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Post by bencat on Dec 3, 2022 11:51:42 GMT
I have been suffering with tinnitus in my left ear fr a number of years but it has been getting worse and started to really depress me . So consulted my GP and got added to a list to see an Audiologist . Just over two years later I got to see one . Not great just a general hearing test and physical check which just confirmed that my left ear was around 10dB down compared to my right ear . Sent then for a Cat Scan of my head to see if there were any physical issues inside my head .
After six months further wait got a scan and a follow up Audiologists appointment . Nothing on the scan in fact was complemented on how clean and healthy my whole auditory system appeared to be . Another test and again the loss in my left ear confirmed . Then an explanation of how we hear and what was going on and most likely reasons I was getting the ringing in my ears and also why it effecting me emotionally . Not great next step was the suggestion that i be fitted for a calibrated hearing aid in my left ear . This was done and it allows four pre set profiles . 1: Simple straight prescription set up as advised by the software . 2: Same set up but with volume gain reduced . 3: As per 1 but with white noise added to try and nullify the tinnitus ringing . 4: Same as 3 but with reduced white noise level .
It was explained to me that what they were aiming for was to slowly recalibrate my brain to stop increasing the left ear gain in an attempt to compensate and for it to just accept the lower level and adjust accordingly . Audiologist says this will be slow and take time but the final result could well be to stop needing a HA or at least have it set at very low levels . Trouble is in order to get the best results you need to wear the HA for as many hours as possible during the day (off and out at night) . Now much of my day is spent listening to music just as I am doing now and not something I wanted to do with a cheap and nasty HA adding in . However I just have bite the bullet and give this a chance at getting things better.
First two days were not great sound was okay and it was very much music with perhaps a little bit less body and warmth . But imaging was not right and all central images as they were without HA were now pushed to the right . After a little thought came up with an idea to try and used the Full Glide Tone on an Ayre Test signals CD . This lasts for five minutes and is a single tone centrally placed which glides from lowest to highest frequencies in a very slow and controlled manner . It is supposed to be used to calibrate equipment and has some effect but very hard to gauge and be sure . Still sat through a full glide and things were changed by the end of the high frequency tones when they became for me silent I noticed that the image had moved and was now firmly back in the centre . Tried music after that and was quite pleased that it was not my imagination (or then again maybe it was) and singers were now back and placed were I thought they should be . Also there was better body and warmth to sounds so things like saxophone sounded more like it does in real life . Not perfect but much improved and certainly made me more relaxed and happy listening to music again with the HA in .
Next morning was a little upset to find that overnight the image had shifted again and was much more on the right . Repeated the Glide Tone track and things were back to being as they should be . I may need to do this every day for a while which is no big deal but important as I would not be able to continue listening with the skewed imaging as it was just too annoying and stopping me relaxing and just listening . Strange thing happen and it just needs a little work to adjust , with a bit of luck after about six months I will be able to ditch the HA and just live with my obviously impaired hearing but without the noise .
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Post by pete on Dec 3, 2022 12:03:14 GMT
Thanks for posting this, so sorry to hear about your hearing loss and tinnitus.
I too suffer with tinnitus in my left ear and have gone through a similar audiologist experience as yourself. I was interested to hear the way they are trying to help you with your tinnitus. I’ve not heard of that before and will mention it when I get a check up. In fact, my audiologist told me that the HA was not good with music and I shouldn’t use it when listening! I guess that was 5 years ago so things may have changed!
Sounds like you have got a good solution with your system. I hope things continue to improve for you.
