Tinnitus & high frequency hearing loss due to inner ear damage

[Hisham_Fouad]

Hisham, there is an excellent chance your tinnitus is not permanent, since it seems connected to an accident of some sort...

I'm so glad to hear this .... I hope you're right.

As I sit here typing my ears are ringing, so please know that I understand the frustration this invisible problem creates. I wish you the best of luck. Don't succumb to despair ...

I pray that one day you'll have peace Agilis and get rid of this tinnitus once and for all ... I'm really sad to hear you suffering like that ...... I heared that regenerating damaged hair cells researches have gone a long way ahead recently, there may still be years before this treatment hits the ground, but lets not lose hope, I remember when I was a child I had a genetic short-sightedness and didn't tolerate the idea of wearing glasses for the rest of my life as I was told it's non treatable .... Now, Lazik surgery is easy and not so expensive and what yesterday was a dream is now possible ..... Keep the faith buddy.

Hisham, go see an ENT doctor ASAP, if induced by barotrauma this should be treated as an ear emergency. From what I've been told you have a better chance of recovery if treated early.

I did went to medical consultant not 2 days after the injury but unfortunatly, they weren't experienced with such diving accident so my Cortizon treatment was delayed for 2 weeks and I can't say there's a change.

Anyway, I'm following with one of the DAN doctors now and we're on (Dietary Supplements) phase now using treatments like (Ginko Extracts) and some (Vincamine).

I hope this will help me somehow.

The Neuromonics device provides the high-frequency noise that the brain is lacking in the form of white noise, and supposedly re-trains the brain to essentially ignore the tinnitus. The device is worn for at least two hours each day, with regular audiology followup visits.

There is some literature to back this up, but it's basically all from the manufacturer. They'll tell you up front that it doesn't work for everyone, but it truly worked for me. I still have the tinnitus but it's now tolerable and back to baseline, i.e. I don't notice it unless I think about it or drink a lot of coffee.

Thanks for sharing experience Duke ... I'll take this solution into consideration for sure.

 

[redstrom]

Hisham/others

Would be interesting to find out how you ear / recovery is going.

In my case, my tinnitus is still present, 15 months after my incident. It's annoying, but manageable. I've developed an intolerance to loud noises so I've had to make some lifestyle changes (my bar tabs are a lot smaller these days). While my hearing did improve in the first month, the direct injection of steroids in my ear had no noticeable effect. I've since had quarterly checkups but still can't hear much above 4,000 khz range. Thankfully it hasn't kept me from diving!

 

[clownfishsydney]

I had a burst round window in 1998. I still have tinnitus and a slight loss of hearing in that ear.

 

[Brandon K]

I have a similar story to all of you, expect my accident happened while freediving in early May 2016. I'm a healthy 35 year old with no prior issues with hearing at all. I did 1-week of freediving in Bonaire during May 1-9th. I apparently forced my equalization too hard and one day I noticed muffled hearing and slight tinnitus. I just thought I had water in my ear or something and that it would clear up eventually. It never did and I kept freediving, often to depths of 100+ feet for 2 minutes at a time. The only thing I can think is that I forced the equalization a few times... also I was wearing a hood and it is possible that there was air trapped in the hood (always punch a small hole in hoods). In any case, I immediately saw an ENT when I got back to Michigan. Same story, I had hearing loss in my left ear only. Anything above 5,000hz was very hard to hear. Right ear was perfectly fine. At first my only symptoms were the hearing loss. But soon the tinnitus came on.... then got progressively worse. Then I started to feel dizzy sometimes, even when I was sitting still. Then I became very sensitive to loud noises. Anything loud would pretty much make me dizzy and nauseous. Right now i'm avoiding loud places like restaurants. Noises like plastic bags being crumpled and dishes clinking together make me crazy. I'm also very sensitive to pressure (think opening your window in a car). It's only been 3 weeks, but so far it hasn't gotten any better. This is very scary and I can only hope it gets better. My quality of life has suffered dramatically. It makes me want to avoid going out. As far as what's wrong, my eardrum is fine, so it's something in the middle ear. Not sure if partial tear or complete blowout of round window.... i don't think so because i never really became dizzy or anything when i was diving. My best guess is that i maybe have a slight tear of the vestibule. Or, just some form of general inner ear barotrauma. If my story resonates with anyone, please let me know. My family/friends have no idea what i'm going through and I feel like i'm suffering alone.

~ Brandon

 

[chillyinCanada]

Sorry this is happening to you. Get hold of Dan and get into see their recommended ENT.

Your story is not my story but what resonates for me is the SsssssssssssssssssSSzszsssssss.. I've got it in both ears, worse in the left than the right and am somewhat bemused to note that my left ear has started to whistle in two or three different keys. It's particularly bad this evening for no reason than I can think of. Tomorrow I'm having an audiology test. That should be interesting.

