Hearing loss is common among meniere’s folks as well as many who have reached a certain age. The national institute of Health says that 1 in 3 over 65 have hearing problems and over half the folks at age 85 and above also have hearing problems. My hearing has been going downhill for years even before I was diagnosed with Meniere’s disease. Of course it really accelerated after I had my first attack. As a child I always had problems with my ears, especially ear aches, which had to be some of the worst pain that I had ever experienced because it seemed to take forever for the earache to go away. I didn’t help matters any by using headphones to listen to music, at the time I didn’t think that would be harmful. I don’t have any concrete evidence that it affected my hearing but I think that it did.
My hearing as of late seems to be getting worse, at least I think so. But it is difficult to say because I have been having a lot more buzzing sounds in my left ear which has definitely cut down on my ability to hear conversations and noises in general. And I have also had more problems with my balance and vertigo. One thing that I should add is that I have had a sore throat for a while and I’m sure that complicates my inner ear problems.
I know that hearing loss can’t compare to the troubles that meniere’s can bring (vertigo, tinnitus) but it would definitely be nice to not have to ask people to repeat themselves or having to have the volume on the TV so loud that the walls shake. While hearing aids are an option, in my case I don’t think that they would be effective because my hearing in my right ear is okay.
So what can you do…
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Sunday, April 3, 2011
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16 comments:
Hi!
Losing your hearing can be painful in many ways. A person who cannot hear properly can easily be judged as not interested or stupid , you name it. I always tell people I meet that I need them to speak face to face and I show my both hearing aids. With showing them I want to say "OK - I can´t hear so well and I´ve got these to help me. Now it´s up to you to help me hear and understand." Missunderstandings happen ofcourse but it does even if you hear.
I don´t really understand why you don´t see hearing aid for one ear as an option. The brain is a fantastic thing that after a few months learns to hear sounds with help from the hearing aid. At first it doesn´t sound as you´re used to - the brain has to learn again. And thats why it´s better to get the hearing aid as soon as possible. It´s easier to get used to them and your fine motor ability is better when you`re younger so you can maneuver them more easily.
I think it is worth a try. I´ve been really helped!
Susanna
Thanks for the comment Susanna!
A hearing aid that amplifies sound isn't very helpful if you have tinnitus... if the sound can't be clarified, then you just have louder "noise" going into the affected ear.
However, an audiologist I went to used a different kind of hearing aid. A tiny microphone goes into the affected ear, with a wire that travels behind the neck and transmits the sound into the GOOD ear. This way, the sounds you would miss on the bad side are instead transmitted to the good ear, so you miss nothing.
I've been giving this approach some thought, since I have no hearing at all in my left ear now.
Other than that, I find that it helps to avoid places that have a lot of background noise. In addition, I have had to learn how not to be shy about telling people I'm deaf in that ear and asking them to help make it easier for me to hear. I am getting better at making sure I'm positioned right to hear the most I can... this means making sure I am at the far left when I'm sitting at a table with a lot of people, so my good ear is toward the whole group.
My friends and family are fine with all this and cooperate beautifully. But with strangers it can be very, very difficult. Sometimes it is painfully embarrassing. There are people who will judge you for this, idiotic as that might be, or show impatience. Unfortunately, it's also essential to learn to be gentle with yourself and not take what some stupid people might think or even say too seriously or personally. It's hard.
I've been trying to post on this Group but nothing is happening. "Select Profile" at the bottom - what do I choose? I don't understand how it all works. There are so many Anonymous users that the posts confuse me because initially I thought it was one person. So today I will have to be another "Anonymous" person. Can someone please explain the best way to go about joining this Group so that I am able to post messages. Thanks.
Sharon
Hi Sharon,
after you write your comment click below on comment as Name/url and put in your name (you don't have to put in any URL) then click on post comment.
thanks
David
I'll be getting hearing aids on Friday. My left ear has some hearing loss, but my right has severe loss.
I'll be getting them in both ears, but if one ear is fine, you could get just one. That's what my father in law has, and he loves his.
