Q&A

Subject: Diabetic and tinnitus

From: ME

My son who is 24 years old is diabetic. Last summer while in Copenhagen he fell and hit his head on some cobblestones there. He had a severe concussion and midrange hearing loss in one ear. The problem is not the hearing loss itself--it is that he has a constant ringing noise in his head. It is driving him to distraction. We need help with this so much. He is finishing tests today at the Mayo Clinic. They have offered no hope for alleviation of the noise. Please let me know, or my son if there is anything we can do, anyone we can see about this problem. Thank you so much. ME

Oh M,

I know how you worry. Diabetes in itself is a nasty problem and the ear is particularly sensitive to anything related to circulation. As a consequence, diabetics are frequently the victims of sudden changes in hearing levels as a result of interruptions in the circulation to the ear. Tinnitus (head noises such as ringing) are most usually a symptom of some degree of hearing loss. It is often a sort of spontaneous firing of damaged hearing nerves much like the itching and throbbing related to injury to nerves of touch.

There is a special clinic in Baltimore, Maryland at the University of Maryland which specializes in evaluating and treating problems of head noises. You may wish to contact them directly for more information. There is also reason to be hopeful that, since the onset of the head noises was following head injury, time may well continue to diminish the annoyance of these noises. People find that playing soft music or even setting a radio between stations so that it produces a constant static will cover up the head noises and allow for more restful sleep. Others find that hearing aids help by masking the head noises underneath normal, everyday, sound. Good luck!

Solveig