Tinnitus

[absolutevil]

I've had the ear buzz for as long as I can remember. Now I'm older my left ear is almost unbearable some days although I have the ringing in both. I have an appointment with a ENT dr and audiologist in a few days. Has anyone had any experience with having hearing aids with tinnitus? I'm sure I also have a loss of hearing.

 

[gjgalligan]

I have had tinnitus since I was a kid. Flunked the draft physical hearing test in 1971. Fast forward to 6 or 8 years ago I got a set of hearing aids from Costco that came with a free trial period. Useless as far as I was concerned turned them back in to get my money back.
Ringing in my ears is just a fact of life for me.

Good luck!

 

[Wrangler Rich]

I've had tinnitus for 50 plus years, the VA issued me a set of aids and they worked for me.YMMV

 

[blackdeuce]

My ears scream 24/7. Despite that, my other hobby is home audio.....

I went to an audiologist about a year ago hoping he'd be able to help. Nothing. He didn't think hearing aids would help. But, some people report that they do.

 

[-dW]

i've had tinnitus for 30-35 years and it has gotten worse over the years. I was screened by an audiologist for hearing aids years ago and they said don't bother.. I'm ready to go check that out again though just because my hearing loss has changed and maybe the technology will help me now.

a few years after the audiologist I went to an ENT who said that some people were helped by botox injections into their inner ear. I was all in for that, but it didn't help and it really sucked.

good luck to you, and i'd be interested to hear (get it?) how you do..

 

[absolutevil]

I'll report my visit. It's never really bothered me although until recently. I discovered my state retirement insurance will pay for a large part of the hardware, the actual hearing aids. So before I'm forced into Medicare I'd get checked out.

 

[A10]

Yeah, it rings a bell. For 60 years now. Nothing can be done. Hearing aids don't help with the tinnitus but do help with clarity. Dr's can't address it so they think its psychological.

Mine is worse when it's quiet, so I try to have background noise on, like the TV or radio.

 

[Mongo Safari]

I have a VA disability for hearing loss and tinnitus. I hate hearing aids, must remove them at the range and on my motorcycle, and no help with the tinnitus; I get to listen to the Cicadas serenade me year-round.

 

[TX-Dennis]

I've had tinnitus since I was a teen. Visited with an ENT about it back then. He said it is usually caused by high frequency hearing loss, but when he tested me my hearing was quite good. No cause could be determined. At first it drove me CRAZY, but I have learned to live with it.

 

[flash60601]

Cicadas. 24/7. Every one of them that sang in the maple trees last summer now sing inside my head, and have done so for fifteen years. The VA says it was my time on the flight line with those little screechers. Ten years ago, they gave me the best hearing aids they could muster which made it possible to maintain a high quality of life and when they were out, I had a hard time hearing conversation, but with them in, things worked well and the tinnitis was squelched nearly out.

This year, they fit me with the newest technology again, and I have no problem (though I still hear it) with tinnitis, but the volume of these new ones is an either/or proposition. Turn the volume up enough to hold a normal conversation at the dinner table, and each scrape of fork or spoon on plate is translated to an insane clang. TANSTAAFL.

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

I call the noise "marsh sounds", being an old duck hunter in the marsh. I hear ringing only every now and then. Hearing aids help to hear, though still can't understand some sounds. But the voice....

 

[bearman49709]

I have a VA disability for hearing loss and tinnitus. I hate hearing aids, must remove them at the range and on my motorcycle, and no help with the tinnitus; I get to listen to the Cicadas serenade me year-round.

I also have VA disability for hearing loss and tinnitus. With the hearing aids the VA gave me I don't notice the tinnitus at all.

 

[Jimbo41]

My doc says that hearing aids will greatly reduce my tinnitus, that it's caused by a loss of high frequency input due to hearing loss. I'm considering it.

