Tinnitis after surgery

[deheisel11]

I have read many threads about tinnitis before and after surgery.  How does tinnitis occur after translab surgery when all the hearing wiring to the brain is removed?  Shouldn't there be complete silence?  I have looked through the hearing section and have not found out how tinnitis happens when you should be totally deaf.  Does anybody have the answer that they could share with me?  Thanks for any info you can provide.

[CHD63]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong ...... it was explained to me that tinnitus is the result of the brain's perception of the absence or lessening of sound, hence it is "hearing" sounds that the brain is using to fill the void of natural sound.     Well, it made sense to me at the time!   

Clarice

[moe]

Something like that Clarice!

Welcome deheisel!
You have asked one of the most common questions which has no easy  answer! My tinnitus was worse after translab. Tinnitus is going on in the brain, all those neurons going crazy, since the hearing nerve has been squashed. (from what I understand)
SO we "hear" a louder sound because there is no hearing to buffer the tinnitus. It is the hardest thing to explain to people.

There are a lot of interesting posts on tinnitus, you may have come across them.

I had a psychiatrist try different meds, like anti seizure/antidepressants, that work within the central nervous system, so see if anything would "calm" the neurons.
The ONLY thing that helps to bring mine from a scream to a shrill is low dose xanax. Works for some, not for everyone.
Here is a recent post:

http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=10803.0

We all can commiserate together until a cure is found, I guess
I see your BAHA was placed the same day of your surgery. What kind do you have and do you notice that it helps to muffle the tinnitus??? The new ones have settings that might "help" ....

Keep plugn
Maureen

[deheisel11]

Thanks so much for your answers, Clarice and Maureen.  At least that means that my brain is still working, somewhat.  Believe it or not, Maureen, I still do not have my BAHA.  There has not been a very good follow -up from my surgens office.  I have called several times but not much movement.  Then his assistant left and a new one came on.  I must have gotten lost in the transition.  I have an appointment tomorrow to pick out my BAHA.  That is almost 6 months from the surgery to the date.  I'll let you know tomorrow.  Thanks again to you both.   

Dave

[keithk]

My tinitus was load even to the point of causing pain in my left ear. After surgery the Tinitus is mild to almost gone, but now I have a buzzing in my ear. My Dr explained it as phanthom
sounds similar to phanthom pain when a limb has been removed.

[Funnydream]

Here is a link to last months Discovery Magazine in depth article on tinnitus.

http://discovermagazine.com/2010/oct/26-ringing-in-the-ears-goes-much-deeper


Hope this helps.

[leapyrtwins]

Dave -

I'm not a doctor, but I know an excellent one who did both my AN and my BAHA surgeries.

According to him, a BAHA implant has absolutely no effect on tinnitus.  Won't cause it, won't get rid of it, won't make it increase, won't make it decrease.

I've heard the same from the experts @ Cochlear that I've met through my volunteer work. 

Jan

[moe]

According to him, a BAHA implant has absolutely no effect on tinnitus.  Won't cause it, won't get rid of it, won't make it increase, won't make it decrease.

No say it isn't true!! I'm grasping at straws here, hoping and praying that the different settings on my new processor  may somewhat buffer my tinnitus.

Will let y'all know. But like I have said before, I'm not getting my hopes up.
Maureen

[deheisel11]

Thanks again to all of you for the info.  Maureen, I found out this morning that I am getting the BP 100.  The earlier assistant ordered a color that I later wanted to change.  However, she had already ordered it and they had it at my appointment.  They said they could get the other color in the front covering, but the base is much lighter.  They said that someone had opened the box so it was not returnable.  I am not sure if anything else can go wrong.  I am sure that they can make that happen.