Ringing in the Ears

Taylor

Taylor

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Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the subject would be able to shed some light on this as I'm trying to help a co-worker. He mentioned to me that over the past few years, he would get a ringing in one of his hears. It happens at random times and can occur in each ear, although has never happened in both ears at the same time.

He mentioned it to his doctor and the doctor was unable to find a problem. A hearing test came out OK. While its ringing, he loses hearing in that ear but will come back in 60 seconds or so when the ringing stops. Had he been tested while it was happening, I'm sure the results would have shown the loss.

Anyhow, what could be the root cause of this? Has anyone experienced something like this. Is this an early sign of deafness to come? Is there something that he should bring up to his doctor that his doctor is possibly overlooking? Any insight would be greatly appreciated and I'll pass your responses along to him. I'd like to get him to register here himself but he isn't much of an internet type of guy.
 
'tis called tinnitus, I dont know much about it but it's supposed to be this constant ringing in ears and he could go to a specialist like a ear doctor for a chance?
 
Thats what I thought at first (and so did he) other than the fact that its not all the time, or all that frequently. Can happen once a day, once a week, or once a month. I thought tinnitus was a little more permanent but I'm no expert so I wanted to ask. He is debating on a specialist right now. A lot of it will be (unfortunately) determined by his insurance.
 
Actually......

I have experienced this. It doesn't happen to me often anymore, but it used to happen quite often when I was under 20 years old, and the loudness of the ringing could vary. It was basically just as Taylor described it, although I don't really remember loss of hearing when it happened, unless maybe when just the ringing seemed louder than surroundings. :dunno: I just 'passed it off' like it was when you see 'spots' only to do with ears instead, some little quirk.

Unfortunately, I have no help to offer, other than having experienced similar thing. I did have my hearing tested by doctors when I was really young, and I'd have to ask my mother about it, but I know she said they found my hearing was a little bit messed up. My father went deaf in his left ear when he was around my current age and now seems to be losing hearing in his other ear, so there may be some hereditary loss of hearing in my family. Once again :dunno:

Anyways, I'd be interested in any info this thread comes up with :bump:
 
it happened to me sometimes...even though I'm deaf, and my ears ring on my left ear where I wear my hearing aid so I guess maybe that's where the ringing comes from...but it only happens like perhas two months a year or whatever like that...heck I dont know but it was pretty weird though I thought I was becoming hearing lol but naw I guess it means I'm getting more deaf lol...aw well
 
Its called Tinnitus,,Im suffering it right now. I been deaf for 2 months now and i still have this problem,Doc says once i get the CI this should go away when your hearing improves with the CI. Tinnitus is a reaction to your hearing nerves because your brain is trying to reach a signal but your hair cell nerves are not connecting to the nerve to your brain. I hope doc is right about this.
 
Taylor said:
Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the subject would be able to shed some light on this as I'm trying to help a co-worker. He mentioned to me that over the past few years, he would get a ringing in one of his hears. It happens at random times and can occur in each ear, although has never happened in both ears at the same time.

He mentioned it to his doctor and the doctor was unable to find a problem. A hearing test came out OK. While its ringing, he loses hearing in that ear but will come back in 60 seconds or so when the ringing stops. Had he been tested while it was happening, I'm sure the results would have shown the loss.

Anyhow, what could be the root cause of this? Has anyone experienced something like this. Is this an early sign of deafness to come? Is there something that he should bring up to his doctor that his doctor is possibly overlooking? Any insight would be greatly appreciated and I'll pass your responses along to him. I'd like to get him to register here himself but he isn't much of an internet type of guy.
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I don't think it is kinda an 'early sign' of deafness. I across one of medical articles concerning about 'ringing in the ear' sometimes ago but I don't remember what it called... I do remember that is a possibility due to grain allergy. I can look it up for you if you want me to but school is closed... that means medical library is closed as well. That will be about a month for school to open :/
 
Magatsu said:
I don't think it is kinda an 'early sign' of deafness. I across one of medical articles concerning about 'ringing in the ear' sometimes ago but I don't remember what it called... I do remember that is a possibility due to grain allergy. I can look it up for you if you want me to but school is closed... that means medical library is closed as well. That will be about a month for school to open :/
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Then what is a early sign of deafness?
 
Its called Tinnitus,,Im suffering it right now. I been deaf for 2 months now and i still have this problem,Doc says once i get the CI this should go away when your hearing improves with the CI. Tinnitus is a reaction to your hearing nerves because your brain is trying to reach a signal but your hair cell nerves are not connecting to the nerve to your brain. I hope doc is right about this.
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Steve, how often does this occur? Is it all the time or was it just occasionally? I've heard of things with Tinnitus being a little more permanent instead of the occasional ringing in the ears.

I do remember that is a possibility due to grain allergy.
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Magatsu, your comment hit something with him. While he doesn't suffer from food allergies (which is what I think you meant by grain), he does suffer from hayfever and other allergies. While its wintertime here so allergies aren't an issue, he pointed out that it hasn't happened outside recently but inside his house which could still contain pollen and therefore an allergy. You know when you feel your sinus drain. He says he doesn't get that feeling, but perhaps its small enough to not feel it but can do that to his ear. It would also explain why its in both ears.

On the other hand, he pointed out that he only notices it when its very very quiet with little to know background noise so its possible he wouldn't notice it outside to begin with...
 
I have tinnitus myself too. It's possible there is too much background noise for tinnitus to be noticed in the first place so it could be more permanent than you realise. I get it because sometimes it's too quiet, and my ears need some music or something to stimulate the nerves and reduce tinnitus. It doesn't have to be a permanent thing, in my case, it happens every now and then and sometimes for minutes or hours.

