1. < Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)

Do Tinnitus tests actually achieve anything that helps?

Posted by storm6 @storm6, May 30 2:11pm

I willingly agreed to a vestibulor test with the hope that it would show what was making my balance , unbalanced ,a reason why I had an annoying clicking noise at the base of my skull, no pain ,just very annoying. It was an exhausting test , for almost an hour plus .with a quite hurtful strong twisting of my head. The results were mixed ,but
my Tinnitus was not an ear fault ,but my brain ,not receiving the correct messages , The clicking became worse ,it used to happen occasionally, but now happens 30 * times a day . I have asked if an MRI, or CT scan could be done ,to see if a nerve had become trapped or damaged due to the test .A conclusion that has been made ,by me ,is ,not to be so trusting ,in future , The absolute worst outcome is ,that the Tinnitus now ,is 24 hours a day ,and moved up to soprano level , I am NOT a happy bunny !!!!

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jaybee51 | @jaybee51 | Jun 2 11:34am
In reply to @storm6 "I have to ask, how do you cope with sleep ? I find it very difficult..." + (show)
@storm6

I have to ask, how do you cope with sleep ? I find it very difficult to actually fall asleep, Noise climbs ,and my brain becomes very active ,and I can't shut that down either , so ,I do get quite depressed through lack of sleep,that's when the seaside comes in handy

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I have a headband with small wireless speakers in it that plays any sounds you choose. One of my favorites for masking my tinnitus is surf sounds. I use it every night and it does help me sleep.

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storm6 | @storm6 | Jun 2 1:19pm

I have just been given one of those machines by the ENT ,unfortunately I do not have a machine
that will accept the connection, sooooo I will have to use Batteries ,but large ones are the needed ,which I do not have ,,yet ,so the machine lies idle ,and I continue listening to Radio 4 Speaking rather than music. I think I will be drawn to the surf sound , I will let you know ,after I have been shopping

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jayce | @jayce | Jun 4 9:13am

I’ve had tinnitus since my 40s. It increased from crickets to humming, ringing and all kinds of weird sounds as I got to my 60s. I’m sure lot of the damage to my ears was from listening to music with headphones, especially on long plane trips for work. The volume had to be very high to block out airplane noise. I also loved listening to music under earphones just for fun or to fall asleep. It took a toll. Now I can’t hear music anything like it is. Some instruments and ranges are impossible to hear or are distorted. I now have moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears. I had a few bike and scooter falls where my head was hit, that didn’t help either.

People who are just starting to get tinnitus, take care of your head and ears! You won’t be young forever. Loud noise and impacts can change your life in a sad and hard way.
There are no cures, but you can keep it from getting a lot worse. Unless you really have to have an MRI or a CAT scan don’t do it. Even though they gave me earphones, it didn’t really block out the noise and tinnitus got worse after each one. I had an MRI for knee surgery and they used a machine where the head can be out, but the noise was still pretty much deafening.

At one point I started having nightmares that were terrifying. I found out that the brain can’t always make sense of deep quiet and thinks there’s danger, causing panic and nightmares. A friend recommended using an external sound machine. Using headphones can bring noise way too close to your hearing and brain.

I would also avoid netti pots, sinus sprays, nasoscopies and other treatments or investigations for post nasal drip and non infected sinus stuffiness. Two years ago I had 2 nasoscopies and since then everything sounds a bit like I’m underwater.

It can be isolating to not be able to hear well. I know have fairly decent hearing aids, but the noise canceling features on them don’t seem to help. If anything I am more sensitive than ever to noises around me. My brain might not be able to make sense of words here and there in any case, but in noisy restaurants or social gatherings it’s almost impossible.,

What helps most is avoiding noisy situations, and talking to people one to one or in small groups in quieter places. . Especially difficult for me is hearing people on the phone who use headsets or speakerphone. My iPhone earbuds make it easier, but sometimes people have soft voices or are there other people are talking around them. Don’t feel ashamed to ask them to speak directly into the microphone and talk a bit louder and slower! The same goes for talking with people who are behind plexiglass or wearing masks. A few times I’ve had to ask people to write down what they’re saying, I just couldn’t catch it.

