Unusual Thing Happened, Tinnitus Went Quiet After Getting Local Anaesthetic at the Dentist

[Lockwood16]

Hi all. While having some dental treatment lately I was given the local prior to the dental work and my world went quiet for hours, no buzzing in the ears.

It happened again at the Dentist some weeks later.

Have I stumbled something here? Has anyone else had this happen to them?

My Tinnitus is a result of Gunshot and other silly loud bangs from my Military Service in the 80's.

 

[GregCA]

Have I stumbled something here? Has anyone else had this happen to them?

Lidocaine is known to have a good success rate at silencing Tinnitus. This is probably what happened to you.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Lidocaine is known to have a good success rate at silencing Tinnitus. This is probably what happened to you.

You can buy lidocane patches without a prescription. I was going to place them close to my ear every evening before bed. Then I found out that lidocaine is ototoxic:
http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

 

[GregCA]

You can buy lidocane patches without a prescription. I was going to place them close to my ear every evening before bed. Then I found out that lidocaine is ototoxic:
http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

There was a clinical trial for a lidocaine patch and I don't think it yielded any good result. The successful results that I know of were through IV, and IV lidocaine is just not practical, not to mention that we don't have data about long term side effects.

WRT ototoxic medications, if you read page 2 of the brochure you quoted, it says:

Usually any hearing problem will only be caused by exceeding the recommended dosage of the medications. Often these problems are reversible upon discontinuation of the drug. Occasionally there are times when this change in hearing can be permanent.​

You see a lot of benzos on that list (which is given to people with T, sometimes with very beneficial results), you see Vicodin (which was given to me after my ear surgery), ibuprofen (commonly used)...
I'd be cautious about refusing a useful med on the basis that it could potentially make my ears/T worse if not taken appropriately (or if I'm unlucky): the alternative could be much worse. As I peruse this forum I come across people who don't want to take an antibiotic for fear that it will make their T worse. Somehow they don't seem concerned about what an untreated infection can do to a body. Fear can make you lose rationality.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Thank you for pointing the text on page 2 of the brochure. I managed not to notice it!

Fear can make you lose rationality.

Well, if a person knows that they would be committing suicide if their T gets even worse, then not taking the risk of that happening Might be rational...

 

[Michelle G]

Hello, I am 15 years old and am going to need to extract my wisdom teeth in a year or less. I am very worried about the drill they use and if it may worsen my tinnitus due to the loud noise so close to your ear. Also, I have heard stories of developing tmj from wisdom tooth extraction due to opening the jaw too wide, therefore worsening tinnitus. I have a very small jaw so I am assuming that this may be an issue. If anyone has had wisdom tooth removal post tinnitus, please tell me what I can do and what I should expect. I am already switching to a different dentist for laser dentistry when fixing a cavity so that no drill is involved, but I may have no choice with my wisdom teeth extraction as they have to cut the bone with a drill. Thank you!