ENT referral

[Catsbd]

Age 16 I had an ear operation, they cut (?) the eardrum as it was badly scarred from frequent infections. So I’ve always had reduced hearing in left ear though it’s gotten worse recently. Jump forward (am now 56), I tried 2 hearing aids a year ago (private), found no improvement with LE but the aid in my RE helped massively. Can’t afford private again, it was £1,700. So I went for hearing test at local hospital. Audiologist not happy with look of LE so referred to ENT. My L eardrum is retracted. I have moderate to severe loss in LE and mild to moderate loss in RE. My GP had ordered an MRI due to my symptoms of, tinnitus and some vertigo. I see the ENT Dr again in 3 days. When I saw her 1st time 4 weeks ago she said ‘ probably due to ear infections when little and oh yeah - my age. Wasn’t interested in my various symptoms, didn’t check my glands/throat. Did pop a camera tube down a nostril. I got little to no feedback. She ordered another hearing test and tympanometery which I had the other day. My l eardrum doesn’t move. Am guessing the outcome will be ‘go away, nothing we can do’. Frustrating though.

[GRboyRiches]

Hi there, I would say that because of your continuous ear problems, your hearing loss Is conductive, in other words your loss is caused by a malfunction of the mechanical function of the ear, the eardrum, or middle ear system, that transmits the sound to the electrical system, for that type of loss, the general type of hearing aids you which see are Air Conduction, which are for the Electrical transmission system, they are really not that suitable for conductive loss because the eardrum and middle ear are not working properly, so for you to hear with any clarity you would probably need Bone Conduction Hearing Aids, which will transmit the sound direct to the electrical system, which is the Inner Ear, the ENT may be able to fit a bridge which will act as your conductive system, in any case I hope you are able to get the right advice...Good Luck.

[Catsbd in reply to GRboyRiches]

Thank you so much. I see ENT in the morning, fingers crossed xxxx

[Missy1951 in reply to Catsbd]

Good luck and keep us updated how you get on.

[Catsbd in reply to GRboyRiches]

Also thank you for explaining conductive hearing loss, I didn’t know what it meant x

[No1wthayla]

Hi, Catsbd.

I don't know if your appointments were any help to you or even if they have even occurred

yet. But, I had hearing issues with my right ear about 10 years ago that wouldn't go away. Long story short, the first three ENTs were either lying or just didn't care if I could hear. One said I could pop my ear to be able to hear better. And he tells me that I probably had a bunch of ear infections as a kid and that is what is causing the hearing issue. Hee made me mad and I stopped seeing him.

Second ENT saw me. Similar questions but sent me for a CT of my head. He agreed to put in a tube to drain the ear. Then he says I had a "birth defect" and my right ear had fewer open spaces in the bones behind the ears that help drain the ear. The holes create a back pressure that pulls in the fluids (which all ears have) and then the liquid drains through your throat. Okay, I thought he was nuts about the birth defect and he then made me mad too.

I saw other ENTs and other doctors but finally got answers from my mom's ENT, 2 hours from where I live. She said I really needed a hearing aid for my right.

I now have a great audiologist where I live that takes care of me. Nathan's gotten me deals on aids and is trying to get me a new one for my RE and add one to my LE. (Did you know that having one hearing aid can make the good ear not "work" as hard as it did without it?) The good ear then loses tones, words, consonants, vowels, etc. Certain tones are in ranges where different consonants and vowels are heard. If you have problems hearing those, your understanding of any discussion "distorts" because your brain is trying to decide did you hear the word that or cat, chat or pat.

Your aids might not have been set correctly for you. Make notes of what words you get mixed up, are there certain tones that hurt your ears? Try recording the tones (like the ding of our elevator has a pitch in it that makes me wince).

Currently Nathan is working with me to see if Vocational Rehabilitation will buy new hearing aids, one for each year. If they will, it will save me a ton of money. Or I can lease an aid through Nathan's business. I don't have enough money to buy them on my own right now but my work is suffering. I can't sit three feet from my daughter (in her 20's) and hear her in a restaurant. I turn the TV up all the time, can't hear music, hate meetings at work because I can't hear what some of them are saying.

Hearing loss will keep you from interacting with others. You won't go out, see a movie, attend family events, hate the thought of shopping where there are lots of people. Poor hearing can damage your esteem. Keep fighting for what you need. There is someone out there that will help you.