My thoughts exactly!
If you have the hearing nerve in tact you can use "maskers" and hearing aids to help tinnitus; however, if surgery or radiation ends up killing the hearing nerve and making you deaf in that ear, then there is very little that can be done.
Some people may become acclimated to their tinnitus over the years, and some people quit frankly become suicidal over it according to one of my ENT doctors Michael Seidman at Beaumont Hospital in West Bloomfield. He discussed this very topic at our local AN support group in Michigan last October.
It got to the point where he was doing off-label stuff like injecting Ketamine into the ear of some of his tinnitus patients in an attempt to temporary relieve their tinnitus. He also offered some other off-label alternative procedures. Dr. Seidman mentioned when you're suicidal over your tinnitus, you will try almost anything.
Yes, I agree that this is a serious concern we all must consider before treatment. Some doctors have refused to treat me with radiation for this very reason....because I previously had "suicidal tinnitus" and I was previously diagnosed with "catastrophic tinnitus" prior to being fitted with a life-saving masker/hearing aid which brought my tinnitus down from 100 to 9.
Besides tumor regrowth, my tinnitus is one of my top concerns after treatment (be it radiation or surgery). You're correct. There's very little that can be done for tinnitus if your hearing nerve is dead from the AN treatment.
