dont know what to do anymore!

lilitalia89 said:
ya i had a hint test on friday and they still said that. My hearing loss is between 35-40 dB in the right ear and the other i think is a between 25-30?I also explained what sounds i have trouble hearing and the probs ive been having with my fm system...and how much trouble it is to hear in background noise and they still had "no solution" cuz my hearing is still "normal"...o and also not sure about the medication that there giving me and I highly doubt it will work either...but we will see i guess..I dont understand how an audi can go with the everything they get with a test. people dont talk beside your ear so how do they expect to do a hearing test with beeps beside ur ear drum in ur ear and expect to get the same thing at the same dB with someone 5 or 6 ft away?! i dont think it makes sense...they say all these factors sometimes hinder your hearing like lighting, seeing lips, mouth being blocked, people not looking in your direction when speaking..how come there arent factors put into a hearing test?!..***frusterated***
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Your right ear definetly could be aided. The left ear is borderline (I know you don't want to hear that, but it's true). If I saw someone with hearing sensitivity that was 25dB across the frequency region in both ear, I would probably not recommend hearing aids. UNLESS they voiced a huge concern about their ability to hear. Then I would have say go for it. For a borderline candidate that struggles as much as you say, I say take advantage of the trial period that comes with fitting hearing aids. There's only one way to know for sure if they benefit you or not.

Hearing in background noise will always give you problems. I say this to my patients that get fit even with the best hearing aids. Your ability to hear in background noise is predicated on having two normal hearing ears and a brain. When the ears change with hearing loss, the signal from the ear to the brain changes, consequently there is nothing I can do to get that back.

We don't do hearing evaluations in "real world" situations because their are too many variables to consider. That's what tests like the HINT and QuickSIN are for. Your hearing thresholds are what we use as a starting point to program a hearing aid. Obviously if I tested you on a busy street corner and programmed the hearing aid off those thresholds, I would blast you when you got in a quiet room. When testing someones hearing I want to know what it's like in an ideal situation, especially word recognition. That score is the starting point for the goals that may be set forth when fitting a hearing aid. For example, someone with a word recognition score of 40% in both ears. Now I know I'm never going to be able to get them to hear conversation perfectly in a crowded restaurant, they only get 40% of the words correct when I put them in an ideal situation (sound proof booth and under headphones).

As far as the tinnitus pill. There is no cure for tinnitus and no pill that will make it go away. I've never seen those pills (from the pic), but if I had to guess, I'd say they probably contain Ginko Biloba and/or lipoflavanoids. Which some have studied the effects of tinnitus, but there is no definitive proof. Basically, flip a coin and you have a 50/50 chance it will do anything.
 
SteveAUD said:
We don't do hearing evaluations in "real world" situations because their are too many variables to consider. That's what tests like the HINT and QuickSIN are for. Your hearing thresholds are what we use as a starting point to program a hearing aid. Obviously if I tested you on a busy street corner and programmed the hearing aid off those thresholds, I would blast you when you got in a quiet room. When testing someones hearing I want to know what it's like in an ideal situation, especially word recognition. That score is the starting point for the goals that may be set forth when fitting a hearing aid. For example, someone with a word recognition score of 40% in both ears. Now I know I'm never going to be able to get them to hear conversation perfectly in a crowded restaurant, they only get 40% of the words correct when I put them in an ideal situation (sound proof booth and under headphones).

As far as the tinnitus pill. There is no cure for tinnitus and no pill that will make it go away. I've never seen those pills (from the pic), but if I had to guess, I'd say they probably contain Ginko Biloba and/or lipoflavanoids. Which some have studied the effects of tinnitus, but there is no definitive proof. Basically, flip a coin and you have a 50/50 chance it will do anything.
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Steve,

I appreciate the explanation. Thanks! :)

When I spoke to my CI surgeon about my tinnitus, he told me the same thing. The best I can do is eliminate caffeine and salt from my diet -- and try to cut down on stress (which isn't always easy!).
 
Hear Again said:
...and try to cut down on stress (which isn't always easy!).
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No, it is not easy to do. I didn't realize that stress can contribute to tinnitus(make sense though). I do know when I'm tired due to not getting enough sleep that it can bring it about some mild tinnitus in the morning for me. Normally, I don't have it at all.
 
sr171soars,

Yes, exhaustion can also trigger my tinnitus -- as well as illness or a headache. I find that when I'm ill or have a migraine, my tinnitus is louder than normal.
 
I find the same thing. My tinnitus is always worse when I am tired.
 
I hate it when i cant sleep...and the doctor tells me...just try to get more sleep..well sorry im not getting proper sleep cuz of the tinnitus! so fix that first then ill try the whole sleeping thing!
 
lilitalia89 said:
I hate it when i cant sleep...and the doctor tells me...just try to get more sleep..well sorry im not getting proper sleep cuz of the tinnitus! so fix that first then ill try the whole sleeping thing!
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If you have a T.V. in your bedroom, you can turn that on to a very low level (so that there is some other noise source in the room outside of what's going on in your own hear). Or get a cheap $5 fan, does the same thing as the T.V.

