Tinnitus, hearing loss and neurology

[jaybird2001wi]

I am wondering if any of you folks suffer from tinnitus or hearing or may have a family member who has it?

I have long suffered from tinnitus, even from an early age, where I get constant ringing and humming in my head. But recently, the condition is getting worse where I am starting to lose coordination.

I have a very complicated neurological condition because I have had hearing loss since I was an infant. I was a regular at the Childrens' Hospital in Milwaukee as a child and they tried to perform a stapedectomy (replacement of inner ear bone with a prosthetic) to fix my hearing, but it didn't work. They said I had a fluid imbalance which causes me to have morning walking imbalances.

On top of it all, I got bad TMJs (not the TV network) which has been wreaking more and more havoc and cranial headaches.

Anyone know of any specialists in the Milwaukee that can help me with this? My E-N-T doctor in Racine hasn't really helped me much and my family doctor has never once referred me to a neurologist for this.

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/ear.gif

 

The Doctor was supposed to remove the stapes bone and put a fake bone in its place, believing that the stapes bone was not vibrating properly when sound was transmitted to the ear, but it was unfounded when they performed surgery on me at Milwaukee St. Lukes Hospital.

My hearing loss disqualified me from military service last year in June.

[iluvlamp]

I hope they have ruled out Meniere's disease since it's onset is usually later in life but the dizziness is concerning. Here's a link on that but you probably already know. http://www.tchain.com/otoneurology/disorders/menieres/menieres.html

I would doubt you have this since you have not described all it's symptoms.

 

I went to school at UWM for speech pathology and took courses in audiology. I took courses from Tricia Chrillo and she was very knowledgeable and knows people who knows things:) Maybe she could direct you to someone as a referral.

 

http://www4.uwm.edu/chs/faculty/12%7Efaculty.html ...not sure why link isn't working so copy and paste if you like.

[EsoxLazer]

Jaybird...my aunt has an extremely serious case of it that has been getting progressively worse over the past year or so. I'm not sure who her doctor is off hand but send me an e-mail (elazenby19@yahoo.com) and I will be sure to call her tomorrow to get all of the information that I can. Her doc has worked some miracles for her in the past and after seeing what she has gone through, I'd like to do anything I can to help someone else going through the same thing. I wish you nothing but the best of luck and I will see what I can find out for you and send it on over.

[BrewCrewLifer]

jaybird, first of all sorry that you are having these problems I can't imagine what that's like.

 

second I'm currently in grad school for audiology, and here's my 2 cents:

 

From everything I've ever learned if the tinnitus you're experiencing is getting worse you really should probably see a neurologist. That can mean alot of things but it's definitely better to be safe.

Are you currently seeing an Audiologist as well as an ENT? If not I would recommend going to see one. ENT doctors are not specifically trained in hearing loss and hearing testing. An Audiologist will be able to give you a better idea of what you're dealing with (atleast hopefully, we're not miracle workers).

 

I'm in school at the University of Minnesota so I don't know of any Audiologists in the Milwaukee area. But if you have any more questions feel free to drop me an e-mail (mcca0539@umn.edu) or PM me (although PM might not be the way to go as I don't check that really ever). I did my senior paper on tinnitus, on the treatment options available to people, and recently saw a professional journal that had a paper on tinnitus sufferers and quality of life issues. I could find that and check it out to see if there are any other treatment options that I didn't know about or anything new since I did my paper.

 

Good luck with everything.

[EsoxLazer]

Jaybird...I'm still waiting to get a call back from my aunt. She should get back to me sometime tonight so I'll relay all of the info that I can get from her. Just wanted to keep you updated.