Can Tinnitus continue after Translab and why? Please share with me

[stephSF]

Hello.  Looks like I will be having Translab in January.  I need to research more, but can or do we have Tinnitus post Translab Surgery?  Why would we have it if "hearing" nerves are taken out?
Thanks!

[Jim Scott]

Hi ~

AN removal surgery doesn't usually affect tinnitus, although there are exceptions, of course.  If you have tinnitus prior to AN surgery, no matter what surgical approach is used, you will very likely still have it, post-op.  Occasionally tinnitus is increased after surgery and in relatively rare cases, it decreases.  The reason severing the hearing nerve does not affect tinnitus is based on the fact that tinnitus isn't an actual sound your ear picks up but a result of your brain reacting to nerve damage or related issues.  Whatever manifestation of 'sound' you 'hear' with your tinnitus (there is a very broad spectrum of tinnitus 'sounds') it is not actual, audible sound but simply your brain reacting to some sort of damage, either to the ear mechanism and/or the hearing nerve.  Thus, severing the hearing nerve does not cause the 'sound' to cease. 

I'm not a doctor and only suffer from a very mild form of tinnitus so I may be contradicted by others with a more precise understanding of the affliction but I believe I've helped answer your main query as to why tinnitus doesn't disappear when the hearing nerve is severed in Translab AN surgery.

Jim    

[mk]

My neurosurgeon described it as similar to what amputees experience when they have a limb or arm amputated. They still have the "phantom" sensation of the body part being there (even feeling itchy), even though there is nothing there in reality. As Jim pointed out the sound is created within the brain itself, that's why it has nothing to do with the presence or not of the hearing nerve.

You can't really predict what will happen with respect to tinnitus after surgery. Some people who never had tinnitus acquire it after surgery, and it can be mild or severe. Some patients preserve their hearing, but still get tinnitus. Others never have problems with tinnitus. My neurosurgeon gave me 5-10% chance that I would get tinnitus (I didn't have it before), but I ended up with mild tinnitus for the first few days only, which then disappeared.

I am sure others will chime in with their experiences, but you will see there is a lot of variability in the range and severity of what they have experienced.

Marianna

[cherrypiper]

it was tinnitus which kinda drove me to have my hearing checked in the 1st place. Then after the AN surgery i still have it. Can't say it is any better or worse just still there.

Now my ear surgeon explained it to me this way. Tinnitus is kinda the brain trying to hear and it cant. so it makes this background noise kinda like a busy signal on a phone.

I have learned to deal with it and it rarely bothers me, and when it is a lot more i have things i can do to try and diminish it again.

[JAndrews]

I had translab. I had tinnitus prior to surgery (one of the symptoms that led me to the doctor). After surgery it seems louder to me with lots of variations in the sounds. Sometimes it will make a thud,beep,crickets,swooshing...but 99% of the time its just a high pitch ring. Sometimes when the weird noises interrupt my usual ringing it scares me. My surgeon has assured me that regardless of the sounds, its all considered tinnitus. I have never heard of any one having their tinnitus go away after surgery. I can honestly say that I am used to it. It took time, but I did finally learn how to block it out--atleast during the day. Bedtime is a little more difficult. I have a ceiling fan that makes a rattle noise and occasionally take medication to help me get to sleep.

[alabamajane]

Just a note,, I did have it before translab surgery about 6 weeks ago and still do .. no real difference.. like Jim said, it is "internal" not so much coming from outside the ear.. sorta like static sound.. but first few days after surgery,, I swore I could still hear the drill the Dr used during surgery!! Not to sound weird or yucky or anything,, just an observation. That was really sorta un-nerving,,  Mentioned it to Dr and he just shrugged shoulders like "it's possible!".....  .. but thankfully that has gone away.. so I guess you can still "hear" just about anything...

[stephSF]

Jeez, the creepiest is the drill...I guess I will thank and welcome the hissing that has turned to voices that make me jump when I hit the pillow at night.  argh!  Thanks for sharing though.  I like the real truth.  Will be having translab with Dr. Friedman at HEI Jan 25th.  Deep breath.  I understand way more now about tinnitus.  Thanks friends!

[leapyrtwins]

AN surgery - and BAHA surgery - doesn't take away tinnitus; nor will either cause it.

Not sure why.

Jan