Ringing In Ears

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:25 pm

I started using a CPAP about 10 months ago and soon developed a ringing in my ears and some hearing loss. I switched to an APAP recently (which has improved my sleep and solved a prblem I was having with swallowing air) but I am still having the rigning in my ears and I think my hearing is getting worse. Have any of you experienced these problems? Do you know of a solution?

SailorBoy · Post by **SailorBoy** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:37 pm

Does it go away if you try a decongestant? Maybe you are pressurizing your ears at night and not releasing in the am.

Have you tried that airplaine taking off yawning thing?

Totally guessing here, maybe you should see a doc asap

glassgal · Post by **glassgal** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:53 pm

Guest,

Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) can be related to many things, some serious, and some not. You should see a good ENT (ear, nose & throat) doctor as soon as possible and have a hearing evaluation.

I have Meniere's disease (an inner ear problem) and one of the downsides is that I am losing the hearing in that ear and I have constant tinnitus, which interferes with the hearing that I have left. Other things that can cause it are, as Sailor Boy indicated, unequal pressure in your ear (your ears can't "pop"), being around loud noises without protection (around guns, explosions or constant noise over about 90 decibels) and some medications (aspirin is a common culprit). You should have the tinnitus evaluated to find the cause. Tinnitus often gets worse as we age and as hearing deteriorates.

Unfortunately there is not much that can be done for most tinnitus if you cannot remove the cause. I have found that my new hearing aide has the nice side effect of masking the tinnitus -- which also improves my hearing!

I do as much as I can to protect the hearing that I have left by not listening to really loud music, wearing my hearing aide at movies to protect my hearing (it also blocks extremely loud noise) and wearing Bose noise cancelling earphones on long airplane trips. It is worth it to carry the bulk plus my APAP on the plane to reach my destination and still be able to hear and sleep at night!

I can't emphasize enough that you should get to the bottom of this before it is irreversible. Your ears are very complex and delicate organs and once they are damaged they are very hard to repair -- better to find out what is causing a problem and eliminate it if possible!

I am not a doctor -- just had to learn about the ear stuff, as well as learning the OSA stuff now because of self preservation!

Good luck and sleep well,

Jane