First referral to ENT

[isalou]

My 16 yr old son, who has suffered for as long as he remembers, has a ENT appointment coming up in August.

He already had a hearing test which shows he has good hearing but has never been referred to a specialist until now as he has always been told there is nothing they can do.

However he now has this appointment and we want to make the best of it. Can anyone advise on questions we should ask, what we should expect or anything we should push for?

The appointment is in Oxford.

All advice appreciated.

Thank you

[Hidden]

HI Isalou,

I will assume that your son is experiencing tinnitus. It is not necessarily true that nothing can be done. On the contrary, in most cases there are treatments that can help improve the quality of a person's life with tinnitus, providing they are available. Once tests have shown there are no underlying medical problems associated with the ears that is causing the tinnitus. He should be referred to a Hearing Therapist for help with tinnitus management.

If there is a medical problem causing the tinnitus, hopefully the ENT doctor will suggest a treatment.

It all depends what has caused the tinnitus? You shouldn't really be asking the ENT doctor any questions unless he/she asks if you have any?

I have written an article on tinnitus that explains what usually happens when a patient first sees their ENT doctor for a consultation. It also explains treatments that can help with tinnitus and what can cause the condition. I also cover hyperacusis and treatments for it. The article: Tinnitus, A Personal View, is too long to be posted in this forum at 13,000 words. If you would like a copy in PDF format. Please send me your email address by Private Message. Please do not post it in the main forum.

All the best

Michael

[isalou in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much. I will do that now.

[NicTinnitus]

Hello and welcome to the British Tinnitus Association forum isalou . Do feel free to ask any questions, I hope that you find this a helpful and supportive place.

We have some resources that you might like to check out in addition to our home here:

tinnitus.org.uk

- the page on tinnitus services should give your son some idea what to expect tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-se...

takeontinnitus.co.uk

- an online self-help programme

Helpline 0800 018 0527 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) (outside the UK you can call [phone])

Warmest wishes

Nic (BTA Communications Manager and Forum Administrator)

[Cruncher]

Hi! I have gone to 3 different doctors about tinnitus. I find they are sometimes not as caring as I would expect because most of them view tinnitus as not a big deal because usually it does not mean anything fatal. They did not offer me too much hope, because it can be very hard to find the cause of tinnitus and fix it. They seemed like “oh well, just gonna have to deal with it”. That is my personal experience. Because it is not fatal and hard to find a cause for as there are many of them, the ENTs I have had were not really concerned and didn’t really want to continue to see me about it. One wouldn’t even sit down and talk to me about it after I got the hearing test, he just stood in the doorway and talked for 5 minutes then left. I would ask them what they know about the causes, I would bring up patterns the tinnitus has, if your son has any balance issues... and any suggestions for coping. Best of luck, and I think one day your son will be ok with the tinnitus and feel like himself again with it. I used to be a bit of a wreck about it, and now I feel like me again and I am living my life happier than I have ever been, even with tinnitus sometimes in the background.

PS air purifiers are a nice background white noise that provided me comfort and helped block tinnitus and they have different levels of loudness and are meant to be on 24/7.

[isalou]

Updating as my son had his appointment today. My Husband went with him so I don’t know exactly how it went other than the consultant appeared to listen and my son felt happy about this. His hearing test was fine and then he was asked a series of questions (such as can you hear your own eyeballs or something similar). The consultant is referring him for some counselling sessions to help with coping with the tinnitus and he is also referring him for a CT scan to rule out Superior canal dehiscence.

Thank you for all your advice so far.

[isalou]

Updating this to say that my son has now been diagnosed with superior canal dehiscence, after his CT scan. He is starting hearing therapy in two weeks and has an appointment to see a specialist re the SCD in November.