 

[TXBryan]

Every specialist I've consulted agreed they don't know what causes it and there is no effective treatment or cure. There's a laundry list of "causes" but they can't pinpoint specifics and hearing aids help a few but not most. Cicadas have been residents in my ear canals for many years know and most of the time they can be ignored except when they can't.

I can still hear deer walking slowly through the woods 50 yards away but tracking a conversation with the soft-voiced in a bar or other noisy place can be quite frustrating. Good luck!

Bryan

 

[Greyman50]

Have 50% disability for hearing loss and tinnitus. Guess I'll go back to the VA for hearing aids after reading these posts as the hearing aids the VA gave me 20 years ago only made everything Louder. I lucked out few years ago when I went to an outside audiologist for hearing test. After the test he asked about my wife and I told him could not hear her very well. He showed me the graph of my hearing and it dropped almost straight down at a certain frequency. He said all women's voices fall After the drop on the chart. I have to get the daughter and granddaughters to " speak up". He then told me he Used to work for the VA but left due to their "attitude". Have to say the med. company that works for the VA now is pretty nice/ good so far. Been for heart test and next will be for left knee, will see.

 

[cmj8591]

I thought I had it but when I went to the ENT doctor, she told me it was sinus problems caused by allergies. She treated it with anti histamines and antibiotics. It helped a lot but it still persists. My hearing was normal for my age when she tested it. She also told me that this has been one of the worst years in memory for allergies where I am which is in the northeast. She told me that the ringing is caused by the small passages in the ear swelling and blocking them.

 

[bbqsauce]

I've had it for a while - some noises just drive make it even worse.

 

[Retired W4]

1. Sound waves enter the outer ear and travel through a narrow passageway called the ear canal, which leads to the eardrum.
2. The eardrum vibrates from the incoming sound waves and sends these vibrations to three tiny bones in the middle ear. These bones are called the malleus, incus, and stapes.
3. The bones in the middle ear amplify, or increase, the sound vibrations and send them to the cochlea, a snail-shaped structure filled with fluid, in the inner ear. An elastic partition runs from the beginning to the end of the cochlea, splitting it into an upper and lower part. This partition is called the basilar membrane because it serves as the base, or ground floor, on which key hearing structures sit.
4. Once the vibrations cause the fluid inside the cochlea to ripple, a traveling wave forms along the basilar membrane. Hair cells—sensory cells sitting on top of the basilar membrane—ride the wave. Hair cells near the wide end of the snail-shaped cochlea detect higher-pitched sounds, such as an infant crying. Those closer to the center detect lower-pitched sounds, such as a large dog barking.
5. As the hair cells move up and down, microscopic hair-like projections (known as stereocilia) that perch on top of the hair cells bump against an overlying structure and bend. Bending causes pore-like channels, which are at the tips of the stereocilia, to open up. When that happens, chemicals rush into the cells, creating an electrical signal.
6. The auditory nerve carries this electrical signal to the brain, which turns it into a sound that we recognize and understand.
7. Above is from NIH

When the hair cells are exposed to extreme noise repeatedly they eventually break causing the problem noted by all of us with tinnitus.

After decades of exposure to the noise of turboshaft and jet engines, massive helicopter transmissions and M-60 machineguns, those damaged hair cells and stereocillia send bad electrical signals to the brain. For me it's a combination of high freq oscillating whining and a rushing sound that is always there. Sometimes my brain tunes it out somewhat, sometimes not. It interferes with the sound waves I want to notice, like speech. Service connected disability? Ya think?

 

[OutAtTheEdge]

I hear the ringing all day, every day (because the curmudgeon in me detests the popular "24/7" term), for something like 50 years now. I can't sleep without a sound machine, usually emitting white noise, or a fan or A/C unit. There is no such thing as silence in my life. I've mostly come to terms with it, but there are days when, for no particular reason, the volume suddenly amps up in one ear or the other, but usually the right. There are days when, if I put an ear plug in the left, I can't hear a darn thing over the ringing.

