned to learn to deal with it or look at anxiety medications should they be required.
I am not really sure what to think about it all, I just hope that in time that this does go away. The crackling, popping and associated problems are bad enough on their own but it's the tinnitus that can really make me cringe at times. I guess only time will tell.
Hopefully when I do have the nasal surgery done it does indeed resolve the problems. I have read reports of people having septoplasty and it appears to be hit or miss as far as curing tinnitus is concerned. It would seem logical that any issues with your nose may prevent drainage and lead to an increased blocking of sinuses or ET's.
Please let me know if you too have shared in a similar experience or have any further suggestions or recommendations for me. If anything, hopefully this is a help in some way shape or form to others, I will keep the thread updated with any developments as they arise.
Kind regards,
Simon
I'm probably hear to just pen my story as much as anything else. I've read over these forums countless times over the past 10 years, particularly over these past nine months.
Whilst my tinnitus is not debilitatingly loud, as many of you unfortunately have to endure, I am puttng it all here in the hope that someoe may benefit from it, or to know that my story lines up closely with that of others.
I have had constant tinnitus since about 2002, but it had never really bothered me. It was something I could hear if I competely blocked my ears, or if I listened out for it late on a quiet night. It didn't come as too much of a surprise that I had tinnitus to a small extent, I had been to my fair share of raves, clubs, parties and everything that goes with it, listened to headphones and I have been around fiearms (always with the use of hearing protection) my entire life.
Aout 9 months ago in early Octoer 2014 I had one incident on a hunting trip where I fired 3 rounds from a .243 calibre rifle before realising that I did not have my haring protecion in. This is rare for me, as I am usually very pedantic when it comes to protecting my ears. That night I dealt with the usual slight increase in tinnitus that one would expect after such an exposure. In the days that followed I did not recall noticing any level of tinnitus that I would consider out of the ordinary and thought little more of it.
Approximately two weeks later I was sitting at my desk in the office at work, when I noticed that my tinnitus was exceptionally loud, where usually it is inaudible in the ambience of the fairly quiet office. It was actually at the point of being extremely distracting and became an immediate concern to me.
I began referring to "Dr Google" frantically as I am sure we all do, as I had hoped that it wasn't the recent noise exposure that had caused this, and soon found myself reading about conditions such as Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. It was at this point that I realised that I couldn't perform the Valsalva manouver at all, my tubes were completely blocked up. A few weeks prior I had returned from a work trip to the Philippines and while there I had a lingering virus/flu that lasted for a couple of weeks and had spend a lot of time flying during the tail end of the virus. Another possible cause I suspected?
After dealing with this for a number of days, I made the trip to my GP who prescribed me a short course of oral Prednisolone and Stemetil. After a couple of days this did provide some relief, reducing the tinnitus by close to 50%, and whilst it wasn't 'back to normal' it was enough that I was beginning to feel a real sense of returning to normality emotionally, and a feeling that it was a hurdle I could now put behind me, having been through the psychological torment that we can all relate to following the sudden onset of tinnitus. I could also finally Valsalva, albeit only with a tilting of my head to each side to help 'pop' the ear on the opposite side.
Unfortunately however, once I ceased the Prednisolone the tinnitus came back within 12 hours or so, with a vengeance. It was unbearably loud.
I returned to my GP who gave me a referral on to an ENT specialist. The ENT's first observation was that I have a severe nasal septum deviation and so cramped was my nasal passage due to the deviation and turbinates that she couldn't fit the camera into my right nostril to examine my Eustachian tubes (ET). She advised that septoplasty and turbinate reduction may resolve the problem, but even if it does not, I suffer from a number of other problems as a result of my nasal issues that in themself would warrant the surgery.
I was referred to an audiologist who performed a hearing and a tympanometry test which revealed that my ear pressure was 'normal' (A) suggesting no eustachian tube dysfunction. This was incredibly frustrating as I knew that my ET's were in a bit of a mess. She also stated that I had some high frequency hearing loss, particularly in my right ear which she said was consistent with noise induced hearing loss. My hearing loss isn't bad, but it is enough that at a noisy restaurant or bar I may have some minor difficulty hearing the person on the far side of the counter.
Soon after I recommenced treatment with some remaining Prednisolone and found that soon after I again experienced noticable relief, with a reduction in tinnitus and increased ease in Valsalva which returned to the way it was again following the cessation of the treatment.
The ENT soon after had me try Nasonex Allergy spray, which has worked to a small extent with increased ease in breathing through my nose and a slight reduction in the tinnitus level. I was sent for a blood test to reveal if I had any allergies, all tests came back negative.
In addition to the tinnitus and blocked ET and tinnitus, I have also had constant crackling and popping and 'squelching' noises when tilting my head or when swallowing. When I form a pressure bubble of air inside my cheeks there is a crunching noise as my ET's expand which is audible to other people if the room is quiet. My ENT was perplexed when she heard this, she couldn't believe it and her response was something along the lines of "that shouldn't happen". She has said that there may be a viral cause and has sent me away for another blood test to test for a large number of illnesses including Hep, HIV and Toxoplasmosis among many others to rule each of these out.
During this consultation she also discussed with me my audiometry results, and much of what she said seemed to contradict the words of the audiologist. For example, she said that my hearing loss is only in one frequency and only on the right side, although she said there was also some very minor loss on the left. She said that noise induced hearing loss would generally be across more than one frequency and across both ears, not just one. If anything, my left ear should theoretically be worse as I am a right handed shooter, however my right ear is worse. She said this suggested a viral cause rather than a noise induced or genetic one. I have also since had an MRI which came back normal and ruled out any accoustic neuroma or other abnormality.
Despite all of this, the underlying message in each of my consultations has been that this may not be curable, and I may ned to learn to deal with it or look at anxiety medications should they be required.
I am not really sure what to think about it all, I just hope that in time that this does go away. The crackling, popping and associated problems are bad enough on their own but it's the tinnitus that can really make me cringe at times. I guess only time will tell.
Hopefully when I do have the nasal surgery done it does indeed resolve the problems. I have read reports of people having septoplasty and it appears to be hit or miss as far as curing tinnitus is concerned. It would seem logical that any issues with your nose may prevent drainage and lead to an increased blocking of sinuses or ET's.
Please let me know if you too have shared in a similar experience or have any further suggestions or recommendations for me. If anything, hopefully this is a help in some way shape or form to others, I will keep the thread updated with any developments as they arise.
Kind regards,
Simon
Member
