Tinnitus After a Bike Crash — Is There Any Surgery to Get Rid of Tinnitus?

[cabbie101]

Hi there,

I got tinnitus in my left ear after I crashed my mountain bike. I think I hit a tree branch on the way down. My ear didn't feel right. Straight away there was a loud hissing sound. I also noticed I was hearing sounds in a tinny echoing way and had bad vertigo and was quite unbalanced. My hearing was also affected.

Two days later I went to the doctor. He sent me to an ENT who was quite unhelpful and told me there's nothing that can be done with tinnitus and I'd just have to learn to live with it.

She said because I got a bang to the head she would give me an MRI which came back clear. I was also given a hearing test which showed I had lost hearing in my left ear. My left ear also pops a lot.

Since then I have done a bit of research and I believe an MRI doesn't show up any damage to the ear - is this correct?

I also through research found out that if the ear/eardrum is damaged it is normally a 30 minute operation under local anaesthetic by an ear surgeon to repair any damage - is this correct?

It's been six months since my crash and my hearing is about back to normal but my tinnitus is as bad as ever. Given I didn't get tinnitus from loud music but from a physical trauma to the head, could there be damage to the structure of my ear - if so, could a surgeon repair any damage and would my tinnitus go away?

I was also thinking of getting a private MRI to focus just on the left ear to see if there's structural damage. Can this be done?

Basically I don't want to have to listen to this non-stop hissing in my left ear for the rest of my life if a surgical procedure could resolve the problem and remove the tinnitus.

Is there anyone on Tinnitus Talk who has had their tinnitus cured after a surgical procedure to repair damaged ear structures? I believe if I knew that there isn't a surgical procedure that would get rid of my tinnitus then I would be able to cope better with my situation.

Even if there was a micro tear on my eardrum, would a surgery help get rid of tinnitus?

Can anyone tell me where on the Internet can I get case studies of people who have been cured of tinnitus after surgery?

Thanks, all the replies are appreciated!

 

[Bartoli]

Sorry to hear what has happened.

If your crash would have caused something in your middle ear to be damaged, it would show up as a conductive hearing loss in a hearing test. A tympanogram would show whether there's any problem with the ear drum, as would a visual check in the ear canal. You said the ENT wasn't helpful, but you didn't say whether you had these tests done. I assume you had them done as they're routine.

Tinnitus could also arise from head trauma, and I'm not sure whether that's due to the impact damaging the cochlea or the nerve, or trauma to the brain itself where tinnitus is said to originate. I think both of these situations can happen.

Thirdly, because you crashed, it may be a good thing to evaluate whether your tinnitus could come from a neck or jaw problem/misalignment.

How loud is your hissing? Can it be masked or ignored to an extent?

 

[cabbie101]

 

[FGG]

@cabbie101

Did they see any eardrum damage on exam?

 

[Backpacker]

I was hearing sounds in a tinny echoing way and had bad vertigo and was quite unbalanced.

Did this stop?