Hearing aids are so much different now, they don't just amplify sounds, they filter out background noise. They can be programmed in different ways to help you.
My doctor said it would be very hard for me to have hearing aids before, because my hearing was fluctuating so much. Now things have leveled off so it is an option. If my hearing does change, (and I'm sure it will, but not from one day to the next)they can just adjust them for me.
Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to hear what is going on. Or only hear part of it.
Hi!
I just want to add some things. I agree with "picnic with ants" that the hearing aids are so much better today. I have 4 different programs installed. One for ordinary listening, one for music (it makes my hearing wider and takes in more frequenzies.) One program is for listening via a hearing loop (at the cinema, theatre, our TV, my cellphone, my stationary phone) and the last program is for both listening to a hearing loop and to the sounds in the environment at the same time.
I have to adjust my hearingaids now and then when my hearing changes but that is a minor problem.
But what I most of all want to say is that hearing aids CAN help you with tinnitus. A better hearing of real sounds can cover the tinnitus sounds wich come from inside the head. The tinnitus sounds cannot be increased by hearing aids.
Good luck with your hearing!
Susanna
Interesting post and comments!! I am struggling with hearing loss because of my Meniere’s, and I am only 25. Thinking of what is to come down the road is pretty scary. I know that I will have to have a hearing aid later in life, but who knows how soon. My hearing has gotten worse in the last year or so, but seems to have plateau-ed for a couple of months. Hopefully it can maintain and at least allow me to get to 40 before I need an aid!
I do occasionally find the hearing loss convenient though - such as when our neighbours are having a noisy party, I simply have to roll over so my 'bad ear' is up, and I can't hear a thing!! : )
If I am trying to sleep I also roll over so my bad ear is I can hear anything, small world :)
I suspect we ALL do that, David! Rolling onto the good ear is how I get to sleep some nights. :-)
Dizzy Blonde, don't worry too much. There are many things in the works these days to help Meniere's sufferers, from new hearing devices that are better than and different from run of the mill hearing aids to prosthetic vestibular nerves. I think we will see great strides in treating Meniere's in the next decade. They might not be able to cure it yet, but they are trying hard to improve quality of life for those of us who have to deal with it.
For me, the most important thing is having an ENT specialist who is willing to listen, do her homework, and look hard for new ways to help her MD patients.
I don't yet have a hearing aid, although one has been offered to me, as my current lifestyle means the times when the hearing difficulty makes a difference are relatively few.
However, one of my friends has one (for non-Meniere's reasons) and it's amazingly hi-tech. For a start, the visible part is tiny, it's basically just a tiny tube going down into his ear, I would say no more than 2mm across. You probably wouldn't notice it and even if you did you wouldn't think it was a hearing aid.
The most amazing thing though is that the aid apparently profiles all the sound it picks up. You then go back to your specialist and he can understand the types of environments you've been in and adjust the programming to suit. Of course he knows your ear's capabilities already so with this he has both ends of it covered.
If things change and I do need an aid, this is what I think I would go for.
Hi, my name is Joe and I came across your posts while surfing the net not too long ago, and I found it interesting enough to add my two cents I guess.
I was first diagnosed with Meniere's Disease back in 1990, first in my right ear and then in my left ear in 2006. I am one of the lucky few that have bilateral Meniere's. In some bizarre way I guess that having Meniere's in both ears ears kind of qualifies me as an expert in the subject, especially since most ENT specialists I have seen don't have a clue what to do about my condition.
When I was first diagnosed in '90' after a plethora of tests I really didn't need any one to tell me that something was wrong! I could barely walk a straight line, my hearing became increasing worse, the tinnitus was constant and the vertigo was something I had never experienced that violently where my world would suddenly just turn upside down. I spent many times hugging my porcelain friend with trips to the ER for Compazine.
My ENT surgeon told me that the only way to alleviate most of the symptoms would be to have a Labyrinthectomy,which of course would render me deaf in my right ear, but may or may not alleviate the tinnitus, which it didn't and I pretty much had to re-learn how to walk again because all of my balance was now taken over by my left ear. At the time the surgeon told me that the chances of me getting this disease in my left ear was slim to none. He also told me that if I was going to convert it would probably within five years. So much for odds!
