Otosclerosis & Tinnitus

[DebByrne]

Hello,

I am a 44 year old woman who had otosclerosis of the right ear with severe hearing loss and tinnitus. I have been wearing a hearing aid for a little over a year. I noticed the tinnitus and hearing loss about 14 years ago, but the last few years it has gotten progressively worse.

When I first got the hearing aid, it helped minimize the high-pitched "ringing" sound in the ear. However, over the past 6 months it has gotten worse. I have to increase the volume of my hearing aid and the ringing is very bad at night.

I have tried white noise, but that no longer helps.

I have done some reading, but I have no clue on the best methods to minimize or learn to ignore the noise.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Dr. Nagler]

I am a 44 year old woman who had otosclerosis of the right ear with severe hearing loss and tinnitus. I have been wearing a hearing aid for a little over a year. I noticed the tinnitus and hearing loss about 14 years ago, but the last few years it has gotten progressively worse.

The problem with otosclerosis and tinnitus is that there is no way of knowing whether or not the otosclerosis actually caused the tinnitus - and even if it did, there is no way of knowing whether or not surgically addressing the otosclerosis will improve the tinnitus. So if you are at all considering going that route, I would take tinnitus out of the equation. What I mean is, make that decision based totally on your hearing loss ... and consider any improvement in tinnitus to be a bonus rather than a reason to have the surgery in the first place. Because there might be no improvement at all.

I have done some reading, but I have no clue on the best methods to minimize or learn to ignore the noise.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Well, based on what you say above, my suggestion would be for you to consider TRT - since its efficacy does not depend on addressing the cause of the tinnitus, or for that matter even knowing what the cause is!

See: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/thoughts-on-trt.7863/

Others will, I am sure, have differing opinions on the subject. But that's how I see it.

Thanks

You are welcome.

stephen nagler