Mild hearing loss and tinnitus

#1

Heya,
So I’m new here. I have mild hearing loss (so mild that the ENT said he don’t consider it like hearing loss even if that had happened in one month). He didn’t listen to me when I said I have very loud tinnitus and give me another audiogram for one year later. He also refuse to do a new audiogram. So now I’m waiting for january to come. I have difficulties understand people with background noise behind and put the tv sound louder now. Today, I asked my mom and stepfather to repeat many times and didn’t hear the fireworks outside (when I was inside) while my parents heard it.

I also have ear pain linked with my tinnitus and yeah… My mom always said to stop drink milk (I drink a milk chocolate sometimes in the morning and juice and water during the rest of the day) and try her beauty mask. She doesn’t really seems to believe me. Like she don’t want to understand that I really have tinnitus and a hearing loss.

What do you think about it?

#2

My spidey sense is sensing that maybe you’re not an adult. And you’re probably from the US.
If you’re an adult then most hearing places will give you a no obligation hearing test. Start with Costco Then you’re usually entitled to the audiogram. ie. results.
I’d suggest finding another ENT. Noticing hearing loss inside of a month is something to think about.
If you’re not an adult then you have more hoops and your parents probably need to be involved. I don’t know.

#3

Hey! No I’m from Québec, Canada and yes. Even tho I turn 20 in september, I’m a student and still in my parents home.
The problem is that we went to a private clinic since public would have been very long. I don’t know if I would even had an appointment right now. They refer me to their ENT without giving me the choice so I don’t know if I can change and if yes, I don’t know how.

#4

From Québec eh? Well aren’t you lucky. You’re in one of exceedingly few jurisdictions in North America that provide hearing aids. But 20 is awfully young. Get anything health related dealt with first.

#5

I don’t understant your last phrase? And yes I plan to ask them, but fear that my hearing loss is to mild again and that they continu to ignore my tinnitus (wich is, most of the time, awfuly louds)

#6

First of all…I’m no expert. This is the internet.
I’m saying that for your age, and to have what I gather to be a bit of a sudden onset of hearing issues and tinnitus, figure out if you have some other health issue that is causing your issues first before you go about dealing with hearing aids.

Don’t worry about what anyone might think of as mild hearing loss. Your quality of life is being impacted. You’re struggling to hear normally. Either a health issue or you’re going to need hearing aids. Sucks at such a young age but others here are young and younger so it’s not unheard of.

Some have had success with the couple tinnitus therapies. Some can get away with ignoring it and becoming less aware of it. Typing this now, my tinnitus is all up.

#7

Lucky and unlucky. The Quebec healthcare system is monsterously slow from everything I’ve heard.

Do you have a copy of your test?

ENTs generally don’t care about tinnitus once they are convinced that it is not related to some other more concerning medical condition, and they often know very little about hearing aids. Hopefully there is a private clinic near you that has both audiologistes who deal with tinnitus and audioprothésistes. Book an appointment with them instead.

In the interim, do your best to ignore/distract yourself from your tinnitus. Try to avoid silence, particularly when it is bothering you.

#8

Thank you two. First, my tinnitus start after a hearing trauma when I was twelve (air soft putted in my ear. Hopefully with no bullet but still). It was just fleeting tinnitus. But one year ago they became chronis tinnitus and in the same time, I was diagnosticed with mild hearing loss at the right ear. My audiogram is from last december or january. My hearing is really worse, as well as my tinnitus but here:

250: 10 500: 5 1000: 5 2000: 10
3000: 0 4000: 10 8000: 30

The left ear was in the normal range but the first audiogram had shown higher range.

As for the clinic, I’m on the insurance of my parents. If I want to change, I have to pass by them and my mother won’t be ok with that. One week ago, she said to me “Oh your ears seem to be fine now!” And even if I said it wasn’t, she just finds excuse about why I had tinnitus and wave off my hearing loss so I can’t change. I don’t really know what to do.

(And yes our healtcare is very slow. A friend was asmetic and needed an appointment. Turns out they just… forgot him? He had his appointment 10 years later. And I could continu all day with stories about how slow our system are :'D )

#9

Sigh. Oh to have young ears :slight_smile:
As I said in a previous post, you are experiencing an impact on the quality of your life. That’s your experience. No one else. You’re an adult now. Take hold of it and advocate for yourself.
I don’t know how insurance works in Quebec. Is this your parents employee benefits? You’re in Canada so you have the public health care system. Whether you pay nothing (other than through your taxes anyway) or a small premium like other provinces, it’s the public system. As for a hearing test…you can go into any hearing clinic and they’ll gladly run a test for you. They might try to sell you something but you just walk away saying you’ll think about it.
But since you and Neville are saying the public system is slow then I guess you’re stuck with whatever this insurance plan is that your parents are on. Maybe they don’t want to take the hit of hearing issue claims and are down-playing your issues. Again, it’s your experience not theirs. How can they possibly say your ears are fine when you are having difficulty hearing. They can’t know what you’re not hearing.