Hearing aids don't help, and neither do those bogus dietary supplements. Far as I know, the ringing will only stop one way, and I don't look forward to that day.

 

[MurphyPr]

I have had occasional ringing in the ears for years. Short duration, usually one ear or the other, rarely both at the same time. I blame the Who, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton, among others.

A few years ago I was relaxing while reading a book and listening to the cicadas chirp. Then I remembered it was November and there were no cicadas. The cicada noise is constant, but only really noticeable when ambient noise is low. I got hearing aids a couple of years ago. Wow, what a difference they have made in my life. I hadn't realized my hearing had gotten that bad.

The only thing the hearing aids do for the tinnitus, though, is make the tinnitus louder.

 

[tomahawk223]

I have 10% VA for tinnitus but they didn't give me the hearing loss, how do you prove hearing loss for the VA, I was 11B

 

[absolutevil]

Bet my wife could convince them. I sometimes don't ask her "what did you say" as much because I'm starting to get the angry look and then the overly aggressive response from her.

 

[Smoke]

My hearing aids are Phonak. They are VA issued and they are programmed to my specific hearing loss. They don't actually increase the volume but they filter out the background noise so what I hear, I hear more clearly.

I don't know how long I've had tinnitus, I don't remember not having tinnitus. But I generally assume that the very first time I lit up an M109A1 Howitzer without hearing protection was the start of my tinnitus.

I remember sitting at work one day right next to the fire alarm control panel and there was a fault alarm. After about 10 minutes A co-worker asked me "Do you not hear that alarm?" I told him "I thought it was my ears ringing."

I don't know if my hearing aids actually help with my tinnitus. They don't raise the volume of what I hear they're noise canceling so they clarify what I'm hearing.

 

[H Richard]

I have hearing aids from the VA (due to my hearing loss from working on Jet engines in the USAF). They help, but do not eliminate the constant "Crickets" chirping in my head constantly.

 

[jgang123]

Had it since 3 ear operations in my mid 30's, along with hearing loss. I am 64 now. I usually have music on to drown it out, and I have learned to just accept that it's there and I deal with it.

 

[OutAtTheEdge]

Bet my wife could convince them. I sometimes don't ask her "what did you say" as much because I'm starting to get the angry look and then the overly aggressive response from her.

That's a tough one, for sure. I'm fortunate that my wife understands thoroughly, and I often get the point across with just an apologetic look, as in "sorry, what?" It is nonetheless frustrating when the helpful reply is to repeat at full volume. It just feels like I'm getting yelled at. (Insert big ol' sigh here...)

 

[arjay]

I've had it for at least 30 years but it rarely bothers me.One nice feature is that it gets louder when my bp goes up.Kind of a warning system

 

[flash60601]

That's a tough one, for sure. I'm fortunate that my wife understands thoroughly, and I often get the point across with just an apologetic look, as in "sorry, what?" It is nonetheless frustrating when the helpful reply is to repeat at full volume. It just feels like I'm getting yelled at. (Insert big ol' sigh here...)

That seems to go with the territory. One never truly knows what it is like until they experience it for themselves, even as much as they wish to be understanding and supportive.

 

[Yendor357]

I've always been careful with my hearing. Never in the military. Always wore hearing protection when shooting or motorcycle riding. My ears still ring. Oh well. There are worse things.

 

[Drill Sergeant]

My ears also 'sing' constantly. Often, the noise simply 'disappears' when I am working on a seminar, reloading or concentrating deeply on something other than the disturbing noise my ears. Then suddenly, there it is again. Actually, it never goes away. My concentration is what seems to help.

My ENT recommended a $5,000 pair of hearing aids (said the cheaper ones won't help). Others who had spent that kind of money have told me to forget it, unless I simply enjoyed owning the best for no real result. That's too big a financial risk for me. So, I double up on hearing protection at the range or use ear plugs when at ball games with the Grandkids.

It is true that ketting older 'ain't for whimps.