Jason Sopeter
05-22-2009, 08:30 PM
I have been diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss just this month, after an incident in early/mid January - exposure to a very loud noise 140db or better (accidental gunshot) rather close to me physically, in same room. I’ve noticed some mild/moderate tinnitus over the past 15 years, after another BIG exposure to a (too loud) fire alarm alert annunciation device improperly placed inside a small hotel room in San Diego, while I was staying there on business.
The ear ringing has never gone away since San Diego. Since this more recent incident in January the perpetual ringing has augmented, it's overlaid with some buzzing/swarming sounds, and basically louder ringing. At one point something sounded like indistinct or distant music was there too (like Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies - not the 1812 Overture - thank goodness… but that seems gone for now I hope).
With this more dramatic increase in tinnitus now there was a distinct drop-off in my hearing as well. I had the more typical ski-slope high end hearing loss before January. Now (see my audiogram) music sounds like music but pretty distorted, and at one point it sounded only like very distorted noise.
For nearly three months my doc said just "wait and see." During the last two and three quarter month wait there was some mild improvement, which I think would be kinda normal.
Finally I got to the audiologist (by a referral) in late March, and another follow-up there on May 11th. The last audiogram showed some very minor improvement since March, in my right ear, which was noticeably worse than the left ear, earlier. Now they are both about the same.
The audiologist says there was no real change, but I remember the charting of the audiogram showing more separation in the two sides. In more general terms, I suppose she is right, anyway.... she is classifying it as no change since March.
I feel I’m hearing better, and the "audi" thinks I just got better at interpreting the hearing gaps in my brain. I’m taking niacin, magnesium, and B-12, each morning upon awaking - just hoping I suppose....
I'm told both incidents, back in 1994 and recently in 2009, were "insults" to the inner ear. Okay, I get that… but I’m also told this basic condition is not a result of those incidents - the real underlying cause is more genetic and pathological. Hmmmmmmm… sure seem like those two exposures really triggered a negative response in my hearing. My hearing noticeably melted down within days/hours/minutes of both events.
How is it these are not causative?
Also - BTW - as a young man I was exposed to protracted jet engine noises (4 years worth) while in the USAF, working on the flight line around powerful military fighter jets.
--
The audiologist has ordered Phonak EXELIA VZ EZ BTE hearing aids (she said they were high-end models). My healthcare covers the complete cost, so I have little say in what they fit me with. She said they were one of the best available for my kind of hearing loss.
My Audiogram on 05/11/09:
L -40 -40 -50 -30 -50 -65
R -35 -55 -50 -30 -60 -50
The ear ringing has never gone away since San Diego. Since this more recent incident in January the perpetual ringing has augmented, it's overlaid with some buzzing/swarming sounds, and basically louder ringing. At one point something sounded like indistinct or distant music was there too (like Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies - not the 1812 Overture - thank goodness… but that seems gone for now I hope).
With this more dramatic increase in tinnitus now there was a distinct drop-off in my hearing as well. I had the more typical ski-slope high end hearing loss before January. Now (see my audiogram) music sounds like music but pretty distorted, and at one point it sounded only like very distorted noise.
For nearly three months my doc said just "wait and see." During the last two and three quarter month wait there was some mild improvement, which I think would be kinda normal.
Finally I got to the audiologist (by a referral) in late March, and another follow-up there on May 11th. The last audiogram showed some very minor improvement since March, in my right ear, which was noticeably worse than the left ear, earlier. Now they are both about the same.
The audiologist says there was no real change, but I remember the charting of the audiogram showing more separation in the two sides. In more general terms, I suppose she is right, anyway.... she is classifying it as no change since March.
I feel I’m hearing better, and the "audi" thinks I just got better at interpreting the hearing gaps in my brain. I’m taking niacin, magnesium, and B-12, each morning upon awaking - just hoping I suppose....
I'm told both incidents, back in 1994 and recently in 2009, were "insults" to the inner ear. Okay, I get that… but I’m also told this basic condition is not a result of those incidents - the real underlying cause is more genetic and pathological. Hmmmmmmm… sure seem like those two exposures really triggered a negative response in my hearing. My hearing noticeably melted down within days/hours/minutes of both events.
How is it these are not causative?
Also - BTW - as a young man I was exposed to protracted jet engine noises (4 years worth) while in the USAF, working on the flight line around powerful military fighter jets.
--
The audiologist has ordered Phonak EXELIA VZ EZ BTE hearing aids (she said they were high-end models). My healthcare covers the complete cost, so I have little say in what they fit me with. She said they were one of the best available for my kind of hearing loss.
My Audiogram on 05/11/09:
L -40 -40 -50 -30 -50 -65
R -35 -55 -50 -30 -60 -50