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Post by bencat on Dec 3, 2022 12:27:43 GMT
Thanks for posting this, so sorry to hear about your hearing loss and tinnitus. I too suffer with tinnitus in my left ear and have gone through a similar audiologist experience as yourself. I was interested to hear the way they are trying to help you with your tinnitus. I’ve not heard of that before and will mention it when I get a check up. In fact, my audiologist told me that the HA was not good with music and I shouldn’t use it when listening! I guess that was 5 years ago so things may have changed! Sounds like you have got a good solution with your system. I hope things continue to improve for you. Pete one of the things that have come through from my appointments were my Audiologist took a great deal of time to explain both how we hear and that tinnitus is very complex and personal . What may work for one person will have no effect or even make things worse for another . You just have to have a bit of an an enquiring mind suspect many on here qualify for that attribute) and give things a try . There is very little documented case evidence on tinnitus that you can refer to and when I heard the causes I asked about hypnotherapy which seemed a good thing to trial but current NHS is not looking at it and finding a real genuine qualified medical therapist is not easy .
However when tinnitus is in one ear only then the current case studies give and 84% change using hearing aids . Note that this is just change and not a claim they made it better . Given how it had started to get in to me and was bothering me I quickly came to conclusion that trying this if it could help was a no brainer and it is working with slight side effects . One thing I have found is that using the straight prescription setting but at lowered volume (currently minus 2) is what works best . Using this the tinnitus is so reduced as to become not there unles you really concentrate to find it (I leave this alone) but using the white noise profiles while they do cancel out the tinnitus noise they add their own noise and this is just as annoying as the tinnitus just different . So as the noise is being produced by your brain and not real there is no way to noise cancel it as you can not measure it (it is not real noise) . Using the Oticon software for the HA I get a little control but if you use an iPhone they have a much more complete app which will let you change and add different tones to see if any of those work to cancel out your own tinnitus noise .
One of the things I was worried about using a HA was that I have always had hearing that struggles in noisy environments . If I am in a bar or places were lots of people were talking then i would struggle to hear people talking to me . HA increase the sound and i thought this would make this worse . HA do in fact increase back ground noise as well as voices so you hear things like the fishtank pump from further away that you did not notice before but in general hearing voices in conversation has got better . Having control of the HA volume is also I think essential as if it is too loud then you hear both sounds from were they come from and a secondary in the ear which is not the idea at all . A bit like setting up a Sub you need to get it so you can just hear it then back it off just till it disappears then things swing back to only coming from the source .
Thank you for your good wishes they are appreciated . I would certainly ask if you can at least try out a HA as it may well be answer .
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Post by macca on Dec 3, 2022 13:04:21 GMT
I'm also down in level in left ear and have some tinnitus in that ear too (although it has got less recently, no idea why). I solve the imaging problem by sitting slightly to the left  But there's probably a limit to how effective that is. My case is obviously not that bad so it works. My father had the same problem, same ear, so I guess genetics. |
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 3, 2022 13:47:35 GMT
I have low level tinnitus in my left ear, very seldom loud enough to bother me.
I do suffer occasionally from level reduction, it can be in either ear. It seems to be related to the amount of nasal snot (technical term).
Easily sorted by a balance control! These are unfortunately rare in modern "Audiophile" gear, but for me it's worth seeking out.
For headphone listening via Bluetooth, I use an Android eq app which includes a balance control.
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Post by pete on Dec 3, 2022 13:51:35 GMT
Funny how it is everyone‘a left ear, I wonder why??
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Post by lurch on Dec 3, 2022 15:15:57 GMT
Funny how it is everyone‘a left ear, I wonder why?? coz it's the side wives like to stand when they nag. Therefore a man's left ear gets worn out quicker than his right due to excessive Oestrogen induced white noise. |
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 3, 2022 15:40:50 GMT
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Dec 3, 2022 16:21:37 GMT
Funny how it is everyone‘a left ear, I wonder why?? coz it's the side wives like to stand when they nag. Therefore a man's left ear gets worn out quicker than his right due to excessive Oestrogen induced white noise. Tinnitus and left ear deafness for me too. Tis very strange how it is always the left ear. It's a real problem for me - our seating positions are such that Mrs. Pony is to my right, and the TV to my left  |
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Post by bencat on Dec 10, 2022 13:11:13 GMT
Okay it has been a decent amount of time to get a feel for how this is going . Firstly when I have got the HA adjusted properly my tinnitus has not gone but has reduced to a level that is not noticeable unless I concentrate and listen for it . This alone is a bit of a result as not having that constant noise intruding at all times is a relief.
