I got myself a cheap endoscope from china 8$. 5mm dia. USB based.
I use it to chk my ears. And that of other family members. It helps to keep your ears clean and hair free.
There have been cases when pieces of wax result in you hearing things. This is esp true when your chewing or eating something.
There is medication that Drs prescribe which helps in some cases. I know my parents were prescribed medication for this.
I use it to chk my ears. And that of other family members. It helps to keep your ears clean and hair free.
There have been cases when pieces of wax result in you hearing things. This is esp true when your chewing or eating something.
There is medication that Drs prescribe which helps in some cases. I know my parents were prescribed medication for this.
;-)
Let's start with your basic education in "biology" = electrophysics:
as example: Electroencephalography (EEG)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024160/
Our study indicates that EEG microstates may provide a possible valuable method to study large-scale brain networks, which may in turn be beneficial to investigation of the neurophysiological mechanisms behind tinnitus.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196070921002106?via=ihub
The neuro-audiology assessment was based on the estimation of the approximate entropy of the electrical neural activity. This assessment revealed that the whole frequency structure of the neural networks showed a higher level of activeness in tinnitus sufferers than in control individuals. Then psychological evaluation showed that retraining treatment tended to be the most effective sound-based therapy to reduce tinnitus perception, but it may be not recommended for individuals with anxiety.
https://www.hear-it.org/Tinnitus-Retraining-Therapy
1. Extensive collection of information about the patient, including patient history and daily living habits.
2. Use of devices worn behind the ear and generating broad-band noise to divert attention of the patient away from the tinnitus.
3. Psychological therapy teaching the patient to ignore the tinnitus noise. This is combined with deep relaxation exercises and stress management. The goal is the elimination of the patient's anxiety, so that the tinnitus is no longer perceived as a danger, thus diverting concentration away from the tinnitus noise.
The end goal is complete habituation of the noise.
The duration of the treatment varies depending on the treatment facility involved.
Our study indicates that EEG microstates may provide a possible valuable method to study large-scale brain networks, which may in turn be beneficial to investigation of the neurophysiological mechanisms behind tinnitus.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196070921002106?via=ihub
The neuro-audiology assessment was based on the estimation of the approximate entropy of the electrical neural activity. This assessment revealed that the whole frequency structure of the neural networks showed a higher level of activeness in tinnitus sufferers than in control individuals. Then psychological evaluation showed that retraining treatment tended to be the most effective sound-based therapy to reduce tinnitus perception, but it may be not recommended for individuals with anxiety.
https://www.hear-it.org/Tinnitus-Retraining-Therapy
How does Tinnitus Retraining Therapy work?
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy can be used for different types of tinnitus (such as pulsatile tinnitus and others) and combines three significant therapeutic steps:1. Extensive collection of information about the patient, including patient history and daily living habits.
2. Use of devices worn behind the ear and generating broad-band noise to divert attention of the patient away from the tinnitus.
3. Psychological therapy teaching the patient to ignore the tinnitus noise. This is combined with deep relaxation exercises and stress management. The goal is the elimination of the patient's anxiety, so that the tinnitus is no longer perceived as a danger, thus diverting concentration away from the tinnitus noise.
The end goal is complete habituation of the noise.
The duration of the treatment varies depending on the treatment facility involved.
Interesting few days of messages here.
Some while back I wrote about my RHS tinnitus. It appears to be improving. When it started (3 years ago) I had two days a week without it, 5 days varying between awful and bearable. There's been a perceptible change in the last 9 months, I now get 5 days with little or no tinnitus and a couple of bad days. Which makes me think I've got an injury that's gradually getting better. I've been doing a series back/neck stretching exercises for some months and the could be responsible, but, honestly, I have no real clue one way or the other.
I do know it's not acclimatisation. The tinnitus is LOUD, plainly audible in a noisy room, in a car or aeroplane.
