ENT Visit

[celia]

Hi,

I went to the ENT doctor to check out the pain in my ears, the tinnitutus, and my super sensitivity to sound in my right ear.

I feel so sorry for my doctors since treating me is like seeing a two-year old and not a good one. I was fine until she wanted to put a tube up my nose/down my throat (a larynoscopy or something). Then I was a basketcase. I elected to see the physician assistant as I feel more comfortable with a woman. But since I was such a mess, I guess, she called the male doctor in to do the procedure.

He kept trying to shove it in, and I kept telling him it hurt. I could feel it in one of my facial bones and in my teeth. He kept saying, "I can't see anything." Well, as it turns out, I have a septum spur on my right side so he couldn't get it through. We had to start over with the other side, which didn't hurt at all. All the while I was crying and semi-traumatized. I really am a baby about medical procedures.

When he did manage to get a look, he said something to the physcian's assistant about chronic laryngitis, but when I asked him about it later, he said oh it's just a little red, nothing to worry about,, without telling me what "it" is. The interesting thing is that I easily get hoarse and begin to loose my voice. I don't have a strong voice at all. Plus my brother has serious chronic layngitis that has changed his voice to like a soft croak. Guess it's good to have a clue about this, but I didn't get any more information than that. It's hard to stay on top of asking the right questions when you are semi-traumatized.

The main thing I was checking was the ear. They gave me a hearing test and I have excellent hearing. My ear looks great, no infection. So they have absolutely no explanation for why my ear hurts or why I am so sensitive to sound. She said there's no sign of TMJ, but my TM joint on the right side does pop a a little when I open and close, so she said maybe there could be a connection, but she seemed to be reaching there a bit. I sometimes get pain in my left ear too, so that would not be an explanation for that. She suggested massage and/or a warm compress when my ear hurts.

As far as the tinnitus, I guess the current theory is that the tiny hairs on the inside of the ear die and then make their own sound. My personal serenade.

Sometimes I wonder if it's worth all the stress to see the doctor. But it's good to know that everything is ok, as far as they will go, before I leave for three years. And I suppose it's good to know that I might have chronic laryngitis or that tendency --- guess it's not chronic until you have it for more than two weeks.

So many of my symptoms have dissolved in the last year...just hoping the same would happen for these!

My husband left for Arizona for five days, so I am going to snuggle up with a DVD tonight.

Celia

[barbaranoela]

Hi Celia-----I had the same thing @ the ENT------up the nose with a rubber hose and then down into the throat!!! Also attached was a little camera to Look and SEE-

I had no problem----said EEEEE--then swallowed and further down it went--
Sorry U had such a bad time with this procedure--

Thats how he spotted the nodules on my thyroid--

I dont know about TINNITUS---but I DO know that if one the FOLICALS,inside the ear, kinda flops over----then that can cause POSITIONAL VERTIGO--thats my problem too~~~ PITA--I might add

Enjoy your DVD---what are U watching---and what part of AZ is hubby in??

Take care
Keep a smile
luve Barbara

[tex]

Celia,

I can sympathize with you about nose tubes. Those things really suck when the person stuffing it into your nose doesn't know what she/he is doing. While I was in the ER being prepped for surgery last November, one of the doctor's left orders to insert a tube, through my nose, to try to drain some of the contents of my stomach before and after the surgery. The nurse kept jabbing the tube into the wrong place, and telling me to swallow. I couldn't swallow it, because she was trying to poke it into one of my lungs, and I was gagging and trying to convince her that something was wrong. LOL.

The tube was pretty bloody when she finally gave up and withdrew it. They sent in another nurse, who used a more flexible tube, (and a reasonable amount of skill), and she slipped it right into place, without any problem, and without any pain. The following day, my throat, or bronchial tubes, or whatever, hurt just about as bad as the incision. LOL. There's a lot to said for experience and skill, even for a simple chore like that.

Tex

[starfire]

Boy, there sure is, Wayne!! (There's a lot to said for experience and skill, even for a simple chore like that) They nearly killed me once putting a breathing tube down my throat before surgery. Never had so much pain (after I woke up and for days and days afterward) in my life.

Celia,
Don't know about a lot of the stuff but I can surely relate to tinnitus. I've had it for years. Sometimes I hardly notice it and sometimes it bothers me a LOT. If you find a cure for that....let me in on it.

Sorry you had such a hard time.

Love, Shirley

[Liz]

Hi Celia
Sorry you had such a bad time with the tube down your nose. You would have thought they would have known that something was obstructing it. I had it once with no problems. Just lucky I guess. The one that really did upset me was about 30 years ago before they developed that nice drug that puts you into la la land before endoscopys & colonoscopys. I was gagging while they were trying to force this tube down my throat into my stomache & the doctor just kept telling me to breathe through my nose. I had a bruised looking face for weeks after. All red dots like a blood blister. Colonoscopys were'nt much much fun either. They would give you a dose of Valium so you couldn't run away & you knew ( & felt) everything that was going on.

