Ever have trouble with family, friends, loved ones, the workplace etc. taking you seriously when you tell them that Hyperacusis & Severe Tinnitus is truly debilitating?. For me personally it's been a struggle, has been for five years, and still to this day it's hard to convince people who don't have the conditions how horrid it all is for one to handle. It's literally a nightmare, that nobody wants to have.
My current ENT (Ears Nose & Throat Doctor) knows how debilitating it is for me, because he see's me at my worst. I go into the office, sit down the hall away from the regular public seating area waiting for my appointment, because it is far too noisy sitting with everyone else, even with hearing protection on.
He actually listens to me which is good, and recently I needed a letter written for my disability medical review, and he wrote out in detail how awful my conditions really are.
My ENT states the following below, which describes that I have tried everything to help myself, and that the conditions are chronic and expects them to not improve over time (Click the image to view larger text). At the same time, some people still only listen to their own head based opinions, which is sad when a professional doctor is delivering how bad things really are.
I have a friend (Jerad Rider) who needed to get sick pay from work because of severe Hyperacusis & Tinnitus, as he could not work anymore, he filed a disability claim, and had to get his Audiologist to fill out the forms, and unfortunately his insurance company denied him. His workplace also told him that if he cannot return back to work by May 2023, that he will be separated. This is all because Hyperacusis & Tinnitus is so rare, it's even hard for people to get long term disability for it, unless there are other major issues going on. For me, I have my disability benefits, because my root is from Cancer treatments back in 2017/18. Had my conditions started from something else, I am not sure if I would have financials to help me to get by today.
Click the image to read some of the claim, the doctor clearly states that he is unable to perform at normal capacity for the establishment, cannot handle sounds in the workplace & any environment, normal everyday sounds cause significant pain to him, he will need treatment to progress, and yet he was still denied. This is the world we live in now, where someone severely disabled to the point that the sounds of rubbing his own beard causes him pain, can't get help from the workplace or the government, which is extremely sad, and something that needs to change.
All in all, whether family, friends, loved ones, doctors, the workplace. Hyperacusis & Tinnitus needs to get recognition, as when it is severe it can take a massive toll on someone's well being, even at a mild level as well, to the point of being seriously suicidal. Everyday living at home is too much of a struggle for the patient. Focusing on reading a book can be a serious difficult task when having 90 db Tinnitus in the ears and the head present almost 24/7, followed by Hyperacuis pain as well. Even the sounds of turning pages can cause razor sharp stabbing knife like pain into the ears. Now if reading a book is too hard, imagine working at a physical job, not happening unless significant improvement happens over time, even if improvement does happen, from being in quiet and wearing hearing protection, the patient can still get a major setback landing them back in the same place, or even being worse than the start of it all.
What we need is a regeneration medicine / therapy to surface to help regenerate the auditory system, but most likely will not be coming for another five to ten years at the very least.
Thank you for reading, so much love as always!.
DV.
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