Tinnitus! Aaaagh!

[Gentleman Jim]

About two weeks ago I was sat down next to my sleeping 2 month old when I had an unannounced sneeze. My sneeze can be quite loud and violent so in this case rather than give my 2 month old a heart attack I stupidly decided to grab my nose and seal it off so I effectively 'sealed the sneeze in internally'. I now have had, since then, a loud ringing in my ears, which is clearly audible if ambient sounds are low. I can get to sleep ok, but I miss the peace and solitude of sitting in the garden or infact anywhere in relative Silence. No peaceful Sunday lie in with barely a oise in the house. I fear I have caused some damage. Has anybody experienced this. Am I doomed to remain with this until endex?

Gentleman Jim

[gingernut]

When you say it's audible, is it audible to others?

Would be worth getting someone to look down your lug hole in the first instance.

[Gentleman Jim]

No, I apologise, I meant audible to me!

I am currently around Doctors who are ....let's say...not the best in the world.


Gentleman Jim

[teresa green]

If I were you G.Jim I would make a quick down to SYD and speak to a Ear Nose and Throat Specialist and get it sorted. That sort of thing can drive you nuts over a period of time, so make the trip, and get it fixed.:(

[Loose rivets]

Hello Jim


It really is a PITA isn't it. Had it since I was in my late 30s. Shooting pistol and flying noisy turboprops may have been causal, but I also took an antibiotic Tetracycline I think it was. I heard later that it might have been the cause.

Since yours was caused by momentary over-pressure, have you tried to reverse that pressure by holding your nose and . . . well, kind of sucking? I can do this hard enough to hear creaking in my sinuses, the only connection being an indicator that it is working.

Getting pressure back down the eustation tube is notoriously difficult - it's almost a one-wave valve in some people - but do try.

Although it's more to do with the after effects of infection, do try some saline washes with sterile water and iodonized salt - to a mix similar to salt water. I've posted on this a lot, and told of my antics hanging upside down over the bath, while trying to squish this mix into my tubes and sinuses. It has sometimes achieved good results with blockages.

END IN THE SUCTION MODE OF COURSE

This is no more than a first step to illuminating other factors.

Yours has a good chance of simply going away, but if it doesn't, don't assume it will ruin your life. I spent most of the next 30 years not really thinking about it. If I did, it was tedious, but for the most part it was just there, and that was that.

I should say that I'm a person with a great love of classical piano, and spent a long time developing ways to tune them electronically. The point being that I really needed good hearing, and I was worried this problem would put an end to it. But the defect really didn't seem to stop me doing, and indeed enjoying, what I was doing.

[Gentleman Jim]

Teresa
Thanks, will do tomorrow I think.

Loose

Thanks for the advice I will try it all. Dlad to hear about the piano but with Beethoven as an inspiration you were always going to be on a winner:ok:

Gentleman Jim

[gatbusdriver]

It started in Feb for me. Panicked that I would lose my class 1 at my next audiogram. After taking my head out of the sand, I went to see my doc who then referred me to an ENT chap. I did an audiogram that came back as good as if I was 18 (even though all I could hear in the booth initially was my tinnitus and heart beat!!). I have had an MRI scan to make sure nothing untoward is causing it, but I am not too worried about the results.

I now have a new headset for the 757 (one of the noisier flightdecks I've been on), I now have new headphones for my I-pod (PNR) so I now keep vol below 50%, I also ensure that I wear suitable ear defenders when doing the walk around.

For me, I can live with the tinnitus, so long as I can keep my medical. The thought of doing another job/retraining did not appeal.

Regards

GBD

[gingernut]

On the face of it, there isn't too much to worry about.
You need a medical assessment, but this could affect your licence to fly.

Sounds like 1 of a few things have happened.
1) you've blown thick snot into the ear drum and stopped it vibrating (likely) drink a load of water and it will get better.
2) you've bust an ear drum. (less likely)
3)something more obscure (unlikely)

you need to talk to someone qualified. They can listen to your symptoms in more detail.

[paddy_22002]

I developed Tinnitus over a year ago.
Once I saw the ENT and my AME I started to calm down a bit. A year later its still the same except it now doesn't stop me falling asleep. Strangely I have no loss of hearing and it likely to be a result of nerve stimulation.

GJ I hope you solve it and it clears up for you. If it doesn't and everything else is ok then don't worry. In my experience you will find you can cope with it.

Good luck

[Standard Noise]

I've had very mild tinnitus for years. Then last year I had three bouts of ear infection on the left and although it cleared with increasingly stronger antibiotics, the tinnitus became worse. One of our OHS docs told me to ask my GP for Beta Histine Dihydrochloride tablets, one of it's uses is to lower the blood pressure round the ears, but it didn't work for me. You could try it though.
An MRI in February revealed that my tubes are clear, but two different audiograms showed a loss in the high frequency range on the left. Thankfully it's not bad enough for me to fail the Class 1 or to affect my sleep but it isn't half annoying when I'm in a quiet setting.
I've been advised to stop using the iPod and thankfully I can work with my headset round my neck most of the time. Seems it's a common thing with ATCOs.

The Germans appear to be way ahead of the rest of Europe in tinnitus research with several different trails on the go, interestingly one involves using iPods, but there you go.

[Uncle Wiggily]

When I do the audiogram test, my tinnitus makes it so that I can not hear a certain decibal range (20 I believe) in the right ear. Other than that, my audiogram chart is fairly consistant between both ears. The tinnitus is in the right ear. So, there is a small dip on this chart, nothing major. I guess it would be safe to say that my left ear measures 100 percent OK and my right ear is about 90 to 95 percent.

Can I not be 100 percent in an ear and still receive the Class 1 medical (Europe)? I also may be doing a medical in China and I have read many posts about the Chinese being infamous for not issuing medicals for the most minute detail. Is this true? Would it bar me from getting the Chinese medical? As for the FAA..heck no problem...most docs there don't even use a auidogram, but just do the whisper test which is valid in the FAA world.