If I can have a good nights sleep and I'm not too restless in bed I mostly have a day without tinnitus. There seems to be something about turning from side to side that provokes it I can hear levels rise and fall as I turn, gradually building up as the night proceeds. Also, posture sitting down is influential. I've worked hard to minimise movement in bed and to devise ways to turn from side to side minimising stress on my upper body and been experimenting with seats and posture.
Some days the noise fills the RHS side of my head, others, it's like it's just inside my ear, sometimes it'll switch between the two depending on what I'm doing. All at 6-10khz though mostly a single tone at one frequency.
Some while back I wrote about my RHS tinnitus. It appears to be improving. When it started (3 years ago) I had two days a week without it, 5 days varying between awful and bearable. There's been a perceptible change in the last 9 months, I now get 5 days with little or no tinnitus and a couple of bad days. Which makes me think I've got an injury that's gradually getting better. I've been doing a series back/neck stretching exercises for some months and the could be responsible, but, honestly, I have no real clue one way or the other.
I do know it's not acclimatisation. The tinnitus is LOUD, plainly audible in a noisy room, in a car or aeroplane.
If I can have a good nights sleep and I'm not too restless in bed I mostly have a day without tinnitus. There seems to be something about turning from side to side that provokes it I can hear levels rise and fall as I turn, gradually building up as the night proceeds. Also, posture sitting down is influential. I've worked hard to minimise movement in bed and to devise ways to turn from side to side minimising stress on my upper body and been experimenting with seats and posture.
Some days the noise fills the RHS side of my head, others, it's like it's just inside my ear, sometimes it'll switch between the two depending on what I'm doing. All at 6-10khz though mostly a single tone at one frequency.
There's a condition most doctors have, you go talk about your tinnitus, they look confused then refer you to a hearing therapist. Tinnitus blindness. Tried several, most have never heard of somato-sensory tinnitus. Let alone actual treatments. UK NHS is so stuffed it hardly seems worth trying...
Been checked for tumors etc with MRI. TBH I'm not sure I'd want to risk an operation on my neck.
Not that. Ear checked. Hearing good for my age and same in both ears. If I lean head to left noise increases, move it back it decreases. Exercise that tenses muscles in neck increases it. There's more, but you get the idea...
I went to sleep without it and woke up with it in one night in Nov 2019. Been like it since.
That's atypical, but we are all different. Have you tried a good physiotherapist or osteopath who specialises in cervical zp joints?
You better not move to the US or Russia or SA or ................
General reaction has been like a dog shown a card trick. Puzzlement, then move on to the usual "Brain mysterious" "hearing damage" "acceptance" speech they give to everyone else who turns up with tinnitus.
Until I know what's wrong to a degree of certainty I'm reluctant to have a physio or osteopath 'prodding around' in such a sensitive area...
Despite NHS existing I'm having to fund this myself because no-ones interested locally. Private medicine is not cheap... Any ENT bod has Tinnitus on their CV, but so far, in my experience, they're limited advising people who have the more common causes and at £350-£500 per visit I'm not in a position to shop around.
Having a pause and might try again when bank account is better stocked.
https://forum.hearingtracker.com/
https://forum.hearingtracker.com/c/tinnitus/57
Both for tinnitus and for help navigating the UK hearing-doctor scene.
My guy claims special interest in tinnitus, and did some tests on me (my deafness is mostly dying nerves, the tinnitus more a byproduct) but he is a very long way from you on different clock and different money.
https://forum.hearingtracker.com/c/tinnitus/57
Both for tinnitus and for help navigating the UK hearing-doctor scene.
My guy claims special interest in tinnitus, and did some tests on me (my deafness is mostly dying nerves, the tinnitus more a byproduct) but he is a very long way from you on different clock and different money.
Highly trained professionals don't prod around. I think you are suffering from something more serious than tinnitus.
I now have a serious hearing loss, with a hearing threshold that is in the profoundly deaf range. Ironically, my hearing is worsening in parallel to my audio system developing & improving !