About the tinnitus.. I would get another opinion maybe. I was under the impression that it could be a forerunner to deafness. Could be wrong but my husband had it as did another friend of mine & both have failed hearing. Just a thought.

Love

Liz

[grannyh]

Have never had the tube up the nose and hope I never do...

I do have the sound in my ears since the steroid OD.. sounds like hissing wires in the summer... that is the only way I can describe it.. Sometimes it seems so loud I swear people beside me should be able to hear it:)
grannyh

[celia]

My experience pales in comparison to some of your stories! I'm sorry you have been through all that. I did end up with a large rash on the outside of my throat (maybe a reaction to the spray they use) that faded in the evening yesterday. And my throat did feel a little sore too.

If I learn any more about tinnitus I will let you all know. From what I've read so far, many people have it and no one knows the cause or the solution. Aside from the fact that if you have wax in your ears (I don't) and get it cleared by the doctor, some people experience an improvement in their tinnitus.

I dont' actually know where my husband is in AZ, Barbara. He is visiting a donor who has a large ranch. Actually, maybe he's in New Mexico and I'm confused! I have two videos...Proof and Last Holiday.

Hugs, Celia

[Lucy]

Celia,

My sister has the tinnitus problem and a ten percent hearing loss. She's been free of allergens for a year now, so don't think it or the hearing loss is going to reverse, unfortunately.

Think she uses a radio at night to override the sound which is particularly bad when there is no noise in the environment, like at bedtime.

It can still be quite distracting during the day if the tinnitus overrides one's conversations or things one otherwise needs to hear.

Deafness apparently runs in our family, since my mother's father also became partially deaf during his working years.

Suppose your ENT ruled out acoustical neuroma, so that is good.

My gag reflex is soooo intense that my ENT gave up on trying to look up the back of my throat with that little mirror they stick back there.

There are some people on whom it's almost impossible to insert an N/G tube, and I think I'm one of them. I have to be under anesthesia to have one put in, but in Wayne's case, I'm sure they were trying to relieve the pressure from the blockage, so the way things are set up, anesthesias not given in those kinds of emergency situations.

If I ruled the world, putting these down without anesthesia of some kind would be considered cruel and unusual punishment!
Maybe we could start a campaign to rid the world of this practice. I think it actually might catch on. Weirder things have happened!

One thing that helps a little (not me though) is to place the tube into a little ice water before inserting it, by the way. Polly, do you ever see that done anymore?

A dental hygenist or dentist told me once that being awake actually make it better in terms of gagging, because then you can use mind over matter, whereas if one is asleep, the gag reflex is uncontrolled.

I've learned how to avoid the gagging while having the plaster poured toward the back of my teeth to make a mold for my dental guard. As I remember, it has something to do with the way I breath.

One suggestion I've heard about in this situation is to put a little table salt at the back of the tongue. Some people would have a problem with the salt, of course.

Wow, I feel for the medical personnel if they ever have to put one down me without anesthesia. There's really no way to avoid the gag response, and the darn things will curl up in the throat with the gagging and come straight back out if the person can't control it.

Probably the reason that person went and got another nurse, had something to do with experience, but also, it makes the person doing it so upset that they decide to let someone else have a go. This happens all the time, even with people who are very good with certain procedures. You just have some days when your hands just don't work, or something. This is more true with people who are generally good at putting in difficult IV lines. It's a strange feeling.

Gotta go.
Yours,Luce

[tex]

Luce,

I had the same experience with the IV, after that surgery. The original IV kept setting off the alarm, for some reason or other, which, of course, the nurses tended to ignore after about the second time it happened. I couldn't ignore it though, since it usually happened when I was trying to sleep, and there was no way to sleep with that alarm constantly beeping. I would finally persuade them to reset the alarm, and adjust the IV, and about two or three minutes after they left the room, the dang thing would go off again. After about a day and a half of that foolishness, they finally decided to move the IV.

Naturally, the nurse who came to do that, couldn't find the vein, so after poking about a dozen holes in my arm, she finally gave up and called in an expert. LOL. For the nurse who, (for want of better words), knew what she was doing, it was a piece of cake, and she was succesful on the first try, of course.

Tex

[celia]

Yes Luce, a campaign is in order!

My symptoms (jaw pain, ear pain, and teeth pain) have subsides. The jaw pain (TM) pretty much gon since I started taking the treatment for parasites. My chiropractor thinks it's going to go away entirely once I complete the treatment. That would be nifty!

The tinnitius remains. Maybe it's one symptoms from my illness that I will have to live with, but I am still hopeful.

Hugs, Celia

[Maureen]

Hi Celia,

I have been getting tinnitus for a few weeks now.