Oh, and like you, certain pitches and loud noises are very "painful", which seems counterintuitive in that I'm supposedly losing my hearing.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I have a similar story to all of you, expect my accident happened while freediving in early May 2016. I'm a healthy 35 year old with no prior issues with hearing at all. I did 1-week of freediving in Bonaire during May 1-9th. I apparently forced my equalization too hard and one day I noticed muffled hearing and slight tinnitus. I just thought I had water in my ear or something and that it would clear up eventually. It never did and I kept freediving, often to depths of 100+ feet for 2 minutes at a time. The only thing I can think is that I forced the equalization a few times... also I was wearing a hood and it is possible that there was air trapped in the hood (always punch a small hole in hoods). In any case, I immediately saw an ENT when I got back to Michigan. Same story, I had hearing loss in my left ear only. Anything above 5,000hz was very hard to hear. Right ear was perfectly fine. At first my only symptoms were the hearing loss. But soon the tinnitus came on.... then got progressively worse. Then I started to feel dizzy sometimes, even when I was sitting still. Then I became very sensitive to loud noises. Anything loud would pretty much make me dizzy and nauseous. Right now i'm avoiding loud places like restaurants. Noises like plastic bags being crumpled and dishes clinking together make me crazy. I'm also very sensitive to pressure (think opening your window in a car). It's only been 3 weeks, but so far it hasn't gotten any better. This is very scary and I can only hope it gets better. My quality of life has suffered dramatically. It makes me want to avoid going out. As far as what's wrong, my eardrum is fine, so it's something in the middle ear. Not sure if partial tear or complete blowout of round window.... i don't think so because i never really became dizzy or anything when i was diving. My best guess is that i maybe have a slight tear of the vestibule. Or, just some form of general inner ear barotrauma. If my story resonates with anyone, please let me know. My family/friends have no idea what i'm going through and I feel like i'm suffering alone.

~ Brandon

Brandon, I concur with your assessment that you have likely suffered inner ear barotrauma. Absence of vertigo does not rule this out. You need to be immediately worked up by an ENT physician who is familiar with diving. If that means going to the emergency department, then do it. Check with the hyperbaric unit at Detroit Receiving Hospital, (313) 745-8453. They may have a recommendation.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[agilis]

I've been told that tinnitus caused by barotrauma has more optimistic possibilities than tinnitus caused by loss of higher register sounds due to age or exposure to extreme noise.

Mine began when I was quite young and in a branch of the military which made loud noises as part of the rationale for its existence. Sometimes there were very loud unplanned noises, and your ears might ring for a long time, slowly diminishing until you reach an age when loss of high frequencies brings the demon back for an encore.

The brain, in its organic animal wisdom, notices that high pitched signals have stopped coming from the ears, so it creates its own. Not always, only sometimes for a lucky few.

Our lost and greatly missed Quero suffered from severe tinnitus her whole adult life. We exchanged stories, tips, experiences with the medical profession.

Tinnitus of the brain centered sort that some of us have is essentially an illusion, a hallucination. It's analogous to phantom limb pain in amputees, most unpleasant for the victim of the illusion.

 

[Storker]

Slightly off topic, but this is the first time I've heard of tinnitus caused by other external factors than excessive noise. In my part of the world, tinnitus and loss of hearing is quite common among old(er) hunters and sports shooters, but relatively uncommon in other population groups.

A psychologist friend of mine has told me that the suicide rate among tinnitus patients is at least twice of the general population. As a tinnitus sufferer myself, I can kind of understand that. (Piiiiiiiiiii..... CAN SOMEONE PHU-LEEZE TURN OFF THAT FRIGGIN' TV?????)

 

[agilis]

At least twice. I personally knew two tinnitus suicides. Tinnitus waxes and wanes, often for no discernible reason. Occasionally it can get as bad as a severe toothache, and there's hardly a thing you can do about it. Some people reach their uttermost limits and decide they'd rather die. When the demon's screaming you can't think of anything else but that damned noise.

I'm fortunate in that the number of 'good' days has steadily grown past the number of bad days, but the bad days still come round, usually just when you think life is beautiful again.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Hisham, I sympathize deeply. I've had some degree of tinnitus since I was 24. It began with a very loud explosion shockingly close to me. For a few hours it sounded like someone had hit a giant gong that continued to reverberate. It gradually decreased in volume, but has always been there at some level.

Over the past few years, it has gotten worse, at times almost unbearable. I've seen several ENTs, most recently a highly respected tinnitus specialist. To summarize, he concluded that I suffered some high frequency hearing loss because of the explosion, probably exacerbated by further exposure to ordnance connected noise (unavoidable at the time), possibly further affected by scuba diving experiences over the years, but that there was no way to tell for certain at this point. His assumptions were based almost entirely on my history. He did use some interesting equipment. The recent worsening of my tinnitus is, he believes, age related, caused by additional upper register hearing loss, confirmed by audiologcal exam results that go back many years.

There is no cure in most cases of tinnitus associated with high frequency hearing loss , only palliative measures. These, I'm told, tend to vary among individuals. What they really do is reduce the tinnitus to its lowest possible level by avoiding things that jump up the volume. Some of the things that seem to work for me and lots of other people include getting enough continuous uninterrupted sleep, staying well hydrated, reducing stress levels, avoiding loud music and other high decibel sounds, reducing salt intake drastically, regular exercise, keeping the weight down, eating in a manner that keeps cholesterol levels as low as possible, and regarding asprin and caffeine as poisons of the first magnitude. If all that isn't bad enough, chocolate is frequently another trigger, as is smoking.

I sometimes have episodes of really bad tinnitus. When I do, my ENT prescribes Clonazepam for a couple of weeks. It helps. There are people who have to cope with far worse things. In truth, I have not experienced total silence in decades. As with so many things in life, one adapts.

I'm about in the same boat as you. I damaged my ears pretty bad in my early 20's with a lot of unprotected gun fire.
Then after that I worked in noisy shops and at home doing a lot of hammering etc.
My hearing is shot. I've had tinnitis for many years and it's just something I've gotten used to. Tinnitis can be usefull in some cases. My ears will ring loud when I'm getting a hit of narcosis. This is the first thing that goes off just like an alarm in my head.

But giving up coffee? NO WAY!!