ringing ears
 

hello. ive just started to get a bit of ringing in my right ear. i think its because of having my ipod too loud:rolleyes:. will this affect my chances of passing a class 1 medical.

in Australia by the way

cheeeeerrrrrssssssssss

Hi Sam,

Sounds like Tinnitus to me. Quite a common thing that most people will experience. More info on it can be found here: Tinnitus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My advice would be to turn that blooming iPod down!! ;)
If you suffer from allergies or have a buildup in ear wax then try to remedy them. A nasal spary is bliss!!! (not in the ear!!) I suffer quite badly from allergic rhinitis and a quick burst of one of these is awesome! You might have an ear infection which will require some anti biotics. An ear infection isn't nice at all. That sounds like you have a cockroach crawling through your ear canal. It can be painful too so if you start experiencing pain and / or have the sensation of fluid in the ear a bit like after swimming then see a Doc ASAP.

If you're struggling to hear out of one ear then I would wait until it's cleared. You will need to do a hearing test so you don't want to be half deaf when you do it. I believe the CASA Class 1 is very similar to our CAA/JAA one.

You shouldn't fail your class 1 unless you hearing is permently damaged. Listening to that iPod at 90db all day long will do you no good at all. :=

If it is just tempory however then you should be fine as soon as it clears up.

My best advice; check with a doc. That's why they're there! :ok:

Have a Bonza day mate.

SHG.

but do any pilots have tinnitus? and is it allowed?

EVERYONE suffers from Tinnitus; just some people are more sensitive to it than others. My brother suffers from it badly at night, because he concentrates on it much more while sleeping.

It doesn't mean your medical is going to be bad but as a general rule you shouldn't have your music greater than 70% volume, if you hear any ringing after listening to music you should automatically stop and turn it down after giving your ears a break.

You do not want to continue any damage to your ears drums, my father suffers from Tinnitus so bad that he can't hear from his left ear, although this was a military injury many musicians and public speakers can suffer from it also.

If it gets any worse I would recommend speaking to your doctor.

If you ruin your hearing, and get serious tinnitus, nobody on Earth can help you. Never have the volume up for some form of sensuous reward.

Yes, you can have some tinnitus and a class 1 medical, but it's all a question of degree. High tone deafness is endemic in aircrew that flew the older stuff.

Some antibiotics are thought to cause tinnitus. Tetracycline I believe is one, but you need to research this.

A lot will depend on the history.

I suspect that you are young and daft, and the proplem has occurred recently-it's probably ok to adopt a strategy of "wait and see," hoping the problem will resolve on it's own-it could be down to someting as simple as snot in the middle ear.

If like me, you are older and daft, the problem may be more long term. In this case, get your ears and bp checked.



This may serve as a warning about the dangers of i-pods. Medical wise, tinnitus can't really be tested for, but hearing loss can.

:)

does it matter if its only in one ear? i only got it wen i woke up one morning not straight after i listened to my ipod. not looking good:\ i dont wanna hav to deal with ringing ears the rest of my life. ih ope i havent screwed things up bad............:bored::ugh:

It's unlikely-see your quack for reassurance.

wat do u mean?

Hi Sam,

Gingernut means see your GP / Doctor / ENT (Ears, nose & throat) specialist.

They'll be able to give you a more thorough and clinical diagnosis and give you the correct advice based on their findings.

Don't panic untill you have been given a reason to. ;)

SHG.

I believe that I have slight tinnitus but I still passed my Class 1 medical. I was chatting to the doc and he even said that you can be wearing a hearing aid and still get your Class 1 med!!! :eek: hey, he's the doc!

At the Moment, my ears are Blocked! I can't clear my sinuses! I am currently using Sudafed Decongestants....... Any More Advice?!

I posted this recently on another, very similar, thread :

http://www.pprune.org/4532269-post5.html

One night about 4 years ago I came out of a night club with a really loud ringing my ears and a muffled feeling. It wasn't the normal ringing after such a night out. I wasn't a big one for the clubs and remember noticing it was uncomfortably loud in there. Louder than seemed normal. I did notice they had positioned the 4 foot high speakers next to the dance floor (not that I was busting out shapes of course ha).

