Avatar Posted by tfuller4 164 days ago (Question)
I have suffered in silence my whole life putting on a happy face but inside I feel totally out of control because my whole life is ruled and decided by my total terror and fear of hearing loss and anything to even do with my ears!! Every second I am thinking about them and if I stop or a little bit I totally freak out because I'm afraid not thinking about then will cause hearing loss because I was not thinking about then. I am constantly thinking about the doom that is coming for my ears and building pyramids about how one little thing can cause deafness forever. unfortunately I also have over active ear wax which has to be cleaned out with water every 3 months about....I don't even want to get into how insane this gets!!
I have tried, church and God, hypnotherapy, therapy, books,help groups, anything you can think of but I never thought of OCD....and is treatment worth it because that looks totally horrifying!!!!!


Answers

Written by Edahn 164 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

Three things.

First off, thinking about hearing loss will not prevent hearing loss. Just avoid going to REALLY LOUD concerts. If something if loud enough to cause hearing loss, your ears will PHYSICALLY HURT, A LOT. If you don't have any OBVIOUS pain, then don't worry, you're fine.

Second, even if you DID lose your hearing, so what? You can get a hearing aid. My guess is that in the future, hearing aids will be small and unnoticeable. Nowadays, even people with congenital deafness (deaf from birth) can be "cured" with the use of cochlear implants. You, being someone who still has their hearing, are in great shape.

Third, medication -- which wasn't in your list of treatments -- has been shown to help OCD. You should talk to a psychiatrist about that.

Written by bellacutie 164 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

Hi,

sorry you're not feeling well. There's a new book out called 'Life In Rewind' by Micheal Jenike and Edward Zines -it's about a famous football player and his struggle with OCD. He was is bad shape, hardly functional because he had to count to 1,500 befor he did anything at all. Now he's a full functioning person thanks to medication and behavioral therapy. Some good websites are www.OCDGETHELP.org and www.brainphysics.com/ocdphp You can also go to phychcentral.com to the OCD forums and get moral support.

Regarding the over active ear wax - has your doctor diagnosed you with this and is he/she the one doing the cleaning. The reason I ask is because, if it's not done properly or if it's done excessively, you could damage your ears - and that's the very thing you're afraid of - right? You are should be warned not to use Q-tips in your ears. My doctor said that they only push the ear wax down further.

Edahn's right you need to be realistic and educated about hearing loss. But I guess we're not dealing with a rational fear anyways. One of the biggest threats to hearing loss is Ipod use - kids as young as 8 have these ears phones in their ears too much. Damage to the ears is acculmulative and also if the ears are exposed to loud noises for a long time - so imagine teenagers how many hours they're spending with ear phones???

On a positive note - you know this fear is unrealistic and it's a problem. The next step is to get help from a good doctor and get medication and enrolled in the latest behavior therapy. Hopefully you will get it under control and only have to take normal precations that we all do to protect our ears. Please make an appointment today and get the book. Best of luck.

Written by tfuller4 163 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

My whole life I have gone to a family doctor to get my ears cleaned out and they always told me that it was soft enough ear wax I could easily do myself at home but of course I was always way to terrified, only recently have I been doing it at home, of course I cannot do it to myself because I am far to afraid to do it myself!

Oh I know my fear is totally unfounded and not realistic! And I know never to use Q-tips and you better believe my phobia would never allow me to stick something in my ears so Ipods are totally out!! I have been in contact with local doctors but so far haven't found one that takes my insurance

Written by tfuller4 163 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

My

Written by Clyde 160 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

I dont really see it entirely as OCD, as much as a good common worry. OCD's are usually more things that are (*I cant think of the exact word*) nonsensical or things that are definitely not worrying about.

It may be at the very beginning stages of OCD, but I dunno.

OCD medication is pretty good...at least the ones I know people are on...

Could you find a therapist with a sliding scale fee or a doctor who will let you make payments, etc?

Best,

Clyde


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