There is no cure for tinnitus, mainly because no one knows what causes it. Two theory's, hence no cure.

There are certain medications that can make tinnitus worse. Caffeine will exacerbate the ringing because it's a stimulant (Coffee, tea, chocolate, pop, ect ect).
 
I can emphasize with you. On days when my bilateral tinnitus is very loud, I have alot of difficulty sleeping. My physician prescribed sleep medication (Ambien CR) which I use only on nights when my tinnitus is extremely loud. Perhaps that's something you could try.
 
after my CI surgery, tinnitus came up and I told my brain to ignore the 'alarm' going off because my cochlea was invaded by electrode eh And it went away real fast. I believe one can train themselves to ignore it (like tune them out)

As for having tv in bedroom can be a good help. I do have one and I tune it to the channel where I can watch classical music video from "Classics Arts Showcase" Classic Arts Showcase then I sleep with my CI on to enjoy it while sleeping :)
 
Boult,

If someone has mild or moderate tinnitus, I think it's possible that they can ignore it. However, if their tinnitus is severe (and bilateral as in my case), ignoring it can be almost impossible. My tinnitus alternates between 8 different sounds (car engine turning over repeatedly, ocean/whooshing sound, freight train, alternating high/medium/low tones, repetitive high pitched beeps, constant high pitched beep, talk radio, 70's/80's music). When my tinnitus is extremely loud, it is impossible to ignore no matter how hard I try. :(
 
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I have noticed that a lot of Ci users have tinnitus. I don't mean to sound dumb but what is that? I get that it must have to do with some sort of feedback noise. Is that right?
 
Tinnitus is ringing in the ears, but it can also represent other sounds such as the ones I mentioned above. (However, it has nothing to do with feedback.) No two people with tinnitus hear exactly the same thing. For example, my tinnitus causes me to hear 8 different sounds while other people only hear 1 or 2.
 
Boult said:
As for having tv in bedroom can be a good help. I do have one and I tune it to the channel where I can watch classical music video from "Classics Arts Showcase" Classic Arts Showcase then I sleep with my CI on to enjoy it while sleeping :)
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Boult,

Do you always sleep with your CI on? When my first CI was activated, I used to keep it on while listening to talk radio just before falling asleep. (I was used to doing this for many, many years before I lost my hearing.) Even now that I have bilateral CIs, I keep them on and remove them right before falling asleep. If I sleep with my processors on, the area where the magnet rests causes pain. :(
 
ashleysmommy said:
Is is very common with all Ci users?
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I don't actually know how common it is, but I've read research figures that indicate 30-50% of all CI users experience some form of tinnitus post surgery. For some CI users, tinnitus is only experienced post surgery or when their processor(s) is/are removed while for others (like me), it is a chronic problem.
 
Oh OK. Thanks. Just trying to get all info I can on Ci and things Ci users may experience.
 
ashleysmommy said:
Is is very common with all Ci users?
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My tinnitus developed before I got my CI and it was caused by the sudden hearing loss I experienced prior. It was really bad and loud. I could only laugh in despair. After a few months it became more like the roar of a jumbo jet which was an improvement. Then immediately after the CI surgery it peaked to the worse it ever got but then I was expecting that and it did quickly improve as my ear healed up. It's been improving ever since switch on and now 6 months on my tinnitus has improved dramatically.

Michael Chorost said in his book that it's almost as if your brain invents sounds to replace the lack of input from the ear and I think that's how it felt for me too.
 
Hear Again said:
Boult,

Do you always sleep with your CI on? When my first CI was activated, I used to keep it on while listening to talk radio just before falling asleep. (I was used to doing this for many, many years before I lost my hearing.) Even now that I have bilateral CIs, I keep them on and remove them right before falling asleep. If I sleep with my processors on, the area where the magnet rests causes pain. :(
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not always but I am good at sleeping at one side till I wake up eh.. But if I go bilateral, I will take them off if I decide to sleep for sure. unless I fall asleep before I do.
 
R2D2 said:
My tinnitus developed before I got my CI and it was caused by the sudden hearing loss I experienced prior. It was really bad and loud. I could only laugh in despair. After a few months it became more like the roar of a jumbo jet which was an improvement. Then immediately after the CI surgery it peaked to the worse it ever got but then I was expecting that and it did quickly improve as my ear healed up. It's been improving ever since switch on and now 6 months on my tinnitus has improved dramatically.

Michael Chorost said in his book that it's almost as if your brain invents sounds to replace the lack of input from the ear and I think that's how it felt for me too.
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Thanks. This really helps me understand things better. Like they say "Knowledge is power".
 
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