I am having a problem and hoping someone here can help...

[AudioDoctor]

Well, I made a discovery tonight...

 

First, the ringing has gone down some. My ear clearly has an infection and that is causing some of the problem and it is getting better, slowly... However... I was futzing with my new amp and as soon as I played music through it, without having the headphones on my head, I could hear a very high pitched ringing. I stopped the music, it stopped with the ringing. Start the music, the ringing started back up. SO I called my SO in the room and asked her if she could hear it too. She did.

 

SO now my brand spanking new crazy expensive headphone amp has to go back for repair of some sort. I'm not listening to it right now anyway, but man, this is a bummer.

[AudioDoctor]

Thats not a terrible idea Chris, I have not done that. I did some checking for ground loops and such today and it seems to be coming from the amp only when music is playing regardless of what device is playing the music.

[AudioDoctor]

11 minutes ago, bobflood said:

Sadly, sometimes "crazy expensive" can also mean just plain crazy.

 

Perhaps, but it's really a pretty simple device. Its just a really high quality SET amp, point to point wired, etc...

 

It's the second one with speaker taps as well though, so that may have something to do with it.  We'll see.

 

edit: The price comes from 2 factors, IMO, 1) low volume and 2) silver wound transformers.

[AudioDoctor]

well, the news is not good...

 

It turns out that I have developed some arthritis, and among the joints affected are the temporomandibular joints, which if you're not aware of what that is, its your jaw bone joint that lets your lower jaw move the way it's supposed to. This is inflamed and very near my left ear, which is causing the ringing. Temporarily, I am on Prednisone to help reduce the inflammation and it does reduce the level of the tinnitus, but it does not go away. It will probably never go away and that sucks.

[AudioDoctor]

1 minute ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Bummer to read. 
 

Can you modulate the tinnitus by clenching your teeth?

 

No, I can't. It's pretty steady no matter what.

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Ok. There is a clinical trial going on for tinnitus, but modulating is a requirement. 
 

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03621735

 

This leaves me with so many questions, how did you have this link handy?

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, new_media said:

 

A bit of medical trivia; in the old days rheumatic fever was treated with high-dose aspirin, which was titrated by increasing the dose until the patient's ears started to ring, then backing off a little.

 

Take a shot of cocaine, and some rubbing alcohol and call me in the morning!

[AudioDoctor]

9 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

Assuming the tinnitus is related to the TMJ inflammation I would confirm with a bone scan with SPECT to see if it does light up. If so I would consider a guided steroid injection as an option but with caveats TMJ injection for tinnitus

 

I use SPECT to help identify which cervical facet joints to inject under CT guidance and possibly radiofrequency neurotomy.

 

My next trip will be to the Dental specialist to decide next steps. I saw my CT scan and the joint looks rough.

 

Thanks for the link, I'll read it completely later.

[AudioDoctor]

3 hours ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

As you know imaging investigations like Xray or CT or MRI may show structural changes like roughness but may have a poor correlation with symptoms and function. Something like a Bone scan with SPECT-CT combines precision imaging with a physiological test of function. If the joint is inflamed it should show "hot" on the scan ie it is metabolically active. It's those sort of joints that tend to benefit more readily from targeted anti-inflammatory steroid injections.

 

Taking prednisone or prednisilone systemically may be less efficacious than a targeted injection but obviously more of a shotgun approach, possibly helping in other ways than reducing inflammation, if any, of the TMJ.

 

Dentists I am guessing will offer things like occlusal splint devices

 

Good luck

 

As I am sure you aware, one debate is with the Drs, the other is with the insurance company.