First, do no harm.
 

That seems like an appropriate title for this thread.

For those who missed my post in the "Next Weekend" thread, here is the gist of it for your convenience. Updates will follow.

Soooooo....
Went to the ENT today. Had to reschedule from Monday morning.

I was impressed with the ENT. Finally felt I was with someone who could take care of my little problem.

He took a look and asked what I was doing Thursday. Turns out I am having surgery Thursday to remove the hearing aid cone that is in so far it will take surgery to get it out. Also, the NP at the walk-in clinic ruptured my ear drum with her overly aggressive probing.

Surgery should be pretty simple, with all the best scope tools and some good drugs and a light anesthesia (conscious sedation).

And the beat goes on. But I can only hear it in one ear.

Good luck,Mike.:thumbup:

Sorry. Could you speak up, please?

Do they think your hearing will return?
Levi

Good luck to you. They say the worst place to go when u are
sick and apparently when you have something stuck in your ear is the hospital.

Yikes! I hope it's painless when you wake up and your hearing returns....

Almost the exact thing happened to me last week. The cone came off in my ear. Fortunately my wife, with a great deal of skill and a pair of tweezers, was able to remove it. Unfortunately, the cone had managed to push some ear wax into the canal. I had to go to an ENT who actually had to stick a probe in my hearing canal and vacuum it out. It took a bit of time, as was almost as painful as a root canal, but it's done and my hearing came right back.

Good luck Mike. I hope you get your hearing back.

I like your quote, "Live is what happens while we are making plans." My mother used to say something similar, "Man plans and God laughs."

Mike, I am sorry to hear of the ear damage and surgery. Are they going to have follow up surgery for the ruptured ear drum? Is it repairable? My wife had Tympanoplasty done twice for the reconstruction of the eardrum at UofM hospital due to a hole in her ear drum. Her hearing is just slightly impaired now. Good luck (can you hear me shouting!).

Oh, gosh...that is the last thing I thought would happen to you, or anyone else. I hope you finally get some relief!

hmmm, zhe engineer is thinking. this should not be possible.
there should be a simple and well documented, at-home method, for resolving this type of issue.

anyone have a picture of this cone assembly in question?

Wow, what an ordeal. I hope it gets resolved. Are you coming up here anytime soon.

Don't know about tof (Mike), but mine use the "Tulip" ones in this pic: I have never had an issue with it coming off the hearing aid.
https://advancedhearing.com/sites/de...hree_domes.png

This is where it is placed on the hearing aid receiver:

https://lloydhearingaid.com/products/ric_tip.jpg

I'm really surprised how many of you young :) people wear hearing aids.

^^^^I've thinking the same thing.
Levi

Heredity and exposure to jet noise and rock music will do it!

My ENT doc did say something about repair to the ear drum while he is in there.

Years ago I ruptured an ear drum when I was unable to "pop" my ears for the duration of a 2 hour flight. After a week or two of mild ear ache I finally went to an ENT who said it was healing nicely and just needed time. There were no long term effects as far as I know.

Ray, next trip north will only be as far as Nashville where we will tend to our grandson while his mom and dad (ok...mostly his mom) is busy delivering his new little brother. We are looking at a family get-together in Ocean View in July. I will keep you posted.

Good luck Mike. It could be worse!

Absolutely, Bill. As you well know. I don't expect this surgery to be a big deal, as surgeries go. I mostly started this thread because I thought it was interesting how a couple mistakes by providers can turn a small relatively minor issue into a much more serious one. I think there is a lesson there, but I'm not sure what it is, exactly.

I do. See a ENT specialist, even if you have to wait for an appointment.

Too many years listening to loud music with headphones.

Pfft, who needed headphones?

My kids used to tell me to turn it down.

What? Sorry, I can't hear you.

What...what you say,Charly....:shrug:

Rob, I think the same thing has made my hearing bad and I have had constant ringing in my ears for 7-8 years now, 24/7. Sounds like one of the old tube tvs off channel.

I have that too. I think it's called tinnitus. When I went to the ENT and mentioned it to him he said that there was nothing to be done about it.

Yup gotta live with it. You will see solutions on the internet but they are all BS or scams to take your money.

