Total Confusion...Please Help.

Hi All,

For a very long time now, almost a year, I have been experiencing sharp pain in both of my ears. Sometimes it's so sharp that I expect bleeding to occur, which of course doesn't happen. It generally is found in the inside of my ear and occurs on a daily basis. Yes, that's right, daily basis. I also experience serious tinnitus, as in super load ringing, buzzing, you name it. Which also is on a daily basis and can last for a few seconds to a few minutes throughout the day. There is also this freaky thing that happens where I assume it's like a loss of pressure in my left ear. I normally explain it like when you put a seashell up to your ear, you know how it drowns out the sound on the ear that's being covered and you can only hear out of the exposed ear, meanwhile what is heard through the seashell is a wooshing sound? THAT'S what I experience. This occurs whenever my ear wants it to without warning. Generally this is accompanied by a loud ringing sound.

I finally had a hearing test done and the results are that I have a moderate hearing loss. I don't agree with the results because I think I hear fine. I mean, yes, I do have problems sometimes but I wouldn't call it moderate hearing loss. During the hearing test, I stumbled on some of the clarifying words because they sounded similar to other words. And the whole beeping part, I just thought that a lot of the beeps were really quiet and not loud enough. I could barely hear them and had to close my eyes and concentrate to even be able to raise my hand, since they said you had to raise your hand even if you THOUGHT you heard something. Sometimes I can understand my husband when he speaks but i thought it was because i wasn't paying close attention. If I'm watching tv and someone says something to me I don't even know because I'm listening to the tv. Is that hearing loss or just grossly involved in tv?

[Cindy Beyer, Au.D.]

It's important for you to have a proper diagnosis of your hearing condition.  It souds like you had a hearing test - did you see a physician that specializes in the ear?  The symptoms you describe are warning signs of something not working right in your ear.  You need to find out more about your condition and whether continued monitoring is indicated.  Denial is a very common response when hearing loss is first identified.  If you want confirmation of the test results, please get a second opinion. I urge you not to dismiss your test as inaccurate without double checking.  Untreated hearing loss results in many consequences that may adversely affect your safety and quality of life.

[anonima29]

Thanks so much for your response. I plan to get my ears looked at a second opinion regarding the audiogram. It is scary to hear these results and to know that something isn't working correctly. But as you mentioned, anything left untreated will get worse.