ENT appointment left me feeling confused

[Am3ient]

Hi people.

It's been a while since my last past as I've been dealing with a back injury on-top of this T spike. Someone up there has it in for me I swear!! 😂

So I finally had my ENT appointment this week and was left feeling utterly confused. For clarification I first had an ent appointment back in 2013 in which the specialist at that time told me I had to protect my ears, not wear in ear earbuds for music and that my tinnitus would likely worsen over time. advice I took onboard so often wore ear plugs when in loud environments and totally changed my ear care habits.

Fast forward to my most recent appointment and I turned up wearing ear plugs as I've found with this latest spike that loud sounds make my ears pulsate and react uncomfortably. The current specialist asks me why am I wearing them so I tell him I'd been previously told to protect my ears in loud places and what i was advised to avoid. He then proceeds to tell me how wrong that information is and how it could be worsening my condition by making my ears sensetive (which kinda makes sense). and also how tinnitus doesn't worsen over time and how it can even improve.

he did an ear test and examination and said I had slightly more hearing loss than last time but it wasn't a great deal He gave me hearing aids and said these could help with my T. My recent T spike had settled a bit over the last couple of weeks, but after this appointment, wearing these and changing my habits I feel my T has increased a little more.

To say I'm confused is an understatement. The contradictory information I've been given has left me feeling bewildered, and now with my T spiking I'm confused as how to move forward. Like do I keep wearing these? uugh so confusing

[rabbits65]

I think from what you’ve said this person has given you correct information as ear plugs do make things worse , I only tried them once and that was it . Try not to stress as your make your T worse . Conflicting advice is a nuisance I agree .

[Suz_2]

I have been confused like you, during the first few months of T - I hv severe tinnitus since Aug of last yr and seen ENT and Audiology. I use ear plugs in car and in loud environments because without these my T would rise further, but i have been told as well by Audiology that I shouldnt be doing this - but i feel , it does control my T from rising too much. I received hearing aids last Oct and had to stop after 3 days as it went ballistic when i took out HA's and I went through a traumatic time, with lack of sleep, extreme daytime tiredness, weight loss , lack of apetite - the Audiologist said over and over again that it was psychological which it definitely, absolutely was NOT. If yr T is outwith the 'normal' T then the standard treatments can be difficult and you have to trust yr own instincts about what does and doesnt work for you. I am going to try HA's again , this time with a more gentle, lower volume approach from Audiology. This was my experience but I have a tinnitus that reacts to noise and is not the 'normal ' tinnitus

[Tanney]

I have tinnitus in both ears (bilateral meniere's disease) and I've found that hearing aids work well in reducing the tinnitus level my brain "hears". And it has been mentioned hundreds of times on this site, stress/anxiety/allergies make tinnitus worse. The more you worry about it the worse it becomes. Obviously it is very difficult to control our emotions so I've found that taking a low dose of Ativan (sedative) is effective at reducing anxiety and tinnitus. Ativan also calms the inner ear....the source of most tinnitus. For those of you who have allergies + tinnitus I suggest you use a saline nasal flush + antihistamine nasal spray...EVERY DAY.

[PABLR]

I would be very suspicious of anyone who says that tinnitus doesn’t change. I suspect that anyone who is on this forum knows that tinnitus changes. The fact he says it can improve also implies change! Mine started out many years ago with what I think of as a straight line whine and since then as my hearing has deteriorated, so has my tinnitus to the point where I can sometimes hear five sounds at once. I am lucky in that while annoying it rarely gets to the point where I can’t be distracted from it. For me hearing aids have made no difference. I am sure not putting loud music straight into your ears is good advice (for everyone, in fact) but can’t personally comment on using earplugs. Maybe what you consider loud has a lower threshold than your first ENT? I would consider loud to be lawn mowing, concerts, parties, a football crowd, but not say a restaurant most of the time. That of course is my opinion, no science to back me up. I assume it will be forever before you get to see another specialist so if it were me I would do whatever is most comfortable for me. Here in the USA (transplanted Brit) no-one seems terribly interested in my tinnitus as they really (and I think honestly) don’t understand it. There are. People you can see to help you cope with it, but I never have.