Without boring you to death, my problems began with tinnitus way back in the mid 1980s. The one experience that astounded me was during my first examination at the local NHS hospital where, after some cursory investigations, the frequency of my tinnitus was determined:- one of the audiologists produced a tuning fork of the equivalent frequency, gave it a knock and shoved the blunt end onto the bone that sits just behind your ear (lower skull /in line with jaw bone. Voila - the tinnitus was cancelled out. Simple physics but it proved the ringing wasn't my imagination (I was beginning to think it may have been).
If you haven't yet progressed to hearing aids, my next point will possibly serve as a comparable situation to your problem (tinnitus increasing/decreasing in level depending upon the position of your head).
One of my aids is less effective than the other and the problem lies with the internal shape of my ear and/or hearing canal. Under normal conditions my hearing aid ear mould sits snugly in my ear, but as soon as there is a change in my physiology - either due to extensive jaw movement or temperature change, my ear 'canal' changes shape. I assume this happens to all of us - all of the time, but makes no difference to most people who will be unaware of it. In my case the shape must elongate or scrunch up, with the result that the hearing aid mould fails to maintain the snug fit. Because the aid is then loose I experience what can only be described as 'feedback'. There is a lot more to this point and as you'd guess it is infuriating.
My other ear is a different shape (inside the ear canal) and the ear mould is noticeably different and I don't experience the problem on that side.
My point is, and this is pure conjecture and not medical fact - I wonder if your problem is in some way similarly generated.
This problem can be triggered by the slightest changes - such as sitting here now - opening and closing my mouth in an exaggerated way, or within minutes of going outdoors on a very cold day (temperature change).
I hope this gives you some food for thought and helps in some way.
Like our quest for the 'Holy Grail' - audio wise, I hope one day to have a decent set of hearing aids or some development in stem cell technology that could offer a better solution. Until that time, I have to convince myself that what I hear is down to my system and not just the sound produced by my Widex aids's interpretation of that sound - if you see what I mean.
Am I correctly assuming your aids are frequency cancelling? Is the feedback a result of an actual standing wave in the gap between your aid and ear canal?
It is exactly the same as feedback in a room with a PA system, mike and speaker. Loop gain > one, howl. A standing wave may develop as an effect, not a cause.
Since the acoustic path is very short, it "builds up" instantly. Because most of us are deaf at the top, the aids tuned to boost highs, the squeal is at or above the highest frequency we can hear with boost. (I can hear my father's aids feedback, he can't.)
My present aids perform a number of functions but they don't cancel the ringing in my ear(s). My situation is quite complex and one aspect is that I have difficulty hearing lower frequency sounds. In simple terms - talking to somebody with a high pitch voice is good as I hear them more clearly than those who have a deep/low pitch. Consequently I have messed around with speakers to find something that gives me audible bass ..... for a long time I thought it was totally out of my 'reach'. Several years ago I attended the exhibition 'Their mortal remains' at the V&A (Pink Floyd) and was delighted to hear fabulous bass, which indicated that I was still able to pick it up. One RAL sub later and I have bass that I can appreciate again !
MRI says no structural problems with the outer, middle or inner ear. No auditory nerve tumor. No obvious physical damage to the brain or significant deterioration. Blood pressure slightly elevated but not massively, and otherwise very fit and active.
Fine saying it's more serious than tinnitus. You try turning up at your doctors with a noise in your ear and see what happens. Knowledge of tinnitus at GP level is abysmal once the usual suspects have been eliminated. Even at consultant level they're used to dealing with people with hearing loss, damage or with brain tumours. Which I don't have.
I have tried to get someone to look at it more seriously, but it's clear that's going to have to happen outside the bounds of the NHS and I do not have the funds to visit consultants and pay for my own diagnostic tests until I find someone who has experience of people with whatever's wrong with me. The closest I've got is somatic sensory tinnitus, but that's not actually a diagnosis it's a collection of symptoms, and there it doesn't fit too well with what I have.
I have a lot going on right now, but when I have spare capacity I'll go back to my GP and try again. But it is frustrating in the extreme.
Oh, highly trained professionals often prod around. My experience is that can focus on one or two key symptoms they know and understand and then background those that confound their diagnosis as not relevant. It's a common human failing IMO.