It lasted a month then died down. I still have a permanant quiet tinnitus but I don't notice it really as your brain trains itself to overlook the sound I think. If I concentrate on it then it's there but it never causes problems. It is a sign of permanent hearing damage. I no longer go to clubs and all that malarky. At the time I held a class 1. My recent class 1 renewal included an audiogram which showed very good hearing. You're allowed a natural decrease so I should be ok but I watch my hearing now. I know quite a few collegues who have high tone loss due to guitars,music or palying drums. You have to be careful with it.

I have tinnitus and passed the hearing test easily.

I have had tinnitus for almost 7 years now. I am told I have it because I have flown for 30+ years but no-one knows for sure how I got it. None of my relatives have tinnitus. I have never been a frequent visitor to clubs and infact avoided loud music because I have always disliked loud sounds. I retired from flying aged 55, 3 years ago. The tinnitus has not prevented me from sleeping normally.

The ENT consultant told me I have the usual pattern of damage to the cochlea that long term flyers sometimes get. I do not suffer any loss of hearing and only have tinnitus in one ear.Some days it is fairly bad and other days I can hardly hear it. Stress makes it worse.

I am married to a medical doctor who thinks a lot of younger people will get tinnitus at an earlier age now that so many audio advices are available that are used with the volume set at a dangerous level. I get quite a bit of info on the subject at home.

Tinnitis is almost always the result of over exposure to loud noise or a continual exposure to a certain constant noise level over long periods of time.
The maximum allowed decibel level in industry is 80 dB for a duration of 8 hours.

My tinnitus started for only 10 seconds at a time and then wore off and returned some months later over a long period of time. It has gradually got worse over about the last 3 years. It is true what someone else has said, in some people the brain realises it is a sound that is not beneficial in anyway and the person no longer hears it. That happened to someone I know who had severe tinnitus and loss of hearing due to riding loud motor bikes. He had tinnitus for 7 years and one day it suddenly went, he is very hard of hearing though even though he is only 30.

As a basic rule if you have to raise your voice in order to be heard over any loud noise or music you can damage your cochlea (inner ear) permanently. Other people who get tinnitus do so because they have high blood pressure or inherit the defect from a parent.Currently there is no cure for tinnitus.

A further common problem some people develop when they suddenly get tinnits is a phobia of noise and wear ear plugs when there is absolutely no danger to the noise level they are exposed to. They usually overcome that phobia in time.

I would not use that ipod if I were you but am sure you will get pass your medical without any problems.

Best of luck

Tinnitus isn't a disease or injury - it is a symptom of the damage.
The reason this is important is high frequency hearing loss is the underlying cause of almost all tinnitus.
The high freq loss will affect you in life quite badly and is permanent in most cases, and in all cases if due to repeated exposure to loud noise.
High freq hearing loss will affect your ability to hear almost any conversation if the is significant background noise, ie a party.
You sound like you are in the early phase and if you stop exposure to damaging noise (I-pod, etc) it should not progress.
Aircraft are noisy. No problem but you must in your situation buy a good set of Headphones.
If you don't stop exposure you will live to regret it. I did/do!
I am a surgeon and Av Med qualified so I do have some knowledge.
John

good news!!!!!!! I saw the doc today and she said my right ear drum was inflamed which is causing the ringing and should go down in a few days.:ok::) This was a close call. never gonna listen to my ipod as loud as i did before.:=

As I wrote in a post a couple of minutes ago in another thread, Tinnitus is not always a sign of hearing damage. It is not uncommon to see people with perfectly normal audiograms that have it. This info comes from one of the top UK ENT specialists btw.

I began to notice tinnitus over past few years in one ear after 20+ years flying. Only went to own doc after I really began to notice it in the quiet of the night. Sent me for a CAT scan to check if any underlying cause, but all ok. Doc said that normally it doesnt get worse with age, so can relax about Medical.
Have always worn my own sound damping headset regardless of aircraft type, so am happy that it isnt worse. Since I got it checked & no need to worry about Licence or getting worse, I cant remember when I last heard it!
(The more you think about it the more you hear it - bit of a positive feedback loop!) Hope this helps.

I had forgotten that I had tinnitus until I read this thread .....:eek:

Jack

PS It does have one possibly beneficial side effect - "selective deafness"!:ok:

My tinnitus is so LOUD, I'm surprised you all can't hear it!

Seriously though, I've had it BAD since I shot off a CASE of shotgun shells at clay pigeons back in the very late '60s. I was able to pass 1st Class Physicals until retirement in 1990 however. All the Doctor kept saying was, "You're not able to hear the high tones very well, are you?" He was right and still is. I've seen a few doctors and apparently there's not much to be done about it. It is most annoying. Hopefully, those of you still flying and suffering from this, will be able to continue until retirement.

