Please see attached (one year apart) and if you have any expertise on tympanograms, offer your opinon, if you will.
My local ENT and associated audi say these tymps are “normal,” yet I have had another Audi tell me these show evidence of Hyper Mobile/Floppy/retracted eardrum, which could explain my sense of fullness and muffled hearing during fullness episodes. He claims these symptoms are pressure related. Any other opinions?
also attached is a comment in a recent MRI - “mild mucosal thickening”
Without knowing the indication for this MRI and without knowing the MRI settings done this will not give any information.
Additional findings in you tympanogram will not give any information about floppy and or retracted eardrums.
As related to your complaints about fullness episodes, at the time of your MRI there were no signs of real paranasal cavity pathology as the report is not very conclusive for that.
I would not mind to much about the MRI as what is described is very person related reported. And this is seen in many people without complaints. (Although I have not seen the pictures…)
I cannot interpret your tympanogram but it looks symmetrical and not very special to me but I rather leaf that to a specialist in this area which I am not!
Thank you!! The MRI was with contrast, and was to rule out an acoustic neuroma after sudden hearing loss occurring a year ago - MRI was about 6 months ago.
If the indication was an AN then there is a good reason for additional Gadolinium which you got in your MRI. The scattered mucosal thickening is in general a non specific finding mostly without further clinical relevance.
So nothing to worry about from a radiologist’s point of view. Doctors are always trying to avoid legal problems so they rather report to much than too few.
And with your tympanogram I would not worry to much either.
You had a thorough research done to exclude/ rule out serious problems, which they did not find.
Now you have to accept you hearing ability as it is and learn to deal with your disabilities.
Kind regards
Emile
I had a self proclaimed audi (he may very well be, I just don’t know him, from an online group I belong to) tell me that i definitely have floppy eardrum, based on the tymps. I’ve seen two other audis and ENTs in the past year and neither of them ever said anything looked awry, nor could they explain (or remedy) what I was complaining about. I had been complaining about a sense of fullness that started with my SSNHL a year ago, and when the fullness happens there is also a muffle sense of hearing, especially when wearing hearing aids. Valsalva often clears it momentarily, but ultimately makes it worse, starting a back and forth need to repeat valsalva even more frequently than if I didn’t do it in the first place. However the fullness feeling is maddening, and doesn’t seem to want to resolve.
