so, where do i start? I went deaf one afternoon back in january, along with pain under my eye, just like you get with sinusitis. I had a shower later and managed to get water in that ear (to the point where i had to tilt my head and tap to get it out) and since then i noticed a slight ring in that ear. fast forward a week later and im in the doctors being told i had a small amount of fluid and redness on the ear drum. That has now all gone, but the T hung around and got louder and feels like it has spread to my other ear.
long story short, i FINALLY got referred to ENT back in April (after having a hearing test in boots that showed my ear drum wrinkled and discloured - turns out that was a piece of dead skin stuck to my ear drum) ENT couldn't find anything wrong with my ears and im fairly certain he said he wanted to send me for an MRI - still waiting for a hospital letter nearly 2 weeks later, and he sent me away (discharging me from ENT) with a leaflet called 'Living with Tinnitus'
Now i feel like i have nowhere to turn to to get help. My parents don't really let me talk about it and i feel like im burdening my husband with this (along with crying nearly all the time) How do i go about seeing an audiologist? im tempted to go and see if i can get some hearing aids to help. I hear the noise ALL the time, unless im in a noisy environment - trucks going past me on the road block it out & i sleep with a fan on, but i can still hear it, but manage to fall asleep and stay asleep - the early days were A LOT different.
im terrified of sleeping away from home now, i go on holiday in august and have downloaded a fan noise onto my phone to help me sleep, just hope it doesnt annoy my mum or my daughter.
i do suffer from anxiety, always have, and can't seem to find something to make the noise fade away into the background
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farmerwife85
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Hi, did the hearing test at boots show any hearing loss, I'm amazed they didn't give you a hearing test when you went for your ent appointment. If you have any hearing loss then a hearing aid may help to Lower the tinnitus, or at least provide you with masker to give you some relief. These seem to be quite common tools for helping people with tinnitus and yet ent don't seem to be even aware of their existence? Really hope you can find the help you need.
Hi, yes the test at boots showed i had some low frequency hearing loss, and then i had one before i saw the ent doctor the other week, showed exactly the same. but i feel its the constant T that is stopping my hearing - i had pretty perfect hearing a few months before T appeared, to the point where i could hear people talking 200yards away in the middle of the night - i could make out a bit of what they were saying (i live on a farm and we had poachers in that night and i was being nosy and trying to hear what was going on lol)
my husband (who is 80% deaf in 1 ear after suffering from infections and perforations as a child) went to have a hearing aid trail in a shop in our local town and he got asked if he suffered from T. he said no, but asked why they wanted to know, and they said that theyve had people come in and get a hearing aid and found that the T either lowers or they can't hear it. i guess that will be my next port of call after this supposed MRI
Is it worth pushing for a referral to get a hearing aid on the NHS, even if its only mild hearing loss it may help and if you can get the ones with masking sounds that may also help. Save you shelling out a fortune on the high Street.
I would ring the ent department and ask their advice on how to get a referral, or maybe ask your gp? Also amplifon do free hearing aid trials so you could at least get an idea if they would help.
Amplifon is the company my husband went to see! They were good with him, although they are now wanting hubby to see ent Incase there’s an operation to help fix his hearing (he had one when he moved to France back in 1998 to fix his eardrum but left him deaf)
As previously stated get an appointment with audiology under the nhs, usually referred via E.N.T. Dept, do NOT buy anything privately it costs a fortune and nhs will provide similar or better for FREE, good luck.
Go back to your gp, as there may not be an audiology dept where you are, he/she will know, but audiology will give you there hearing aids/ maskers if they deem your T bad enough to have them, keep pushing and don’t be put off and avoid private stay nhs even if you have to travel, keep in touch with your progress.
The hospital I went to was Basingstoke which comes up on the BTA site as one of the places to go to for support 🤷🏻♀️
I’m so confused. Mines not a ringing as such but a humming noise that is constant in my head if that makes sense. I used to get ringing coming in if in a quiet room but that’s gone down A LOT since it first started
Although I already had (expensive) hearing aids from the Tinnitus Clinic in London which amplify sound for a slight hearing loss and have white noise masking, I took advantage of a free hearing test with Boots who then referred me through my doctor to the local excellent NHS Hearing clinic who also allocated me with hearing aids, plus white noise masking. I find these such a prop - especially psychologically. When under stress - through bereavements etc. - our limbic system, which is close to the audiological area in our brains, goes into overdrive and it is very hard to cope. Kalms and CBD oil may help to calm until time and acceptance make life easier. Try to look outwards and keep busy with projects that involve the brain! Every best wish....and also get a Sound Oasis box from the British Tinnitus Association shop which can be used with head-phones if necessary and is very useful at night.
Wouldn’t boots of Said that to me? He told me to get referred to ent (as he thought I had glue ear) but nothing else. I might take advantage of amplifon hearing test as I only went to boots back in april
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