With your right high frequency loss, the tinnitus would probably be playing havoc with your testing. And you might be having difficulty hearing the ess’s and tee’s and other high frequency voice sounds.

#10

I’ve got this compulsive Googling thing, and I gave into it and came up with Tinnitus and Sound Sensitivity Consultation | Canadian Hearing Society. They might have some advice for you. Even if the public health system is glacially slow, if you make an appointment now it gives you a backstop in case you don’t find other help in the meantime.

All the best.

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#11

Thanks you two! Today was very difficult. I feel like all the sounds is muffling. I’m studying in 3D animation and tomorrow I’ll start my last year. If I see it’s too difficult to follow, I’ll ask for another appointment even if we’re not in january.

#12

A good affliction to have, IMNSHO.

Good luck @AlexG, don’t give up getting the assistance you certainly need.

I’ve managed to make some peace with my constant hissing tinnitus in both ears, but sometimes it just will not back off. Headphones and music are my escape.

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#13

Hey!
Just for giving some news. So when it’s noisy, I have much difficulties to understand what people are telling me. In class, I can hear my professors (and they are all guys so it easier) but it a little like… muffled? And I had to get repeat some people. Water sound muffled.

Also, I have a bird. Ilya it his/her name. Normaly, they (I really don’t know their gender) start to (tweet? Cheep?) At the same time of my wake up clock (urg I forgot my english today ><) but I haven’t hear them since a week and a half. Don’t know if it’s because they didn’t do it or if it’s just because I didn’t heard her. The last time it had sound very muffled.

I also had to up the sound of the game I’m playing (currently doing a playtest. Last day tomorrow). Up to 100. And it still sound a little low. I listening less to my music since I had to up the volume to. Don’t want to make things worse.

#14

It seems quite interesting what you’re experiencing. You have just about normal hearing. The right a little less so in the highs. It would seem to me that the left would compensate for you to hear things fine.
If you’ve had a noticeable drop in hearing since the winter then I would continue to suggest getting that attended to as a possible medical issue. In the meantime, run out to Costco and get a hearing test and ask for the results and report back. If you’re not a member then really pretty much any clinic would do a test for free. Get the audiogram.

#15

Yes I will call for an other audiogram (in the same time I’ll stop procrastinate taking an appointment for my glasses ahah)

#16

Jumping in late here. Hey, you can go to the Costco Quebec for the eyeglasses, but it looks like they do not have an on-site hearing aid dispenser.

There are many reasons for hearing loss at your age: loud music/environment, drugs, even swimming and ear-health related issues. I admire your being proactive at your age in getting this looked at. Believe me, when you want to socialize, date and even get a career going, you will need your HEARING. I speak as one who was born with a moderate loss, which was serious by the time I was 30. Lot of years lost denying that reality.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU! Keep us posted.

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#17

Thank you! I’m not someone who take drugs or anything. I’m a little introvert. Don’t kike to go out. Even less with friends except my childhood friend.

In september, I’ll start taking LSQ classes (Québec sign language). I always wanted to learned it. My cousin is also an interpreter for deaf children and her ex husband was deaf.

I really want to take an other audiogram. I already have a clinic. The one I went back in november and december, but I’m on the insurrance of my parents and my mom doesn’t seem to mind these days. She not doing well so I’ve not found the courage to tell her I’ll get one before january.

#18

^^^ Sorry - didn’t mean to imply you do THOSE kinda drugs! :wink: What I meant is that even strong meds can cause hearing loss. I actually attribute my final decline to a course of Coricidin, which I was taking for an ear infection. I got tinnitus at 14 from taking that. Even antibiotics can affect hearing - so I try to avoid that, too.

Well I am sorry your mom is not doing too well. But if you are on her insurance plan, you are lucky. DO pursue all avenues. Knowing sign language would be cool! It is a more universal language when you think of it - especially as many words are symbols and do not even require one speaking a native language!

#19

Yeah I’ve got it after posting ahah. I’m born early (27 weeks) and had a hearing trauma at 12 so my problem come from that. I’m not use to med to be honest. I take advils only when pain is really insupportable or when I have headache for more than two days. I had take an anti-pain when they remove my back teeths(? i don’t know how to say it in english) and had hallucinations so I stop them immediatly.

And yes! I plan to learn ASL after LSQ since they are similar and that if I move to west, to the anglophone part of the Canada, it will be in ASL

#20

^^^ Good for you! Sounds like a great plan. Sorry about your trauma at 12. Life moves on and tosses those curve balls to keep us challenged.