My Hope for a Quick Fix Didn’t Work Out

[Socfish]

Woke up with tinnitus one week ago. Low humming accompanied by high pitch static sound. It's in my left ear that I normally have lots of ear wax issues with. The ear was also a little sore so I thought that the wax was probably causing the T. Primary doctor would not touch it as the wax was hard and crusty. Used drops for 5 days to soften. I went to the ENT today and she vacuumed the wax - it was disgusting, the wax was piled up and covered my ear drum. Afterwards thought my T would go away. Not so fast. It still remains at the same level as before. The ENT believes I may have ETD as I flew the same day it all began and the cabin pressure during descent was brutal.

I see on many websites, including recognized medical bodies that ear wax can cause T. My doctor does not believe it. Also gave me a hearing evaluation and my hearing is normal in all respects. Not sure where to go from here. Both my mom and father in law had T for periods of months but went away never to return. I hope this is me. Should I give the ear wax cause a little more time? Anyone with any experiences here? I'm skeptical of the ETD theory.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I went to the ENT today and she vacuumed the wax

In the future, you might want to ask the doctor to remove the wax from your ears using manual tools. I think the name of one of the tools is curette. Another tool looks like a wire loop. A number of people here got T (or got it louder) as result of microsuction.

Afterwards thought my T would go away. Not so fast. It still remains at the same level as before.

Ears take forever to recover. You almost never hear of anyone's T going away overnight. If that wax was what had been causing your T, it might go away within the next 3-12 months.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

[Contrast]

After ear wax is removed the brain will most likely unwire the tinnitus signal within a few months, tinnitus in most cases is usually modulated by the amount of hearing loss, so don't worry to much.

If you don't mind can you keep me updated on your case if it goes away or not after hearing is restored

I am personally investigating to see the likely hood of hearing restoration being a treatment for tinnitus

 

[Contrast]

Tinnitus is usually a brain alteration in response to hearing loss that occurs in about 1-5 people with hearing loss, in theory if scientist could cure hearing loss they could also cure tinnitus in people like me with permanent hearing loss. Science is not capable of curing inner ear damage, yet. but in cases of middle ear surgeries, ear wax removal, and cochlear implants they show consistent evidence of reversing tinnitus by reversing hearing loss.




I'm so unlucky I have to wait 5-15 years for a treatment for hearing loss

 

[Racehorse]

@Contrast sheeeett. We would be very fortunate if it was 5-15 years for hearing loss treatment. They been talkin about a cure for the last 100 years.....

 

[Contrast]

@Contrast sheeeett. We would be very fortunate if it was 5-15 years for hearing loss treatment. They been talkin about a cure for the last 100 years.....

theres actual clinical trials for hearing loss going on now, and a lot more to come that was never the case before in history.

 

[Contrast]

Decibel Theraputics raised 100 million since 2015 to tackle all sorts of otological disorders.

 

[Contrast]

@Contrast sheeeett. We would be very fortunate if it was 5-15 years for hearing loss treatment. They been talkin about a cure for the last 100 years.....

then i guess if the treatments for curing hearing loss fail i can always kill myself

 

[Racehorse]

well, hopefully there will be no need for that. And perhaps there will be a cure for tinnitus soon. It's that it seems almost too good to come true. How loud is your tinnitus?

 

[Contrast]

well, hopefully there will be no need for that. And perhaps there will be a cure for tinnitus soon. It's that it seems almost too good to come true. How loud is your tinnitus?

it reacts horribley to certain noises but in general 30-35 decibels

 

[stuartjames]

Hi Socfish - how are you doing now? Think im telling a similar tale...had 2 microsuctions clearing impacted wax and buzzing crept in between the 2 sessions which is still going strong today. Had a lot of earwax cleared which was causing agonising shooting pains, so hoping that the ear is still on the road to recovery. 8 days in now so early days maybe...Ent appointment tomorrow so may find out a little more.

 

[JohnAdams]

Tinnitus is usually a brain alteration in response to hearing loss that occurs in about 1-5 people with hearing loss, in theory if scientist could cure hearing loss they could also cure tinnitus in people like me with permanent hearing loss. Science is not capable of curing inner ear damage, yet. but in cases of middle ear surgeries, ear wax removal, and cochlear implants they show consistent evidence of reversing tinnitus by reversing hearing loss.




I'm so unlucky I have to wait 5-15 years for a treatment for hearing loss

I dont think it will take that long. if frequency's deal works out then certainly not 15 years. I guess all we can do is wait and see however.

 

[Socfish]

Hi @stuartjames - I'm almost 6 weeks in now. I generally have 3 or 4 good mild days along with 3 more challenging days each week of late. It is perplexing how different each day is. Ranging from silence to the high pitched annoying "eeeee" sound. The trend of late seems to be more of a hissing sound. I have discovered nothing that would influence a good day from a bad day. I'm still not sure what caused my T. I just I'm hoping to follow in my mom's footsteps - she had horrible T for 4 months back in 2002 and it just disappeared!

 

[Contrast]

Get an extended audiogram, one that test above 8k, speech and background noise and in general outside the human voice range to detect hearing loss that would go unnoticed by the standard test.

 

[stuartjames]

Socfish have you been to an ENT specialist? I went yesterday and wished I hadnt bothered to be honest. Said ear drum looked fine, hearing was fine..10 days is far too early to be concerned about tinnitus lasting , as can take a month or two for ear to settle back down , but didnt really go in to specific reasons. With you on every day changing...seems to be one day on, one day off!

 

[Socfish]

@stuartjames It does seem to alternate between days, one good and next bad. I know sleep plays a big role in distinguishing good from bad. With me, whatever I have when I get out of bed will stay the same throughout the day. Like today, just a gentle soft high pitch in my left ear. My job has been horribly stressful the last two weeks so I count myself lucky I haven't had more bad days.

I've been to two ENTs. Not much help. One told me it would never go away and I'd just have to get use to it. The other was much more caring and said it can go in many directions. Still very early in the process. My hearing test showed mild to moderate loss between 14,000 and 16,000 kHz. These are very high frequencies not tested in standard hearing tests. I was told this is normal for my age. No signs of hidden hearing loss as I could repeat a sentence with 20 other conversations going on in the background. I still believe something happen to my ears that caused the T and that over time my body will fix the damage.

 

[PortalNaut]

@stuartjames It does seem to alternate between days, one good and next bad. .... With me, whatever I have when I get out of bed will stay the same throughout the day. Like today, just a gentle soft high pitch in my left ear.\

@Socfish I know what you mean about variation between the days and also about how the morning can set the "tone" for the day. Usually what I have when I wake and am vertical is about what I have through that day.

I see you mentioned high frequencies, what test was used to determine that?

 

[Socfish]

@PortalNaut I went to a Tinnitus clinic here in Minneapolis. They checked my hearing through 20kHz.

 

[PortalNaut]

@Socfish, thanks. I'll have to call around. My exam only went to 8000 Hz.

 

[stuartjames]

Does anyone find it kicks in after a nap? Had 36 hours or so of peace, fell asleep for half an hour and woke up to loud hissing which has carried on up until now. I suppose the motto is 'dont take naps'!