[Destructor]

I would agree more with the latter statement as if your ears are blocked then you are going to hear the internal sounds of T and PT more. That said, if by ear plugs you are referring to the type that aim to reduce certain sounds eg loud bass if you were at a concert for example and only wear them on such occasions for the brief period of time in order to prevent those sounds from deafening you then I can't see the problem. Obviously only you know whether wearing anything in your ears is likely to irritate them or not. I got given a white noise player (like a hearing aid design) that fits in my ear. It doesn't suit my PT as the sound is totally different but I find it rather irritates my ear. I would agree T and PT both change over time. I think it's hard for people who don't have T and PT to understand this especially ENT. I've seen people who take the usual approach that we just have "to live with it" and in most respects we do, but also at times I've had an odd month without it, or like now several months with it being chronic! I'm also aware that I'm sensitive to certain sounds like jet planes, lawnmowers and dogs and try to avoid being near them wherever possible. I don't think being near them will desensitise my ears. Also when using a drill etc. I try and briefly wear over ear protectors to protect my ears. Sometimes this exacerbates my PT as it not only blocks sound but also puts pressure on my temples. I guess what I'm saying is it's a fine line between protecting your hearing from getting any worse and not blocking sounds to make your T any worse. Although misunderstanding or not explaining thoroughly enough is definitely a problem and as others have posted ENTs just don't know enough about it all and even those who have had it all have it differently. Personally I think they need to correlate data a lot more to get a broader sense of each person's problems.

[oldskir]

Hello Am3ient,

Sorry to hear of your issues Do your new hearing aids have a volume control? I feel that is quite important with aids, so you can feel in control. Do they have a tinnitus programme to deliver masking sounds when you want them?

Yes, I have seen it said in a few places that you should not "over protect" your ears from louder sounds. They might become hypersensitive.

However, there are certain sounds that are clearly very loud, like the lawnmower, a music concert and a night club. Even a loud vacuum cleaner may be a problem. In those situations it makes sense for EVERYONE to wear earplugs or ear defenders to protect their hearing.

I suffered hearing damage and T from loud rock concerts attended nearly 50 years ago now.

Wild horses would not drag me to an event like that now. You only need to look at the long list of rock musicians who have T and/or hearing loss to realise how dangerous a live music event can be.

I think each individual is different, and in the end you make your own judgement calls and strike a balance as to what suits you.

I wouldn't want ear buds pumping very loud music in to my ear canal while in the street or on public transport, where the music is battling with background sounds and makes you turn up the volume. However I do listen to some music with over the ear headphones in a quiet room at home, where I have full control of the volume and can keep the sound level low. I use ear defenders for the vacuum cleaner and cutting the lawn, but I don't feel I want them in traffic noise, where the sounds are more intermittent.

I wish I had more confidence in ENT staff and the audiology profession, but I have quite a lot of skepticism I'm afraid. Not that there are not some good people who do know what they are doing and can help, but there are some who seem to think it has to be their way only, and sometimes seem to take a one size fits all approach. I've got to the stage where I tend to question things.

A good example of this is the procedure of micro suction to remove ear wax. Hospital ENT use this method, and look at any website of a private audiology company, and you will see them praising the method as the best thing since sliced bread, and the "gold standard". However, if you look more closely, some audiologists do admit that micro suction can cause or exacerbate tinnitus, and can cause a temporary shift in hearing thresholds. I can vouch for this, because when I had microsuction for the first time last July it caused some irreparable damage both to my T and my hearing. And you will see reports on the web from other people saying it caused them similar problems.

This forum is a godsend, because you can hear about the experiences of fellow T sufferers and make your own judgements alongside the things ENT are saying.

[Julia1jasper]

Hi there and sorry this whole thing is traumatic for you. Understandably. I’ve had tinnitus all life as far as remember and is pretty loud at times. I’ve always struggled hearing stuff and as young adult reluctantly agreed to try aids. Totally hated and was so used to self learned methods of listening to stuff I ignored. Anyway several years ago audiology said nowt much had changed with hearing but if didn’t use aids it be a case of use or lose as the nerves would start to deteriorate if not stimulated with sound. I admit I don’t use constantly as at first I thought was making tinnitus even louder. However I totally agree with Suz that I now use but when use aids I turn volume down low and now at point where I’ll use as should do if watching tv for eg but never so it feels uncomfortable. I do have bad spikes of tinnitus which seem to last for ever but in retrospect that’s always been the case and using aids hasn’t made it worse. Never less it’s taken me for ever to get to point of accepting using aids but it does make things easier. Give it a go and do gradually and stay in acceptable comfort zone. Good luck x