Surgery went great. Offending object removed successfully. Zero pain as I slept through the whole thing.

This afternoon, my left ear feels "congested" because of blood and swelling. They didn't clear out the blood because it will help protect the ear drum patch for a bit. So I won't know how my hearing may have been affected for at least a few days yet. I have a follow up visit to the ENT doc in a few weeks to see how the patch is performing and how the drum is healing.

Thanks to all who took the time to comment in this thread and for all your good wishes. You guys are the best.

Wish you a quick recovery...:thumbup:

:thumbup:

Sounds like it went well.

Hope your hearing returns to what it was before this mess, if not better!
Levi

Glad to hear all went well. Heal quickly.

I glad it went well, Mike. A total cascading failure though, huh? How do you prevent this in the future? I'll be getting a hearing aid or two in about four months.

Might want to wait a bit longer. I read that in 2020 the manufacturers can sell direct to the public and the cost may be cut in half after cutting out the middleman. I'm waiting, meanwhile missing a lot of stuff I can't hear. Darn it.

I think the "middlemen" audiologist is a better bet as they'll fine tune the hearing aids you get. I guess it all depends how severe the problem is and the ranges that a person is having problems with.
Levi

Sounds like you are good to go for weekend two.
Glad to hear all went well with the ENT. :thumbup:

If you get a hearing aid that uses a sound tube that extends into your ear canal, just be sure you know how to attach the rubber cone and any other parts that are user-replaceable. And if you should ever lose any part in your ear canal, just go to a ENT physician to get it removed. Your copay may be a little more but your chances of experiencing the kind of adventure I had will be greatly reduced.

Mike, I hope to get to NO some day, the land of the House of the Rising Sun, and have a couple Ginger Ale's or something stronger with you!

I suspect part of the difference between the nurse trying it and the ENT is the ENT has the right tools.
Normal forceps are fairly big and clumsy in the ear canal. The tip is about half the width of the ear canal.
What is needed is a ground down forceps like a tweezer tip. It can grab the cone without pushing it in further.

A long time ago my 5 yr old son got a fish hook embedded in his palm.
It was in deep enough that it had to come out barb first after cutting the eye off.
After watching the nurse flounder for 15 minutes I finally took the tools from her and did it my self.

As those of us who work on our cars know, the right tools can certainly make the job easier.

Don't wait forever, Dave. If you drive down in the MG, you could probably get a write-up in Jalopnik or Hagerty News Online. :cool:

Woke up at 3:00 AM this morning with tinnitus in my left ear.
still ringing away but not quite as bad.

It is always with me, but is much reduced post surgery. I have always been able to “ignore” it. I can’t think of a better word, but I just don’t focus on it. It is the auditory equivalent of driving in bad weather. I can usually ignore the raindrops, snow flakes, or fog and focus on whatever portions of the road and traffic I can see.

thankfully it continued to decrease during the day and is gone now.

Glad it was a success Mike.

Tinnitus is usually worse at night or when you wake up in the morning. Because there are no auditory stimulations/distractions when the environment is quiet. Once those come into play, the "noise" usually subsides. It is also possible if you get a hearing aid the tinnitus will get better in general, at least in the ear that has the aid.

When we moved into our new home I got some wireless headphones. The house is very open and when we watch TV it is in different rooms. The problem here is that my wife is in the open study watching her chick shows and I am in the living room watching car shows, war movies, sports, etc and she constantly comes in and tells me to turn it down. The headphones are my savior as I can listen to my shows without her constant visits telling me you know what. And, it drowns out the noise from her TV in the study. I don't turn them up, just enough to get the nice sound from our new Sonos sound bar. Life is good again. :rolleyes:

If you have the "noise" at night, you can also try one of those sound machines (white noise) to use when sleeping.

Have had tinnitus for many years, and like Bill, I have been able to "ignore" it. I guess planning on being a world-famous rock and roll drummer and practicing loudly with headphones has it's down side later in life. I didn't become a rock star, but I still hurt my ears. ;)

Both ears have been ringing for over 10 years. Sometimes really really loud. I'm due for hearing aids, maybe it will help when I finally break down and get them. I think listening to rock & roll loudly with headphones was my downfall.