Mrs Paula W

[Listowel1357]

I’m a 65 year old women with good health and 16months ago I woke up with tinnitus loud hissing in both ears. I saw 2 ENT consultants privately . Paid for a MRI and also had a CT scan .

no one found anything ! I was told I have tinnitus and have to live with it. I also had 2 hearing tests and was told my hearing was good for my age and I didn’t need hearing aids.

I’ve done lots of research and I have to just live with it. I also have pressure in my ears which I don’t understand ?

just need to speak to others to get some insight on how to manage it.

[Ray200]

I get a break from tinnitus when needed / able with wireless headphones. Just having the radio on in the background doesn't do it.

[Saorfhlaith22 in reply to Ray200]

Do you have hyperacusis?

[Ray200 in reply to Saorfhlaith22]

No. Basic Grade Tinnitus it is

[Happyrosie]

you’ve gone down the route of finding out that very common symptom, tinnitus, has no malignant cause in your case. and that’s great. I say “symptom” because it isn’t thought of by the medical profession as a disease. Indeed many doctors (I found from being on this forum) are very dismissive.

But tinnitus can indeed be very troublesome. The ultimate aim is to habituate - that is, it’s there and you can hear it if you think about it, but it doesn’t trouble you.

It’s how to get habituation that’s your concern. I’d urge you - if you haven’t already - to get familiar with the website of Tinnitus UK. And to not roam around the internet seeking cures as Dr Google is not your friend.

You could read posts made on here and the replies and get an idea of what people have tried. Each of us is an individual though.

I’d like to give you an analogy. Some years ago I bought my first property, a flat on a main road out of London. My first nights were horrendous - constant traffic noise (like background tinnitus) interspersed with people coming out of pubs, roaring motorcycles and police sirens (like the extra noises that Mr T sometimes likes to produce). I thought my life had crashed around me. But guess what? After a few weeks I’d habituated and it was no longer a problem.

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Listowel1357

Thank you for sharing your experience - which I think is suprisingly common amongst forum members.

A lot of people go for tests, hope that this will provide a degree of clarity about their the cause of their tinnitus and can be frustrated or confused when that clarity is not forthcoming.

We can try to look at things positively by saying that neither an MRI or CT scan found anything untoward - this is good news. It doesn't tell us why we are still experencing tinnitus but it gives us a degree of peace of mind in some other respects.

In terms of the pressure in your ears, perhaps your ENT consultant feels that there is something different about the level of air pressure in your ears - this is normally something which we would only be aware of when travelling by air and noticing that our ears pop at altitude. Issues with a level of air pressure in our ears can also be accompanied by tinnitus.

Being told that we have hearing which is normal for our age is sometimes a way of telling us that any decline is as expected and not something to be worried about - it wouldn't be improved remarkably by hearing aids in a case like this.

The learning to live with tinnitus approach is one of those classic bits of advice which are easy for a doctor or specialist to suggest but which come without much in the way of guidance.

I think the most relevant guide on the Tinnitus UK website that I can signpost you to is our 'Taming Tinnitus' page, which is very much aimed at people whose tinnitus doesn't have an obvious cause and who are finding it difficult to adjust - tinnitus.org.uk/understandi...

[Listowel1357 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thank you for your very helpful reply. I will click on the link you kindly gave me

[EarHealth2024]

I’m the same, although they found some hearing loss for me. I wish there was more help, a remedy.

[Highjinx]

I am older than you and developed Tinnitus 6 months ago. Told I have age related hearing loss but don’t need HAs. However, I was given them last week to try and help with the Tinnitus. Whilst wearing them the relief was tangible but after removing them my Tinnitus was horrendous for at least 24 hours so I am very reluctant to try them again. The after effect is not everyone’s experience but it was mine, sadly. Incidentally, the Audiologist advised wearing them all day but in retrospect I think it would have been better to phase them in.