Hi all, my name is Carl. I'm 28 years old and have had T for almost 1 year. While on holiday I got a little too drunk and woke up in hospital. It seems I fell or got hit to the side of my head and from that I gained T.

It has taken around 10 months+ of seeing various ENT consultants for my consultation session to be ended. To say the least, I was quite disappointed with having recited consultation sessions and then being passed onto a more knowledgeable consultant. Either way, the doctors believe that 3 small bones in my ear (the malleus, incus & stapes) have become dislodged or damaged. This has resulted in losing about 1/3rd of my hearing in my right ear. More annoyingly it has resulted in T!

Upon consultation the doctor asked me which is bothering me more, the T or the hearing loss. Of course, I replied 'the T'. To which he said, under these circumstances we won't operate because the chances of the T healing is too low. Accordingly there's a 5% chance of the T getting worse, a 5% chance of it getting better and a 90% chance of no change. During consultation I was unsure and the doctor assured me uncertainty by saying 'Ok, put it this way. If you was to do a bungee jump and had a 5% chance of dying, would you do it? Obviously I replied no. So, surgery was out of the question & the session ended with being forwarded to a T clinic, which I still haven’t been to.

It was only after being home & thinking about the consultation session did I think that I wanted the surgery. It seems unfair. How can such pertinent statistics be placed on a condition with no cure? If there's a 5% chance of the T getting better I want to take that chance. Funnily enough I was told that I could have a hearing aid. But why would I want a hearing aid when there's surgery? If my hearing is improved, the T will be less noticeable right? So really there's a 95% chance of a positive outcome via surgery. Why am i being rejected surgery when I want to take the risk?! I'm fit for surgery & it was an option during consultation because the doctor asked me if i was fit. Being rejected surgery because the T bothers me more than my hearing loss! Crazy! If I had HIV & was asked which bothers you most, HIV or T, I think I would still say T!

Anyway the consultant sent me a lovely letter reminding me of our consultation session after I called to tell his secretary I wanted surgery. And now it seems I have to carefully explain to him that the stats given must be rubbish. Grrr so annoyed!

Thank you for reading & any advice!?

Hi Carl,
I'd go back, find out how beneficial this 'op' could be for your hearing, what are the risks for that. If the 't' affect is 5% either way thats not to bad, you may have the op and be pleasantly surprised. The bungee jump example is extreme, this isn't life and death, i hope, but i feel they should have adressed both probs, 't', and your loss of hearing, and if they couldn't help one, then maybe the other. Nowadays i always go for the operation, you can always change your mind, plus, in between times get as much info as you can. I've found, on the day, its all a bit to much to take in, so i also ask for a coupler days to think it over. Preparing all the questions i need to ask beforehand is another one. My question to them would be to ask ''what can you actually help me with", if not the 't', then lets discuss the hearing.

Hi Carl,

I wouldn’t want to choose surgery unless I’d asked a lot of questions first, and sought a second opinion. I would want to know if surgery could make the problem worse and what could go wrong.

How does your consultant know your bones are damaged? Has he done an MRI scan to show this, or is it just his belief?

I would also want to know if there are any more conservative treatment options I could try first.

Are you aware that TMJ (jaw) dysfunction can also cause tinnitus and hearing loss? as the bones in your ear are very close to the TMJ. I have TMJ dysfunction, and when a dentist x-rayed my jaw joint, the ear is so close that it’s visible in the xray. Is there a possibility that your surgery could affect your jaw joint? I have had constant ear and face pain from the TMJ dysfunction. You could do a google search on (malleus incus stapes tmj) to find out more.

I would want to seek the opinion of a dentist who specialises in TMJ. Dentists can provide a splint to help with problems in the TMJ and the surrounding muscles. To me that would seem like a much more conservative treatment to try first.

I saw an ENT consultant about my ear and face pain. He looked in my ear, and couldn’t see why I would have ear pain. He looked at my nose and suggested that the facial pain might be caused by a deviated septum (slightly bent nose, I think), and he said he could do surgery on my nose which might alleviate my face pain. I chose not to go down this route, and have since found out from a dentist who specialises in TMJ that both my ear and face pain is caused by TMJ dysfunction.

Hi Carl

One time when I was having a hearing reconstruction (ossiculoplasty) the surgeon casually added that it might even improve my tinnitus. It struck me as an odd thing to say since I'd never told him I had tinnitus, he just assumed it. Anyway it never anything for the tinnitus except give it a completely new sound.

What I think your doctor is saying is that the point to this procedure is to restore some valuable hearing. There is a great success rate as far as improving hearing and that can a tremndous difference to the quality of life.

An improvement to hearing might help with the tinnitus but there is no guarantee that will happen. Unfortunately, if your sole reason for wanting reconstruction is get rid of tinnitus then you may well be disappointed. The doctor wants you to do the operation because you want better hearing not less tinnitus..

Thank you for your replies.

Barry: The op will significantly restore my hearing, but lays a 5% chance of making T worse/better. I think it's a risk worth taking. However, because I said that the T bothers me more than my hearing loss the consultant is reluctant to operate. Well, he actually kinda refused to.

Amanda: I had CT scans abroad & brought them back to the UK with me. I don't think they could have showed anything that would inable a doctor to diagnose T. I had some hearing tests done but no scans. So yes, I tink the doctors are assuming.

I really don't think it's anything to do with TMJ. I took a whack to the side of my head, which resulted in hearing loss & T. The 3 bones being dislodged + maybe some neurological dosorder seems more plausible.

Philmo: I understand & totally agree. My argument is, I'm well aware of the fact that the operation may not help my t at all, but it will benefit my hearing, which should somewhat mask the t sound. Why would I be offered a hearing aid, when I could have surgery for the same, if not better, result? I don't want to go to bed everynight with my ear buzzing thinking 'if i had surgey would I be luck enough to hit that 5% chance of ridding the t sound?' Would the almost certain hearing improvement significantly mask the t sound? I want to take the 5% negative risk & my consultant isn't responding well. I have to write a letter to him, which will be difficult to word. I'm sure if he had t, he would jump at the chances of surgery. I often think if his decision is influenced by his current waiting list! Just seems so unfair. There's a 5& chance of someting negative happening & obviously on the contrary there's a 95% chance of something positive happening. Even if that positive thing isn't t related. It's still positive towards my management of t & my daily life.

enoug ranting from me nayway lol
thanks for reading & thanks for your replies