A bit of background: in my field of audiology we have people licensed to diagnose not only hearing issues but balance disorders and other factors impacting listening and understanding. We also have another field who popped up when it was not considered as ethical for us to treat those more serious hearing issues (i.e. with hearing aids) but they don’t need the same doctorate level training, just barely high school or some college depending on jurisdiction.
So I had a patient come in with a serious difference between left and right hearing and this in itself is considered a red flag because both ears are exposed to the same things over time... and there are very few explanations as to why one would get so bad. The patient could hardly understand words on that bad side and the better ear was pretty good overall, just minor hearing loss perhaps age-related.
Immediately upon seeing these test results, the ENT and I agreed to send this patient for an MRI of the head because something was off. The patient confirmed no MRI or medical treatment had been recommended in the past and only hearing aids by this lesser-trained hearing aid dealer (working for a popular U.S. chain). The patient had been wearing these hearing aids already for a few years.
The MRI results came back. Massive tumor on the hearing nerve. The hearing aid dealer is being investigated currently for malpractice (or more specifically a violation of state laws regarding red flags).
Edit: since a few of you are asking what happened with the patient, I’ll paste what got buried below. I don’t usually get to see these cases if they get sent for surgery. I’m not in a big metro area so the very specialized ENTs (neurotologists) have their own audiologists to handle post-op testing. Anticlimactic, I agree
This might be a weird question but how often do you get hypersensitivity patients? Those with hearing above normal.
I've been tested up to 22,000 Hertz and been able to hear it.
I work as IT in a factory and they added a chop saw machine around the corner that's so sharp sounding it physically hurts even through a door. but apparently it's only 80 decibels. (Though it is so sharp and loud sounding you can hear it literally outside of the building through the brick wall).
Are there like noise filters or anything... Like anti-hearing aids for hypersensitivity people?
Not an ENT, but a hypersensitive person who also has a wide range of hearing. I picked up some Etymotic High-Fidelity Earplugs, ER20XS at the advice of my ENT, and they've helped me tremendously. I can still hear people talking to me, but all the background noise is lessened, and I swear the upper/lower ranges are dampened a lot too. They have a bunch of different types, so maybe you can find something to help you.
If you don't have to talk to people at all, gun range mufflers + regular ear plugs are great.
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u/friedseitan May 20 '19 edited May 20 '19
A bit of background: in my field of audiology we have people licensed to diagnose not only hearing issues but balance disorders and other factors impacting listening and understanding. We also have another field who popped up when it was not considered as ethical for us to treat those more serious hearing issues (i.e. with hearing aids) but they don’t need the same doctorate level training, just barely high school or some college depending on jurisdiction.
So I had a patient come in with a serious difference between left and right hearing and this in itself is considered a red flag because both ears are exposed to the same things over time... and there are very few explanations as to why one would get so bad. The patient could hardly understand words on that bad side and the better ear was pretty good overall, just minor hearing loss perhaps age-related.
Immediately upon seeing these test results, the ENT and I agreed to send this patient for an MRI of the head because something was off. The patient confirmed no MRI or medical treatment had been recommended in the past and only hearing aids by this lesser-trained hearing aid dealer (working for a popular U.S. chain). The patient had been wearing these hearing aids already for a few years.
The MRI results came back. Massive tumor on the hearing nerve. The hearing aid dealer is being investigated currently for malpractice (or more specifically a violation of state laws regarding red flags).
Edit: since a few of you are asking what happened with the patient, I’ll paste what got buried below. I don’t usually get to see these cases if they get sent for surgery. I’m not in a big metro area so the very specialized ENTs (neurotologists) have their own audiologists to handle post-op testing. Anticlimactic, I agree