Things worked out for awhile, I went back to work and got past the five year mark. I was happy as a clam and then in 2005 I noticed ringing in my other ear which of course isn't really ringing because it's neurological. I also noticed my hearing beginning to diminish. I also lost my job because hearing was an integral part of my job title.
With no insurance I took a chance being in my late 50's, a Vietnam vet and went to the VA where after a few tests was diagnosed with bilateral Meniere's Disease, one of the lucky few.
Now, in 2011 my hearing has deteriorated so bad I am for all intents and purposed deaf and rely on ASL for other people to talk to me. Everything in my life has changed. The friends I used to have don't come around anymore and because of my balance problems I cannot drive anymore. Thank God for my wife who helps me when I need it. The VA stepped up and gave me a pension, even though the cause of Meniere's is not known I served in Vietnam and had a head injury so they did the right thing as far as I am concerned.
My hearing is almost completely gone and my balance is getting worse by the day. Some days are better and some days are really bad.
The reason I am writing this is to tell people out there with this disease to never, ever give up! Believe me when I say that I have had some really bad times and have felt like giving up but something inside tells me to fight! I have always been a fighter and will go out fighting.
Remember to think and do some research before you listen to some doctor tell you that he or she is the end all and be all in the Meniere's department. I have never in my 21 years of dealing with this disease meet anyone who knows everything and more that don't! Remember you are the patient (consumer) and this person works for you not the other way around.
I have tried a lot of things in my 21 years so if I can be of any help to anyone don't hesitate to ask. I won't lie to you and if I don't know the answer to something I'll tell you. Thanks for listening. This is the toughest disease I've ever had to fight in my life but you can live with it.
hey david!
interesting post! i'm thinking along the same lines. i want a hearing aid for my left ear. the hearing in that ear is pretty bad but my right ear is fine. i'm so curious to know what a difference a hearing aid could make. but my speech discrimination has been a problem in the past. it's been good lately though. i have a test on may 6th so i may ask again if my discrimination is still good.
hope you are doing well!
~nicki
Joe, first of all, I want to say I'm so sorry that you are one of "the lucky few" with bilateral Meniere's. It must be hell. And I'm glad you have at least gotten some help and support from the VA and your wife. This disease can be extremely isolating because it is so poorly understood.
I wanted to ask whether you have looked at the work being done by Dr. Charlie Della Santina at John's Hopkins. I believe he is developing a prosthetic vestibular nerve for people who have bilateral Meniere's. It could help you retrieve your balance; if it's not ready yet, perhaps in the future? Also, you might benefit from cochlear implants to retrieve some kind of hearing that would lessen your dependence on ASL. And yet another doctor is working on a way to regenerate natural hearing that could be ready in the next decade. There are solutions in the works. They are not cures for Meniere's, but might be helpful in dealing with the worst results of the disease.
I wish you all the best.
Hearing loss in adults can either be inherited from your parents or acquired from illness, ototoxic (ear-damaging) drugs, exposure to loud noise, tumors, head injury, or the aging process. This loss may occur by itself or with tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
Hearing loss is considered to be one of the most prevalent triggers of the symptom. Medical practitioners have found and known for a long time that a great proportion of those who suffer from hearing loss. Hearing problems are often the result of exposure to loud and dangerous levels of noise. Exposure to these noises kills off or damages the tiny hair cells in our ears. These hair cells vibrate when hit by sound waves and these vibrations trigger electrical signals which travel to the brain via the auditory nerve. These signals are interpreted by the brain as sound. What is especially tragic about hearing loss that comes along with it is that this is something which we can avoid with a few simple precautions. We do not necessarily have to come to a point of looking for a hearing loss, we can do simple things to avoid it. Limit your exposure to loud noises by keeping the volume of your TV, radio or car stereo down to reasonable levels.
http://www.audiologic.net.au/
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