I get whistling noises instead of ringing, it's like this constant high pitched sound that has nothing to do with my hearing aids because when I take them off, it's a lot worse.
 
Good point and could be why he notices it when its quiet. I didn't know that sound would stimulate it and make it go away. It would explain why he notices it in his house when its 'too quiet' ;)

As for the ringing, I had asked him about it. He explained that it was more like a very high pitch steady tone and not necessarily like a phone ringing. He says it doesn't change pitch at all..just a tone that last 60 seconds or so and then fades away. We only know the term 'ringing in the ears' so thats how I worded it. I don't know if ringing sounds different than just a high pitched tone.
 
I have tinnitus too. The strange thing about me is that even though I'm profoundly deaf, I have hyperacuity which means I'm extremely sensitive to the sound that I *can* hear. For me, a high-pitched tone is usually enough to trigger painful tinnitus.

So maybe he should take note of not only what he heard BEFORE the tinnitus started, but also what pitch the sound was, and that may help him figure out if this is a trigger.

Other triggers for me are stress, colds, and headaches (which is a vicious cycle.. you get a headache, then ringing which causes my headache to get worse and so on).

-N
 
ravensteve1961 said:
Its called Tinnitus,,Im suffering it right now. I been deaf for 2 months now and i still have this problem,Doc says once i get the CI this should go away when your hearing improves with the CI. Tinnitus is a reaction to your hearing nerves because your brain is trying to reach a signal but your hair cell nerves are not connecting to the nerve to your brain. I hope doc is right about this.
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It did not improve with mine after cochlear implant...
 
Taylor said:
Good point and could be why he notices it when its quiet. I didn't know that sound would stimulate it and make it go away. It would explain why he notices it in his house when its 'too quiet' ;)

As for the ringing, I had asked him about it. He explained that it was more like a very high pitch steady tone and not necessarily like a phone ringing. He says it doesn't change pitch at all..just a tone that last 60 seconds or so and then fades away. We only know the term 'ringing in the ears' so thats how I worded it. I don't know if ringing sounds different than just a high pitched tone.
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high pitched monotone sound... thats what mine is like also I dont know about others...
 
Taylor said:
Steve, how often does this occur? Is it all the time or was it just occasionally? I've heard of things with Tinnitus being a little more permanent instead of the occasional ringing in the ears.
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Taylor i didnt get back to your question cause the ***l banned me. When you become deaf the hearing in your ear will go from 40 Db then to 50 Db, then to 60 Db,then to 70 Db,then to 80 Db,then to 90 Db, and finaly then to 100 Db thats when youre deaf and youll hear crazy noises in your ear. Thats because it your brains reaction trying to figure out whats wrong? something not right here? thats how the brain is reacting. Whjen you get the CI then the brain will say,,There you go now its working thats when ringing in the ears will stop.
 
Steve, Thanks for the update. I know there are many different causes for deafness. Aside from those that are born deaf, the timeframe is different too. Some people lose their hearing rather quickly because of a medical condition...others lose it as they grow older. In the case of my friend, is this condition likely to get worse or if its a reaction to something (like an allergy). It could be long term but temporary at times an not get any worse or it could be a sign that bad things are to come. Thats what is trying to be determined.
 
My hearing isnt tempoary,,It has goten worse,,Im still on the steriods program. and it doesnt look like its inproving any. Im in my 3rd week got 1 week to go.
 
Taylor said:
Magatsu, your comment hit something with him. While he doesn't suffer from food allergies (which is what I think you meant by grain), he does suffer from hayfever and other allergies. While its wintertime here so allergies aren't an issue, he pointed out that it hasn't happened outside recently but inside his house which could still contain pollen and therefore an allergy. You know when you feel your sinus drain. He says he doesn't get that feeling, but perhaps its small enough to not feel it but can do that to his ear. It would also explain why its in both ears.

On the other hand, he pointed out that he only notices it when its very very quiet with little to know background noise so its possible he wouldn't notice it outside to begin with...
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I definitely have to check these out to see if I can find any information for you. I will be right back with you on that one whenever I can.
 
these are the information i got about tinnitus
How many people have tinnitus?

50 million Americans experience tinnitus. Of these, about 12 million have tinnitus which is severe enough to seek medical attention. Of those, about two million patients are so seriously debilitated by their tinnitus, they cannot function normally on a day-to-day basis.

What causes tinnitus?

The exact cause (or causes) of tinnitus is not known in every case. There are, however, several likely factors which may cause tinnitus or make existing tinnitus worse: noise-induced hearing loss, wax build-up in the ear canal, certain medications, ear or sinus infections, age-related hearing loss, ear diseases and disorders, jaw misalignment, cardiovascular disease, certain types of tumors, thyroid disorders, head and neck trauma and many others. Of these factors, exposure to loud noises and hearing loss are the most common causes of tinnitus. I strongly recommend that an audiologist and a physician should evaluate all tinnitus patients.

What are the options for tinnitus management and treatment?

There are many options for people who experience tinnitus. Some wear hearing aids to help cover up their tinnitus, some wear tinnitus maskers. Additionally, there are combined tinnitus maskers and hearing aids – all in one unit! Some patients require counseling to help them develop effective management strategies to manage their tinnitus. If you’ve been told "learn to live with it," there are many additional options to explore. Your audiologist is an excellent resource for issues and answers related to tinnitus. Additionally, I recommend all people with tinnitus visit the American Tinnitus Association website for more information, ideas and strategies concerning tinnitus. http://www.ata.org/
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