A sound machine that cost about $23 on Amazon brought me great relief from loud tinnitus at night. The gentle rain sound is very good for me. After a year of that I got another one that has cricket sounds. Those two really help me sleep; they are small and pretty easy to figure out. I have one next to my bed and the other across the room. They can stay on all night. I bring the rainfall one with me when I travel.

Above all, learn to control your fears and soothe yourself. Hearing loss and tinnitus are a part of the rest of my life, but I’ve learned to change my attitude so that I’m going to not obsess about it, stay healthy and find ways to have fun and stay positive no matter what.

Good luck to you all!

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1 reply
storm6 | @storm6 | Jun 4 1:35pm
In reply to @jayce "I’ve had tinnitus since my 40s. It increased from crickets to humming, ringing and all kinds..." + (show)
@jayce

I’ve had tinnitus since my 40s. It increased from crickets to humming, ringing and all kinds of weird sounds as I got to my 60s. I’m sure lot of the damage to my ears was from listening to music with headphones, especially on long plane trips for work. The volume had to be very high to block out airplane noise. I also loved listening to music under earphones just for fun or to fall asleep. It took a toll. Now I can’t hear music anything like it is. Some instruments and ranges are impossible to hear or are distorted. I now have moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears. I had a few bike and scooter falls where my head was hit, that didn’t help either.

People who are just starting to get tinnitus, take care of your head and ears! You won’t be young forever. Loud noise and impacts can change your life in a sad and hard way.
There are no cures, but you can keep it from getting a lot worse. Unless you really have to have an MRI or a CAT scan don’t do it. Even though they gave me earphones, it didn’t really block out the noise and tinnitus got worse after each one. I had an MRI for knee surgery and they used a machine where the head can be out, but the noise was still pretty much deafening.

At one point I started having nightmares that were terrifying. I found out that the brain can’t always make sense of deep quiet and thinks there’s danger, causing panic and nightmares. A friend recommended using an external sound machine. Using headphones can bring noise way too close to your hearing and brain.

I would also avoid netti pots, sinus sprays, nasoscopies and other treatments or investigations for post nasal drip and non infected sinus stuffiness. Two years ago I had 2 nasoscopies and since then everything sounds a bit like I’m underwater.

It can be isolating to not be able to hear well. I know have fairly decent hearing aids, but the noise canceling features on them don’t seem to help. If anything I am more sensitive than ever to noises around me. My brain might not be able to make sense of words here and there in any case, but in noisy restaurants or social gatherings it’s almost impossible.,

What helps most is avoiding noisy situations, and talking to people one to one or in small groups in quieter places. . Especially difficult for me is hearing people on the phone who use headsets or speakerphone. My iPhone earbuds make it easier, but sometimes people have soft voices or are there other people are talking around them. Don’t feel ashamed to ask them to speak directly into the microphone and talk a bit louder and slower! The same goes for talking with people who are behind plexiglass or wearing masks. A few times I’ve had to ask people to write down what they’re saying, I just couldn’t catch it.

A sound machine that cost about $23 on Amazon brought me great relief from loud tinnitus at night. The gentle rain sound is very good for me. After a year of that I got another one that has cricket sounds. Those two really help me sleep; they are small and pretty easy to figure out. I have one next to my bed and the other across the room. They can stay on all night. I bring the rainfall one with me when I travel.

Above all, learn to control your fears and soothe yourself. Hearing loss and tinnitus are a part of the rest of my life, but I’ve learned to change my attitude so that I’m going to not obsess about it, stay healthy and find ways to have fun and stay positive no matter what.

Good luck to you all!

Jump to this post

hello ,I wrote a nice, long chat to you ,pressed the submit button, and it disappeared , Pity the TNT won't do the same !!!!!!
Storm

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