Adjustments have been a little hit and miss but when using the original prescription setting which is aimed at voice levels I have found it better to turn the volume down now use it set up each day at minus 4 which seems to be enough of a boost to let the tinnitus noise reduce but not high enough to draw attention to the HA working . The imaging thing has now sorted itself out and has returned to normal with proper central imagess for voices and other instruments were i would expect them to be .
Music sounds the same if not clearer than without no added distortion at least as far as I can tell . So this may well not be the pain in the ass I thought it might be and i think I can work with it in during the day and keep my fingers crossed that over time it will make the tinnitus stay at a low level . I have noticed that it when I remove the HA before bed the noise stays low and then I fall asleep . I am wondering if leaving the HA on at night might also keep the noise reduction down ? Something to talk to my Audiologist about and see as this would greatly increase the battery usage .
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Post by hifinutt on Dec 18, 2022 19:07:03 GMT
cant believe it took 2 years to see an audiologist !!! thats crazy . hope things progress a bit for you. sounds like maybe some progress ?
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Post by rexton on Dec 19, 2022 16:51:34 GMT
Well, heres a funny thing. I had an audiologist work for me. I have a -6db loss left (YES THE LEFT EAR) compared to the right. Mine seems to be with my sinuses as my ear pops occasionally and instantly hearing comes back, I also think it could be due to excess mucus production in the sinus tract. Usually listening is not problematic for me but I did go through a phase of 3 months where the left was quite blocked, this, very luckily sorted itself out.
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Post by pete on Dec 19, 2022 17:00:09 GMT
Well, heres a funny thing. I had an audiologist work for me. I have a -6db loss left (YES THE LEFT EAR) compared to the right. Mine seems to be with my sinuses as my ear pops occasionally and instantly hearing comes back, I also think it could be due to excess mucus production in the sinus tract. Usually listening is not problematic for me but I did go through a phase of 3 months where the left was quite blocked, this, very luckily sorted itself out. Mine is exactly the same, ear pops and hearing is temporarily restored. The audiologist diagnosed a 'lazy' muscle in the eustachian tube and suggested self release by posing my ears by holding my nose while gently breathing out and balancing the inner ear pressure to 'pop' it. |
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Post by bencat on Dec 28, 2022 13:14:48 GMT
A small up date firstly I now have my HA turned down quite low when I wear it with -5 currently the setting . Secondly on Boxing Day I did not use my HA at all and had one of the quietest days in term of noise that I have had since the tinnitus began . This continued right through the day and in to the night . I have put the HA back in again every day since at the lower volume mentioned above .
This has given me a bit of a feeling that this can work as discussed with my Audiologist . Her view was that HA had a very high rate of success with the issue but that it needs the user to experiment with settings and in some cases noises (adding in a noise did not work for me just traded one annoying sound for another) and that it would take a long time to train my brain to go back to its pre tinnitus setting. Well this what i think is happening so I am going to continue with the HA every day till my return appointment in six months . If by then as it was on Boxing Day I get real quiet days then the HA goes back and I just see how long it lasts . If after a period the Tinnutus returns then will have to deal with that .
As for listening to music using the HA at the higher levels of full volume it is in my view impossible , you hear two sounds one coming from the source (speakers) the other from the HA which make music listening just no enjoyable . This is one of the reasons i started turning the volume down until the HA became invisible and the only source of sound was in front of me . I then pegged it back one more (sort of like balancing a sub sound) and then it was fine just like listening without the HA . So if anyone is going to give this try then please understand it will be different for you but give things a try and see what can be achieved with a little patience and experiment .
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But there's probably a limit to how effective that is. My case is obviously not that bad so it works.
