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hmac
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - 09/29/2007 : 12:20:58
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Hello all,
I'm relatively new to the forum but already see it as a valuable resource with caring and intelligent people.
I am wondering if anyone has any info. on hearing problems as related to TMS. I've been diagnosed with hearing recruitment and am thinking this may be a TMS equivalent, or at least can be mitigated by Sarno's appoach. The symptom is painful buzzing/distortion in my left ear in response to certain frequencies and loudness. The worst part is that the human voice, my own or others trigger it constantly. If I laugh or raise my voice even slightly, I get the pain. Same with others' voices.
There is a simlar ailment called hyperacusis (sensitivity to loud sounds) but I believe my problem is recruitment as diagnosed by the head E.N.T. at Kaiser, S.F. Bay Area.
I am now trying to avoid being around groups of people or sometimes anyone at all if I can avoid it. Luckily my wife is understanding and her voice is not a problem. It's really messing with my wellbeing.
I'm also a sax player, so I'm constantly trying new earplugs/muffs, etc.
This seems, like tinnitus, to be a TMS equivalent. Anyone heard of this?
Thank you |
Edited by - hmac on 10/01/2007 22:23:46 |
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Becca
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2007 : 15:45:08
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Hello
I have experienced exactly what you are describing. My problem had a sudden onset. I suffered from sudden sensorineural hearing loss in one ear. I literally went deaf in one ear over night. The cause is not known. Over the next few days, I noticed extreme tinnitus and ordinary sounds were painfully loud-voices, toilet flushing, water running, silverware clinking on the table. I needed to wear ear plugs while driving because the enginge made too much noise. I was afraid that I was going to have to quit my job because operating rooms are very noisy and it ws not safe for patients if I wore ear plugs while delivering an anesthetic. I ran into a website from the tinnitus and hyperacusis center-www.tinnitus.org. It was ver helpful.
I do not see this problem as tms, however, anxiety and stress make it hard to deal with. hyperacusis, tinnius and recruitment are errors in sound processing by the brain. In my case, my brain suddenly lost half of its auditory input. As a result, my brain started searching for the lost sound, changing its threshold and magnifying sound. The website explains it well. The best thing to do foryourself is to trash the ear plugs and expose yourself to noises that one is regularly exposed to in day to day life. Look around you-are other people plugging their ears? If not-the sound level is ok. You need to retrain your brain to process sound correctly. It took me about 4 months before I felt like I was normal again. I still am half deaf and have tinnitus, but I no linger have sound sensitivity or recruitment-R |
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coldlizard
8 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2007 : 16:49:51
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Hi hmac,
I've had this happen to me a few times, usually after an evening in a loud environment when I've been thinking too much about hearing loss! Oddly enough, I'm also a sax player. Oddly enough, I mainly have problems with my left ear too. I've also been through a range of ear plugs, trying self-consiously to hide them from the other members of my big band! I wouldn't be surprised if being particlarly musical leaves us open to being particularly fearful of hearing problems because we value our ears so much!
For me it was really unpleasant to hear crockery clanking, and if I whistled up from a low to a high pitch, then there were clear tonal areas where my whistling got distorted. I have to say that, like my other TMS symptoms, it really succeeded in making me really fearful and becoming the most important thing in my life.
I found that over time it just went away. I don't know if other people support this approach, but I find that it's really useful to try to enjoy feeling your symptoms. For example, if I find myself with tinnitus of a certain pitch, then I really try to enjoy listening to that sound and wanting more of it, and then it seems to miraculously disappear!! This is usually accompanied by a pricking or shivering feeling that I interpret as my body realizing afterall that there isn't actually any threat present.
With this sound sensitivity thing, I recommend putting on headphones and listen to some nice music at a comfortable level. Then turn it up a bit (still obviously within a safe limit!) and let yourself really feel this 'sensitive ear feeling/pain'. Accept it, relax, know that it won't hurt you, and concentrate on the music. I find that if I really concentrate, then after a while I realise that the 'feeling' isn't actually pain at all, but some other sensation. It's almost like when I'm scared my ear sort of closes up, and everything sounds filtered.
Hope that helps. I'm fairly sure it's TMS, so basically try to follow the normal TMS guidelines about not worrying about the symptoms and instead addressing your other life challenges! |
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celloLWF
USA
49 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2007 : 16:38:58
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"if I find myself with tinnitus of a certain pitch, then I really try to enjoy listening to that sound and wanting more of it, and then it seems to miraculously disappear!! This is usually accompanied by a pricking or shivering feeling that I interpret as my body realizing afterall that there isn't actually any threat present."
see my other post, 'ringing in my ears'
this approach, all though I didn't mention it in my other post, worked for about 30 minutes earlier this week. I haven't duplicated it yet-been too busy- but I'm gonna try again.
TMS, prepare to die!
Loren |
Edited by - celloLWF on 10/01/2007 16:39:29 |
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hmac
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 14:25:58
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| I am trying Becca's and Coldlizard's approach to embracing the pain. It is so damned excruciating though. The "crockery clanking" in coldlizard's post is especially apt. These sounds and others, as I described, sound like someone grinding metal in my ear. The only saving grace is that it stops when the noise stops, and it's only in my left ear. I don't know what I will do if it goes to both ears. |
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2007 : 15:58:39
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I have suffered with this problem for years now. It's usually only a problem for me when I focus on it. Sometimes, when I'm really a angry and am yelling at someone, the sound of my own voice reberberates back through my ears and drives me nuts. My own voice causes pain in my ears. I remember when I first noticed this problem and my kids were younger. They were in elementary school. Any time I had to go to a school function that took place in the "multipurpose room" (which had high ceilings) I wanted to die. Something about that room, with all the kids and parents chattering away, would make my ears hurt so badly.
One time, I had so much buzzing going on in my ears it drove me crazy. I had this tapping sound that occurred in my one ear, which lasted for a couple weeks. It was during a very stressful time in my life where I was undergoing a lumpectomy and biopsy for possible breast cancer. After the surgery revealed a benign tumor, the tapping in my ear mysteriously disappeared and never returned again.
I do believe that we can have many ear symptoms including ringing, popping, buzzing, tapping, clicking in addition to vertigo (which I have also suffered with for years) and it's all induced by TMS.
I agree with one of the other posts about embracing it and pretending to actually enjoy it. As hard as that is to do, it seems like it would work.
Good luck to you!
Laura |
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Painful hearing
