OTOSCLEROSIS OR TMJ?

zip2play

I'm not familiar with the term recruitment as regards hearing but recruitment can mean adding more (obsolete). Hyperacusis is "extra" hearing ability...oversensitivity to sound???(Guessing on both)

So, if you are asking is an increase in sound sensitivity common with ototsclerosis the answer is a definite NO. Otosclerosis is commonly diagnosed with a a lower frequency hearing loss through the ears and aural bones but a maintenance of good hearing through bone conduction....through the forehead, mastoid etc.

I see few similarities with TMJ which is usually a painful condition. Otosclerosis is painless (except to ones morale).

CORA

Hi and thanks for answering. My case begun in March 1993 with noise sensitivity to certain sounds from the right ear. This was the first symptom that something was wrong. I had a hearing test which indicated that my hearing from that ear had deteriorated about 5 to 10 DB at the lower frequencies. The ENT said that it was nothing to worry about. About a year and a half later (September 1994) I realized that I was not hearing well from that ear. I visited several doctors and had several hearing tests which showed an increased hear loss about 40 to 50 DB from that ear and a milder hear loss from the other ear which is worse by now. I was diagnosed with otosclerosis.Is that the common progress of this disease? It goes very fast in the beginning and then it slows down?Because certainly I am not loosing 40 to 50 DB per year.
The coincidence is that my problems begun after having crowened a tooth and that is why I have been asking if this could be related to TMJ. Of course the ENT does not believe this.
I am thinking of having stapedectomy on my left ear but my doctor does not recommend it because he says that the result may not last for long (because we cannot be sure that the oto will not progress after the surgery).
From your experience what has happened to you? I have read your message that you had the surgery 20 years ago. How is the hearing from that ear? Did the results last for 20 years? And if so why you want to have the other ear done? I don't think that you should have a problem if you hear very well from one ear.

zip2play

CORA,
My right ear with the stapedectomy 24 years ago hears just fine. It has been all that I've had for the last 10 years because my total input from the left (unstapedectomnied) ear is a screetching tinnitus- I hear virtually nothing useful.

I'm having the second ear stapedectomied in 2 weeks and I pray for results as good as the 1979 surgery which has literally saved my life.

Since otosclerosis can and does progress, my experience is that at the point where the stapes is overgrown is when the bulk of the hearing suddenly goes down the drain...often in one's mid-thirties....bet I guessed your age, didn't I?

But the progression is no reason to throw up ones hands and do nothing- the procedure is a gift from God! I would DEFINITELY recommend that you have a surgeon who is POSITIVE about it though....your current doctor doesn;t seem to meet the bill. If I went toally deaf tomorrow (I don't anticipate it), the value of good hearing for the last 24 years is truly stupendous.

Another thing I found many years ago...there were doctors who had NO intention other than to sell a hearing aid no matter WHAT the cause of hearing loss... another idiot immediatley signed me up for 6 months of thrice weekly "throat sprayings" even after I told him I strongly suspected otosclerosis because I could hear small sounds (my watch) through my front teeth. He said "Oh, yeah, you could have THAT too" and went on his merry way....at least until I began bellowing at him!

Make sure you see someone versed in modern surgery with many stapedectomies (and even cochlear implants) under his belt!

I think your tooth capping was totally coincidental to the low frequency loss. You really DO seem to be candidate for stapedectomy especially since you haven't lost much in the higher frequencies. Sometimes high frequencies are affected after a long process caused by infiltration of the auditory nerves with bone.

[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 05-30-2003).]

CORA

Dear Zip

First of all I want to tell you that I have been thinking of you and wishing that your second surgery is a great success too.
Let us know about the results asap. We are all anxious to hear.
I am also an engineer like you and yes you guessed right about my age. My problem begun in 93 when I was 28.
You said that although the oto progresses the results from your right ear have lasted for 24 years. That means that you have zero nerve or bone loss from that ear by now?
Because I also have a nerve loss of 5 to 10 dB from the left ear and 10 to 20dB from the other and we cannot be sure how will this progress. I am taking vitamins (A &E) to preserve the nerve function. I do not know if this is will help or if there is something else I can do. Do you know anything about this?
My doctor said that If I had the stapedectomy from my right ear 10 years ago I would'd be hearing well by now again. That is the main reason that I am sceptical about the surgery. I want to be sure that the results will last 20 years at least. Otherwise there is no reason to take the risk. He is a very experienced doctor who has done over 3000 ears and also a friend of the family who does not want to make a profit out of me.
Currently I am wearing hearing aids and have no problem communicating with others but I hate them and would love to throw them away. I hide them under my hair and nobody knows about them except my husband and my mother. Of course there are places like the gym, the beach and the hairdresser's that I cannot put them on but then again I manage to communicate quite good.
I would love to preserve the situation like it is now but my doctor says that there is not anything I can do to stop the progression of oto. Is it true?

Thanks again for answering. Wish you the best.

zip2play

Cora,

Sorry to keep you waiting....circumstances beyond my control.

My second ear was unpacked last Wednesday and I'll have audiological testing this Wednesday.
The results were SPECTACULAR....super acute hearing in the left ear now.

My right ear has suffered some high frequency loss over the last 24 years but is just FINE. Comparing the numbers maybe 5-10 db loss. In the middle frequencies, no loss (I kept the results from the '70's- always a good idea...the first doctor is dead)

Here's my recommendation: Have the worse ear done. It's a wonderful improvement to your life and is likely to last pretty well your whole life. In 24 years have the other done for a new lease on the hearing of a 10 year old.
I CANNOT praise the surgery more.
Have it done under general anaesthesia...I had BOTH and believe me you DON'T want to be awake for the 2 hour procedure..especially if you have narrow canals.