Tinnitus (was RE: [TheForge] Hearing aids)

[Justin Fellenz]

Don,

A tiny ray of hope regarding tinnitus: I had tinnitus for several
years, and I blamed it on the steady drone of a dozen computers in my
office. My audiologist said it was permanent if it was inner-ear nerve
damage but that it was possible it was the result of tension in my
neck. It turns out that was the reason--I sat for many hours hunched in
front of a monitor with my head pulled back into my shoulders and the
strain impinged on the nerves and created the ringing. I understand
that tinnitus associated with hearing loss is usually internal (*tiny*
ray of hope), but perhaps if you spend hours holding your head down
looking at an anvil (or something) the neck-tension thing could be an
issue. Perhaps it makes it worse, anyway. I say this because I wouldn't
have believed it--I quit the job, spent much less time at the machine,
and within 3 months or so the tinnitus was gone.

Just one more reason to make sure the ergos are good in everything we
do. 

JRF
--- Daniel T Hayes <dhayes at dthayes.com> wrote:

> Don,
> 
> See Steve Smith's reply for anything technical (he knows at least ten
> times
> what I do about how aides work). All I can offer is one cheapskate
> suggestion, and answer your one question about tinnitus and noise
> cancellation.
> 
> Since your hearing loss is similar to mine (high frequency), I can
> recommend
> one low-cost device that you might find surprisingly helpful, even
> after you
> get aides. Try one of the Radio Shack Clarity phones ($100
> w/answering
> machine, $80 without). They have a boost button with adjustable gain,
> and
> the amplification is primarily in the higher frequencies. Don't be
> surprised
> if you find it easier to understand people over the phone than in
> person.
> Heck, you may even decide to put off buying hearing aides for years.
> I'm
> serious about that, especially if you're like I was and find not
> being able
> to hear people over the phone to be your biggest problem. In any
> event,
> unless you use a special handset and your aides have a good magnetic
> pickup,
> your aides won't help when using the phone anyway (nothing helps with
> a cell
> phone). I'm sure there are other phones out there, and I'm absolutely
> positive you can pay several times as much through the audiologist's
> office,
> but I know the Radio Shack units work. I think you'll be shocked at
> the
> improvement. Besides, Radio Shack will gladly take it back if you
> aren't
> satisfied.
> 
> 
> As I understand it, high frequency loss is the most common, and most
> hearing
> loss is accompanied by tinnitus. Not that many causes of tinnitus
> aren't
> treatable but there isn't anything that can be done to help most
> people's
> tinnitus. The noise cancellation aides won't help either. Tinnitus is
> an
> inner ear thing. The noise cancellation feature works by detecting
> steady
> tone background noise and then either ceasing to amplify it, or
> actually
> superimposing an opposite/negative wave to cancel it out (ask Steve
> for the
> details). The effectiveness of the noise cancellation feature on
> hearing
> aides is nothing like what you get with something like a Bose
> headset. It's
> much more subtle. With the headset, there's a dramatic silencing
> effect when
> you turn them on, not just steady state background noises. I travel
> back and
> forth to Japan every couple of months and wouldn't consider making
> the
> flight without my headset.
> 
> Dan
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
> PlumDon at aol.com
> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 5:30 PM
> To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Hearing aids
> 
> In a message dated 1/24/2005 5:16:04 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
> dhayes at dthayes.com writes:
> 
> I  wear hearing aides, and here are my thoughts:
> 
> 1) Get tested by a  licensed audiologist, better yet with an outfit
> with
> several doctors of  audiology. 
> Yes, Dan did that. Went to the best ENT doctors in my town. 
> 
> 2)  Hearing aides are expensive. 
> That's a big problem for me. I have trouble spending money. 
>  
> 3) Forget about simple solutions like a Radio Shack  amplifier.
>  
> Yes, will do. But thank you Bruce for the suggestion. 
> 
> 4) . My  loss is mainly in the mid/high frequencies, and each ear is 
> different. 
>  
> Me too. 
> 
> 5) The best units have multiple modes (mine have five) with both  the
> frequency curve, and the degree of directionality set separately for 
> each
> mode. 
>  
> A bit beyond my current level of understanding. But I am on a
> learning  
> curve. 
> 
> 6) Avoid the vanity in-the-canal units. Behind the ear aides  work
> better,
> more sophisticated and more directional. 
>  
> I am getting the impression they are also less expensive so I am
> favoring  
> the BTE approach. Notice BTE...I am already getting into the jargon
> and the
> 
> technology. 
> 
> 7) Aides with noise cancellation,
>  
> I also have tinnitis in both ears. Any help there?
> 
> Hope this helps,
>  
> It helps tremendously and I thank you very much.
> 
> Dan
>  
> Don Plummer
> 
> 
> 
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