In addition to the ringing in my ears, one morning I woke up and heard a faint beep-beep-beep-beep noise....I thought this was really odd. I asked my husband if he could hear it and he said no....I sat up in bed and the beep-beep-beep went away. I layed back down and it came back.......It turns out it was my husbands alarm clock going off but turned all the way down! Ha! Ha! I had to put the clock on his ear for him to hear it!

Anyways my ears are ringing right now and I got very curious and surfed google and found the following site:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tinnitus.html

Click on: Noise in your Ears: facts about tinnitus - it is very interesting....i think mine is from all the migraine meds I've been taking....

I hope this helps!
Love,
Mo

[Lucy]

Who knows, maybe if ya haven't had it long enough, it'll go away eventually, once the cause is removed.

Used to they always used to say that aspirin caused tinnitis, but now, with all these new meds...

Must be the pitts to live with.

Yours, Luce

[celia]

Mo,

That was interesting. Thank you! Funny story. I was entranced!

Fortunately, my tinnititus is not so loud that it disrupts my work. I hear it most when I am in a quiet place, laying down to go to sleep, meditating. The idea of a masker is an interesting one to check out for going to sleep.

My hearing is good, but the doctor did say that it's starting to come down when it comes to the higher pitches, but is still normal. But that makes me wonder...But basically the doctor had no answers and no ideas about what the cause is or how to cope with it.

The connection with allergies is also interesting, but it doesn't say too much about that.

Well, I sure wish you could find some options for helping reduce your migraines! It's a bummer if the medication is causing yet another problem.

Thanks for passing on the link. Celia

[Lucy]

Another idea..

Sometimes my sister uses a fan for quiet noise -- might be a little less stimulating for sleeping.

Also, my sis, bil, and I took Mom in her wheelchair to Toyota Center to see the girls, Comets team, play basketball. I called ahead and asked all sorts of questions, and got a parking place for patient and wheelchair on the ground level so that we never had to go up or down, even one step -- neat, huh. New buildings are sooo wheelchair friendly these days!

Only problem was the noise in there is CONSTANT, and LOUD. Later, Sis told me that her ears were still ringing from the experience. They go to things like that more than I do, and I remember her reporting that in the past after one of these loud events.
Somehow, I just think loud loses it's meaning when it's over done, don't you?

Anyhow, if you ever go to a concert or any other event that you suspect will use lots of Db's, I'd sure carry along some good things to cover your ears. I just took along a pair of cheap ear plugs, and they don't do a thing.
Maybe some of those things that cover the ears like people use at firing ranges! No, I'm serious.

Yours, Luce
P.S. Still, I can't believe we actually pulled that sports arena bit off!

[tex]

Luce,

You're right about cheap ear plugs. The trouble with good headphones, is that they attenuate all sound, so that it's almost impossible to hear normal conversation while wearing them.

These days a lot of shooters, airport workers, etc., use electronic headphones that are designed to attenuate any sound above a certain threshold, deemed to be harmful, while allowing normal sound levels to pass through. These provide the best of both worlds, since normal conversations can be heard, while harmful sound levels are kept out. Of course, they're bulky and somewhat uncomfortable, especially in hot weather.

This capability is also available in certain ear plugs, known as hunter's ears, or something to that effect. One of the better brands is known as Walkers Game Ear. These are actually sophisticated hearing aids that block loud noises, and yet they can work just as well as, (sometimes better than), conventional hearing aids. They even look a lot like regular hearing aids.

The difference is that only licensed audiologists can sell conventional hearing aids, (thanks to the audiology industry's successful lobbying campaign to get the proper laws enacted--which is why regular hearing aids sell for thousands of dollars), while most better hunting outfitter stores sell the hunter's ears devices over the counter. Good ones sell for around $130 to $150 each, and for around $350 to $400, you can buy a digital unit that fits completely inside the ear, is almost invisible, and is tunable, so as to amplify only the frequencies that need to be boosted for your particular hearing needs.

Some of the articles that I've read on testing programs indicate that some of the better hunter's ears work much better than conventional hearing aids, as far as eliminating unwanted feedback problems, etc., since they use more advanced electronics. Apparently a lot of people with hearing problems have switched to these from conventional hearing aids, not only because of the superior performance, but because they are generally more durable, easier to setup and use, and require less maintenance.

In case you're wondering why I know so much about them, I've had constant ringing in my ears for roughly 20 years, due to target shooting with magnum handguns when I was younger, and before good hearing protection devices were commonly available; and, because of a couple of decades of operating large farm tractors with diesel engines, (before the advent of sound-reducing cabs). My left ear is a bit weak on certain frequencies, especially. I don't wear a hearing aid, but I have tried one of the Walker's Game Ear units, and I can vouch for their performance. With one of those in my left ear, I can hear sounds that I didn't even know existed, while keeping out loud noises, such as a gunshot.

Anyway, I can verify that loud sounds do indeed damage hearing and cause tinnitus. A heck of a lot of rock musicians are almost stone deaf, especially the ones who have been in the business for a while.

Tex