3rd FAQ "How is tinnitus diagnosed?": audible sounds for who/what?

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ben - 18 Aug 2006 13:17 GMT

In the tinnitus FAQ the 3rd FAQ "How is tinnitus diagnosed?" the start
of the flowchart is:

ear exam--->(audible sounds)
|
|
v
(no audible sounds)

Audible sounds for who? The person who has/is supposed to have tinnitus
or externally detected by equipment?

It can't mean for the person with tinnitus I don't think because if
they're not hearing something then thay simply haven't got tinnitus as
hearing audible sounds is what tinnitus amounts to. If the person isn't
hearing sounds then they wouldn't even be considering tinnitus, so it
must mean audible sounds detected by other than tinnitus sufferer? Am I
correct?

Just curious.

Thanks, Ben.

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Jim Chinnis - 18 Aug 2006 16:43 GMT

ben <x@x.x> wrote in part:

>In the tinnitus FAQ the 3rd FAQ "How is tinnitus diagnosed?" the start
>of the flowchart is:
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
>Thanks, Ben.

In relatively rare cases, a real noise is produced in the ear and can be
heard by others, usually only with a microphone in the ear. This is called
objective tinnitus.

When there is no sound pressure wave produced in the ear, the tinnitus is
called subjective tinnitus. That is the usual case.

BTW, the FAQ is ancient...

Signature

Jim Chinnis / Warrenton, Virginia, USA
Want to discuss Meniere's? See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MenieresDG

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ben - 18 Aug 2006 18:46 GMT

> ben <x@x.x> wrote in part:
>
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> In relatively rare cases, a real noise is produced in the ear and can be
> heard by others, usually only with a microphone in the ear.

That's exactly what I suspected. As "no audible sounds" to the
patient/person equals no tinnitus (so that person wouldn't be subject
to any kind of tinnitus diagnosis), so it must be, in the quoted
flowchart, a decision between objective tinnitus as you say it's name
is and subjective tinnitus. That must be what that split is. I just
wasn't sure.

> This is called
> objective tinnitus.
>
> When there is no sound pressure wave produced in the ear, the tinnitus is
> called subjective tinnitus. That is the usual case.

Right. Ok thanks for the info.
Ben.

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IMO - 15 Sep 2006 11:50 GMT

> > ben <x@x.x> wrote in part:
> >
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
> Right. Ok thanks for the info.
> Ben.

I dont want to sound condescenting but even the sounds that you
actually hear are not actually heard until the brain can interpret the
electrical signals that your auditory system picks up from actual sound
waves. Therefore to say that it is all in the sufferer's mind is not
correct because all it means is that there is a misfiring of those
signals from the damaged inner ear, auditory nerve or whatever before
it reaches the part of the brain that is responsible for interpreting
sounds.

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Martin Smith - 15 Sep 2006 13:36 GMT

> I dont want to sound condescenting but even the sounds that you
> actually hear are not actually heard until the brain can interpret the
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> it reaches the part of the brain that is responsible for interpreting
> sounds.

It seems that isn't always the case with tinnitus. Sometimes it appears
to originate somewhere in the auditory system *after* the ear.

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