Loss of hearing.

[Milzy]

Glad you getting treatment. Good luck. I hope you don't have to wait too long for a consult.

I’m not sure what they can do. I’m hoping that in time the drum will heal up and hearing will come back.

 

[FishFright]

No, it’s mainly just depressing and frustrating me.

I know how that feels , I'd just invested in some Hifi before my started ! I'm getting used to it but waking in the dead of night to a high pitched noise on one is isnt one of lifes great experiences. Is yours hissy or single tone ?

 

[Milzy]

I know how that feels , I'd just invested in some Hifi before my started ! I'm getting used to it but waking in the dead of night to a high pitched noise on one is isnt one of lifes great experiences. Is yours hissy or single tone ?

Single tone high pitched.

 

[FishFright]

Single tone high pitched.

Same as mine then

 

[Milzy]

Same as mine then

I’m working in a noisy industry which doesn’t help matters. I’m thinking of a career change.

 

[Lonestar]

I had an ear infection for a few weeks. Although the pain has gone now, it’s working at 50% It looks clean inside. Also have severe tinnitus in that ear. Will it go back to normal or is it permanently damaged?
Hard to get in doctors around here and a C.Cer must have had a similar experience?

Re: Doctors...I know what you mean....although this happened to me over twenty years ago.I had a lump the size of a tennis ball come up on my neck...so I went round the doctors...Although i wasn't registered with a doctor at the time....Told me to come back next day...I asked to register as I had no doctor at the time but he wouldn't have it.I had no intention of going back so I didn't....He was very good though and as I was in a serious situation which ended up with regular trips to Barts in 1995 and almost 9 months off of work he let me register with his surgery after and the rest is history.I've actually registered again with a new doctor within the last ten years and it's been ok.

 

[Cycleops]

I’m working in a noisy industry which doesn’t help matters. I’m thinking of a career change.

Ear defenders? If your working environment is noisy your employer is obligated to supply them.

 

[byegad]

I had a middle ear infection some 30 years ago. It blew my eardrum, which at the time was a good thing, as the specialist said had it gone the other way he'd have met me, unconscious, on the operating table. The blown eardrum eventually closed up, but ever since I've had tinnitus. Other than using the phone on my other ear it had little impact on my life, it went louder and softer every so often, but I basically ignored it!

Some 6 or 7 years ago the tinnitus got a lot louder and really affected my ability to hear the TV, conversation or much else, except the hiss. So after chasing back and forward to the ear clinic, using an in ear white noise generator and night-time bedside white noise generator so I could at least go to sleep, they did another hearing test and 'tried me' with a hearing aid. Suddenly the tinnitus reduced (It's still there but back to the earlier level.) I could hear the TV and my wife speaking to me,* and for the first time in ten years, out on my bike, I heard Skylarks! The latter reduced me to tears!

My advice is to ignore** tinnitus that has been diagnosed and checked, unless it stops you hearing normally. If it does then seek help. My hearing aids boost sounds in the higher frequencies (I'm pretty much deaf above 4000Hz.***) and means I can hear what mu grandchildren say.


* Everything has a down side!
** After diagnosis and if it's merely there rather than affecting your ability to hear. My bedside noise generator is and has been since day one, a boon to sleeping normally.
***Coincidentally, or not, my tinnitus hiss is at exactly 4000Hz. I suspect it's my ears trying to boost the input signal at the point where it gets no noise coming in!

 

[gbb]

Having worked in noisy environments for donkeys years i noticed ealier this year my tinnitus had got really bad, a permanant whistling. My hearing also went quite bad, struggling to hear like i used to. I went to the docs and got my ears syringed, the hearing improvement was almost instant...and it occured to me a little while later.....ooooh, my tinnitus is much less pronounced now.

Sadly my docs no longer do ear syringing, you have to jump through a few hoops now and get it done elsewhere, i don't know if thats true for all doctors surgeries.

 

[Milzy]

Ear defenders? If your working environment is noisy your employer is obligated to supply them.

In the real world every day they hurt your ears and can give you infections. If it was only now and again then fine, but 8 hours a day. The best thing to do is get out of that environment.

 

[Crankarm]

In the real world every day they hurt your ears and can give you infections. If it was only now and again then fine, but 8 hours a day. The best thing to do is get out of that environment.

A work related injury perhaps. Have you told them? Nothing to lose if you are considering changing jobs. Your employer should be referring you to an occupational health assessment.

I am completely deaf in my left ear. Lost my hearing about 5 years ago. Have had really bad tinnitus since as well in this ear and some in my right. Have been to docs and been referred to ENT specialists, lots of in depth hearing tests, have had MRIs as well. Otosclerosis apparently. Now have a hearing aid, one of the most powerful although the results are mixed. So don't wear it that often, mainly at work where I was and still 'have problems hearing colleagues and customers. I find it hard telling where sounds are coming from. Tinnitus can get very loud when I am tired, stressed or when trying to sleep. Has woke me up on a few occasions. The stapedectomy to fit an artificial stapes is a possibility but not convinced as a family member had it done and result was not good. They work up during the operation, it causes pain and slight loss of balance. So persevering for the moment as is. I wear ear defenders whenever I use noisy DIY tools now as I am so precious about the hearing in my right ear which is still about 65-70% ok. You need to see an ENT consultant. For me it took about 6 months for the process to get going, the MRI happened quite quickly, but I just saw an ENT Consultant after two years. So it's not a quick process!
HTH.

 

[Milzy]

The good news is that perforated ear drums do tend to heal on their own. I've got a deviated septum and chronic rhinitis with associated eustachian tube dysfunction on the right side. Each time I get a cold I get an ear infection and, more often than not, a perforated ear drum is the result. They heal (although the last time I saw the ENT consultant he did suggest I might need a nose job and a patch on my right ear drum).

If you've had tinnitus in the past and it's gone away but come back with this issue, then it may actually be caused by a eustachian tube issue - which can create a tinnitus like effect. I get it now and then but it is transient (thank God!)

In all likelihood you'll end up with a fibre optic camera up your nose at the ENT clinic (it's not as bad as it sounds). Don't be surprised if they find issues with your nose, sinuses or eustachian tube. They're all linked and can impact each other.

I have a little sore patch up my nose that never seems to heal. In a smokey dirty job I have no choice but to pick big black bogies out of my nose.

 

[gbb]

I have a little sore patch up my nose that never seems to heal. In a smokey dirty job I have no choice but to pick big black bogies out of my nose.

Welding ?

 

[Tin Pot]

I've always heard high pitches noises in the background, don't know if it tinnitus or madness, or if everyone hears it. Never in the foreground though.

What's it like?

 

[Milzy]

Welding ?

Possibly