Hiss

That’s what I’m hearing in my right ear. I went to the doctor today to see what if anything the medical folk could do about it, and they said “let’s do an audiogram.” Well, okay. I don’t have any noticeable hearing loss in that ear that I can tell, which is what an audiogram measures, but whatever. So sometime in the next two or three weeks I’ll have one.

Ever since I began going to the VA for health care I’ve been getting lots of new experiences in the medical world: MRIs, bone density exams, minor surgeries for cyst removal, and now hearing tests. I’m grateful for all of them, but sometimes I think I’d rather not know the results.

7 Comments

  1. Hedera, from what I know I think you’re right, more’s the pity.

    Harold, I wondered about that. I took 20 tabs of penicillin for the tooth problem I had a week or two ago. I did mention that to the doc.

  2. Tinnitus caused by exposure to loud noises (explosions, frex) or ear infections can be treated, but tinnitus as a result of aging or damage to the sensory hairs in the organ of Corti or the auditory nerve is untreatable at this time. I’ve had it for about the last 15 years or so, consequent to loss of sensory hairs and damage to the nerves. It can be annoying at times, but I don’t usually notice it except when it’s quiet or I’m tired. Like most things, you can get used to it.

  3. I describe my tinnitus as something like the electronic hum of a TV (the old CRT type), the sound you don’t realize you’re hearing until you turn off the TV and it stops.

    Except, of course, that it doesn’t stop. I think I’ve probably had it for a while, but didn’t quite realize it. After all, I never heard *ringing*. Like Bruce, I find it particularly noticeable when there’s little or no ambient noise. For a long time I’ve really disliked silence; always turn on the TV or radio as soon as I return home after work.

  4. What it sounds like to me is water running. When I first noticed it Tuesday night I started looking around outside to see if I could tell if the automatic sprinklers were on, because I’d changed the start time on the things to 5:00am and I was going to be really annoyed if the timer had gone off schedule.

    I gather that there’s not much treatment available. If not, as long as it stays at this level I guess it can be lived with. What I don’t understand is the sudden onset of it. Was it like that for you folks too?

  5. In retrospect, I probably had tinnitus for quite a while before I realized it. I had a hearing test a bit over a year ago, and denied having it on my intake history form. But during the actual measurements, with all sounds except the test tones eliminated, I found that I was hearing this constant sound that may have obscured some of the low-volume tones. And that I’d been (sort of) hearing it for some time before that. I *did* start a new med at around the same time — one that the doc says has been associated with tinnitus as a side effect — but I believe that at most it merely exacerbated an existing problem.

    Pretty sure I have presbycusis even without the tinnitus, but the test might look a bit better if I didn’t have the condition. If I had perfect pitch, I could probably even tell what frequency I’m always perceiving.

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