I loved your "selective deafness" remark Union Jack, I NEVER tell my wife that I pass my audiograms with ease, but tell her instead, "still OK, but declining a bit with age":}

A point which may help tinnitus sufferers. I have a pilot friend in his late 50's with persistant low grade tinnitus. It drives him nuts, although he passes his Class 1 medicals with no problems. His GP suggested to him that to improve quality of life, he should always surround himself with low level background noise, just a tad louder than the tinnitus ringing in his ears.

Normal day to day living noises keep this at bay, but during quiet moments and during sleep, he always ensures SOFT background music, as said, just above the level of the constant ringing.

His report is that it has changed his life.:D

Regards,

Old Smokey

Ha! Just posted a pic of me shooting an AutoMag on the JB forum. It brought back clear memories of just how big some of the bangs were. Could it be that it's the reason I've been listening to a 6250 cps whistle for the last 30 years I wonder? :ugh:

Smokey is talking about 'tinnitus masking'. Try googling this term if it helps. Masking can help in that it helps prevent the feedback loop. 'TRT' is a more modern technique and is probably more successful long-term though (tinnitus retraining therapy).

Turn down the volume of your ipod and that will do you a lot of good in the long term.

I would appreciate some comforting also, if someone have som info;

Have had a bad cold for a couple of days, and when trying to equalize
middle/inner ear pressure, i got a severe overpressure for about a minute.

Have had tinnitus for a number of years, but now it tripled in strength, and i feel intoxicated when walking.:uhoh:

It's been only 4 hours, but i'm getting really anxious...

Z


(One more thing, are the canals and the cochlea hard or soft? Can they get deformed under pressure and "self-erect" in time?)

Zissou - you need to relax, take a holiday if necessary. The various tissues around the ear can affect the perceived amplitude of tinnitus massively. The exact mechanisms for this are open to debate, but their effect isn't. The problem you now have is that your 'tuning dial' is set right in the middle of the tinnitus frequency. You need to employ some TRT (try Google for info) techniques.

Cruelly, the more you focus on the tinnitus, the more difficult it will be to 'detune'. You may well have aggravated tissue around the middle + inner ear, and it could take time to settle - giving you an increase in tinnitus volume. Regardless, you need to spend the next few days distracting your attention from the tinnitus. Spend some time around the family's kids, go out to lectures, theatres etc - do anything you can to focus away from the T.

Forget about 'deformation' of the cochlea etc - it doesn't bear consideration. This looks like a middle ear pressure issue. Note that there are many mechanisms to equalise your ETs - the valsalva is not one I personally recommend. There are several muscles that can do the same task, with fewer risks.

Your only option is to relax and take time out, making sure to distract your attention from the T. Over time things will go back to how they were.

As always - if in doubt, CONSULT A PRO OTONEUROLOGIST

I would bet my last dollar on the fact that you're trying to equalize in the wrong direction!!

Don't forget, I'm a pilot not a doctor...but I've had years of getting round blocked ears, often where there is no medical help.

Any feeling unwell, or throbbing etc., get to that doctor - pronto.

During an infection, it's often difficult to know which way the drum is being pressed. If you're not flying, atmospheric pressure changes alone will alter things daily. It's probably safest to assume a buildup of pressure and SNIFF like hell a few times. Gentle blowing with the nose blocked should then undo the sniffing...but the last thing you want to do is pressurize the inner ear to an uncomfortable level.

If you sniff hard, then apply saline solution into your nasal cavity, (search my things on salt.) you should get a minute amount going into the eustation tube.

Repeat this, always being cautious about over pressuring.

Eustation Tube Symptoms, Treatments and Resources - MedHelp


By the way, my tinnitus ALWAYS gets louder when I catch a virus. It is just like a warning signal, and increases before any other symptoms occur.

I find I get very mild tinnitus if I have build up of wax in my left ear. This is the only time it affects me, and goes as soon as the wax is removed. Maybe worth a try?

I've had tinnitus for the last four weeks.
Haven't been with anything noisey.
But have noticed that my ears seem not to be producing any wax.
Keep meaning to buy and try some 'Earex'.

Just another thought for the iPod wearers,
Ear plugs in the past were a major source of ear infections for mean.
Perhaps the earphones sould be sanitized on a regular basis.