Will Restoring Hearing Resolve Tinnitus?

[Mikejl46]

I have a question.

If I was able to restore hearing to the ear that has the tinnitus, will that help lessen the nuisance of the tinnitus?

I decided to go into a clinic after many years, to see what's going on with my ear that has very little hearing in. I did ask them about the tinnitus and they did tell me the fix was distraction, they didn't seem to care much.

Next step is to see the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. And before that, I need a hearing test. So I have had the hearing test done.

I found out during the hearing test that it looks like my eardrum is collapsed inward. They showed me an image of the eardrum. The nerve is still good.

They seem to think with an operation or hearing aid my hearing could be restored to normal in that ear.

Just wonder if anyone has had their hearing restored, and if that helped with the tinnitus?

 

[GregCA]

I have a question.

If I was able to restore hearing to the ear that has the tinnitus, will that help lessen the nuisance of the tinnitus?

I decided to go into a clinic after many years, to see what's going on with my ear that has very little hearing in. I did ask them about the tinnitus and they did tell me the fix was distraction, they didn't seem to care much.

Next step is to see the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. And before that, I need a hearing test. So I have had the hearing test done.

I found out during the hearing test that it looks like my eardrum is collapsed inward. They showed me an image of the eardrum. The nerve is still good.

They seem to think with an operation or hearing aid my hearing could be restored to normal in that ear.

Just wonder if anyone has had their hearing restored, and if that helped with the tinnitus?

Yes to both.

 

[JohnAdams]

YES!!!!

 

[Mikejl46]

Thanks, JohnAdams, GregCA.

I was also wondering, if I was to get a hearing aid, would that damage my ear? Because I would think a hearing aid would need to pump sound into my ear at a great volume. So I can hear.

Just like now if I want to hear music I would need to crank up the volume for that ear. And I thought that is what damages the ears.

 

[GregCA]

I was also wondering, if I was to get a hearing aid, would that damage my ear? Because I would think a hearing aid would need to pump sound into my ear at a great volume. So I can hear.

I have a hearing aid and find that it helps. I don't particularly worry about a hearing aid damaging my ear given what I know about how they work (ie they limit the output to keep it under a safe limit and won't blindly amplify any input sound). Some very cheap devices sold as assistive devices do not have this protection and could be dangerous, but if you go through a legit audiologist you will likely not be offered these kinds of devices.

Are you comfortable posting your audiogram? (feel free to blank out any personal info)

What you describe in your original post seems to indicate your losses may be mostly conductive (your audiogram should show it more clearly), so you may benefit from using bone conduction headphones.

 

[Mikejl46]

I don't have the audiogram with me, I would guess that is the chart where they made all the measurements.

I'm not familiar with all this, but they did do a test, where they put something behind my ear, where all the readings for the bad ear were up at the same level as the good ear.

 

[Contrast]

Yes, here's the evidence.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/360596/

 

[Mikejl46]

One other thing odd about that ear, If I put water or ear drops in that ear, I can hear great with that ear, as soon as I drain the ear the hearing goes away. The Doctor thought that was odd, and gave me no explanation. He seemed stumped.

 

[GregCA]

I don't have the audiogram with me, I would guess that is the chart where they made all the measurements.

Yes.

I'm not familiar with all this, but they did do a test, where they put something behind my ear, where all the readings for the bad ear were up at the same level as the good ear.

That is the bone conduction test indeed. If you have matching bone conduction levels, then your issue is most likely conductive losses on the bad ear. What you've been told by your doc makes sense to me.

How big is your air-bone gap, in dB? (difference between air conduction and bone conduction on your bad ear)

 

[Mikejl46]

Yes.

That is the bone conduction test indeed. If you have matching bone conduction levels, then your issue is most likely conductive losses on the bad ear. What you've been told by your doc makes sense to me.

How big is your air-bone gap, in dB? (difference between air conduction and bone conduction on your bad ear)

I don't know that, I don't have the chart, but I looked at it from a distance, but looking at the chart it was like 2 inch difference on the chart.

 

[Mikejl46]

I'm starting to feel like there is some hope here.

 

[Mikejl46]

What I have noticed with Tinnitus, if the constant volume is low enough you can forget about it, and the volume goes even lower, but when the constant volume is too high, which prevents you from forgetting about it, just makes it never ending noise.

I might need to run the vacuum cleaner next to my chair to get some relief.

 

[erik]

I'm starting to feel like there is some hope here.

There is always hope, keep the faith!

 

[Mikejl46]

Thanks, Erik

 

[Mikejl46]

Well I'm dealing with some pretty loud tone in my ear now for the last few weeks, had a few rough sleepless nights, had to fight off some panic. My usual music listening during the night wouldn't even cover it. Lots of up and down volume, so I have some good days, and some bad days.

Even on my good days now it's way louder than it's been in the last 8 years, but I am finding that even with this new level of loudness, you do get used to it at this new level, and can become more relaxed with it. So I am starting to feel good about it again, and can even ignore when it's loud.

So, I sure hope you all can come to peace with this endless noise in the head.

 

[Mikejl46]

Ok, so I ordered a hearing aid, I spent like 2.5 hours at the Miracle-Ear store doing a hearing test, talking about my tinnitus, had a sample hearing aide tuned in, in my ear for about an hour of that time.

During the time I had the hearing aid in I couldn't find my tinnitus. Usually when I think about it my tinnitus will always show up and start shouting at me to let me know it went no where. I tried really hard to find the tinnitus but just couldn't hear it. My tinnitus does go up and down in volume, so I can't say for sure if it was just a coincidence.

Anyway it was nice to be able to hear out of my bad ear. I'm just hoping the hearing aid will help bring in more sound to that ear and over power the tinnitus.