Unable To Hear And Experiencing Tinnitus. What Am I Suffering From?
Thank you for your query.
1. Everyone experiences tinnitus sometime during their lives, even when their hearing is normal, especially when the surroundings are quiet. Kindly get your ears examined to rule out blockage due to ear wax (cerumen) build-up, which is the most common cause for tinnitus. Get your blood pressure and hemoglobin levels checked.
2. Decreased hearing also makes one more aware of tinnitus. Get a PTA (Pure Tone Audiogram) done. If you have a hearing loss, amplification may help mask the tinnitus. You may also get middle ear pressure checked (Impedance Audiometry).
Can you post your audiogram? What is your Speech Discrimination Score?
3. Has you had any previous treatment or medication besides the prescription dated 29.09.12 which you have attached? There are no examination findings mentioned. Has your eardrum been examined? How severe is your tinnitus on a scale of 1 to 10? Is it pulsatile (matching with the heartbeat)? Does you have any other co-existing disease including, anemia, thyroid problems,cervical spondylosis, nasal problems or history of head injury? Does you have any dizziness or vertigo?
4. What is your exposure to occupational noise and loud music / earphones / mobile phones? Exposure to loud noise is also a leading cause for tinnitus.
5. Does your Tinnitus change when you clench your teeth? If so, a dental reference is needed.
6. One option is to mask the tinnitus by using hearing aids. Common tinnitus therapy includes ginkgo biloba, multivitamins and antioxidants. Transtympanic steroids (dexmethasone) are of help in half the patients I treat. Tinnex (Carvoverine) is a newly launched treatment.
7. Kindly let me know the results of your investigations. This will help in suggesting further treatment. I must emphasize that in a vast majority of patients of tinnitus, the cause is never found. However there are further treatment options depending on the type of tinnitus.
There is no cure for tinnitus however in certain cases, it can be controlled.
I hope that I have answered your queries. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Thanks for the response, I too did some research online, this seems to be the one you mentioned :(. here are my responses
1-examined to rule out blockage due to ear wax (cerumen) build-up - What is actually mean, how its going to effect, what is the solution for this?
2-I have attached the audiomentry score/reports
3-I admitted in the hosp and they provided the prescription as attached on 29-12-2012, but literally of no use and not cured , It still seems the same.
I dont have any other diseases, but sometime when I didnt had breakfast i feel a little bit of diziness, which will go away after a small nap.
4-I dont hear much, but mostly i speak on phone like @2 hours XXXXXXX but eventually reducing it too.
5-NO I wll do much brushing, It wont reflect as you said.
6-One option is to mask the tinnitus by using hearing aids- from where I can get this and how costly it is?
hopefully I have answered all your queries, Requesting you to please provide some prescription for it.
Thanks and regards,
XXXXXXX
Thank you for writing back.
1. I am assuming that if you were admitted, your ears must have been checked to rule out ear wax. Was the Tinnitus not explained to you?
2. Your audiograms are not attached. Please upload them again.
3. What treatment was given to you during your admission? The details should be on the discharge summary/card.
4. Low blood sugar is a cause of Tinnitus worsening. This is something that I have noticed in patients.
5. Mobile phone microphone volume and not only radiation may cause Tinnitus. The audiogram is usually normal.
6. Tinnitus that increase on clenching the teeth need dental treatment. This is one of the tests for differentiating Cochlear Synaptic Tinnitus, which may respond to Caroverine (Tinnex).
7. Hearing aids will be useful only if you have hearing loss. I need to have a look at your audiograms to determine that.
8. Tinnitus treatment is not easy. I must emphasize, again, that there is no cure for tinnitus. However in certain cases, it can be controlled.
I hope that I have answered your queries. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
2.This time I have uploaded
3.they just tested the ears(report attached)
4.Low blood sugar?- what can we need to do to overcome from this?(Please write if you have something to suggest).
5.OK
6.Not clear , can you explain something .
7.Ok. Please look at the attached.
8.Ok. Please write the preventive methods and any medicenes that you are aware.
Thank you for writing back.
1. So was there any ear wax cleaned or no?
2. Your audiogram shows a mild (SNHL) SensoriNeural Hearing Loss (upto 40 dB). Is this recent (end September) or older?
3. This is important because early treatment (within 4-6 weeks) may reverse the loss completely. There is still some hope within 3 months. After this time, it is usually permanent.
4. The hearing loss in your left ear seems to be the cause of the Tinnitus. Is your Tinnitus worse on one side or equal in both ears?
5. A hearing aid is not advised as the other ear is normal. It will be difficult to use a hearing aid only to mask Tinnitus in your case. A trial may be done with a newer digital type which plays white noise or unpredictable music such as XXXXXXX Music.
6. Tinnitus that increase on clenching the teeth need dental treatment.
7. Sudden SNHL is a medical Emergency. However the time window is almost lost now after a little over one and a half months (about 8 weeks).
8. Now the options are:
a. Try to treat the SNHL with Trans-Tympanic Steroid injections and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). If it improves, the Tinnitus will decrease.
b. Injection Tinnex (Caroverine) followed by oral medication.
I hope that I have answered your queries. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.