Tinnitus

[TinnyAndOdd]

For the past couple of years, my friend has been driving me insane with her ear problem. She doesn't believe in doctors (it's her religion) and I respect her beliefs, but that means she has only ME to complain to about it. I could write a book on it, by now!

Anyway, I figured if I got some advice, I could give it to her and maybe make her relax a bit. Here's what I know about her problem:

-She listens to her walkman, with headphones, a lot. She always had them on when we were in school (on the bus and all).
-She's been to a few concerts, but who hasn't?
-She says it's getting better AND worse. It used to be more frequent, but not as loud. It started out as a sound like "pushing the part of your outer ear in so your ear closes, and doing that severl times in a row" and like a whoosh sound like "when you hold a shell up to your ear and hear the ocean." Now, it's only when she hears a loud noise, and about two weeks after her mentrual cycle. It rarely does it during the day (except when she's around something loud) and right before she goes to bed, it starts, even before she lays down. I said maybe it's tinnitus triggered by being sleepy. She says it now sounds like water going down a drain. That loud clogging whoosh sound, and it goes in a pattern like, "whoo whoo whoosh whoo whoo whoosh." She said she can hold her ear shut and it's not as bad, but it's still there. Like if you have water in your ear and you tilt your head, it makes a sound.
-She's been a vegetarian for about ten years, but doesn't take vitamens.
-It gets loud and annoying when she's trying to sleep (so she wakes ME up to tell me when she's sleeping over).
-It's in her right ear, only.
-She has two wisdom teeth that are mostly in on the right side of her mouth (I suggested maybe this has something to do with it) and she often complains that her teeth are too crowded and she can feel pain in her other teeth when the wisdom teeth come out little by little.

That's about all I know. I was thinking maybe the wisdom teeth are pushing on a nerve or something? But why would it be less frequently now, and louder (unless it's because the teeth are coming out more) and only two weeks after her mentrual cycle?

Any ideas?

[Nancy]

Lisa,

In my experience, the symptoms you describe are from overuse of a Walkman listening device. It is easy to turn the volume up too high, too close to the eardrum, in the confined space of the headphone sponge tight against the ear, without air circulation.

The first line of defense, --if there is true concern for the condition--, is to lessen or eliminate, at least for a time, the overuse of Walkman listening. At the very least, the volume should be turned very low, allowing the ear to work more efficiently to hear, rather than deafening it, shocking it, and not allowing in air.

Nancy

[TinnyAndOdd]

Sounds like a plan. She won't like hearing it, but at least she can STILL hear. I'll let her know. Thanks for the advice!