1. < Hearing Loss

Help: Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) - very scary

Posted by ed140 @ed140, Sep 6, 2019

I just got diagnosed with hearing loss by My ENT. Woke up and hearing was gone in my left ear. I'm being treated with oral and ear injected steriods. Becoming anxious and panicked about recovery. Hoping someone can offer advice or someone who has story of recovery success. I went to an urgent care the day this happened ,the doctor gave me oral steriods and I followed up the next day with an ent. At this moment I feel the sense of sound but its not clear also hear rapid tones , pops and clicks. Previously I heard nothing at all . hope this means the trearment is working.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Hearing Loss Support Group.

Mentor
Julie, Volunteer Mentor | @julieo4 | Mar 3 12:04pm
In reply to @jg0rdon "It's only been two days since the onset of what my doctors are treating as SSNHL...." + (show)
@jg0rdon

It's only been two days since the onset of what my doctors are treating as SSNHL. I'm hoping to see an ENT on Monday for more clarity. I've lost about 80% - 90% of the hearing in my left ear. They've already begun me on the doses of Prednisone.

Whereas the hearing loss is obviously devastating, it's the loudness of the world that I'm struggling with, to the point where I'm in agony. I've read about the extreme tinnitus that accompanies SSNHL, but has anyone else experienced all sounds making your tinnitus worse? I had less severe tinnitus before this episode and I found that I could reduce the ringing using background noise like music, or by keeping a radio or TV on. However, I now have to wear earplugs (the workman-style earmuffs) to drown out all sound or my tinnitus becomes overwhelming. And it doesn't matter what ear I expose to noise. Whether I expose the left ear, with substantial hearing loss, or the right which has normal (or what seems like normal) hearing, even taking my earmuffs off for a second turns the ringing into screaming. This is accompanied by what I can only describe as sounding like I'm in a tunnel or on a moving airplane. That deep hollow vibrating sound. The whole thing is debilitating.

Any help or advice or anything would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks.

Jump to this post

It sounds as if you have hyperacusis. There is some information on that condition on the website of the National Institutes of Health. Here is the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557713/

You are fortunate to have received treatment with Prednisone so quickly after experiencing SSNHL. Hopefully that treatment will help both the hearing loss and the issues with loudness. Please let us know.

REPLY
joyces | @joyces | Mar 3 8:47pm

In response to @mary ruthe (who responded to a post I had written in 2019): After I got back on a decent hormone replacement program in 2022, the woman at Costco tested me again and said that my right ear (useless for well over 30 years) actually had the ability to hear some sound...not enough to actually HEAR something, but enough to let me understand where sound was coming from. She recommended that I replace the single aid I had been wearing with aids in both ears, which I did (it was still pretty reasonable, actually not much more expensive than the single aid had been a few years earlier). Immediately, I was able to know where sounds come from: no more swiveling my head around in an attempt to figure out where something was. Because I have Meniere's (a particularly godawful disease), I still have trouble understanding what I hear (lack of discernment), but I can hear better than I had for a very long time. I've also learned that, if I wear my aids all day, I don't have such bad auditory hallucinations, especially after I go to bed at night, and the tinnitus is far less in both ears. I go to a lecture series once a week, and still have a hard time understanding some voices: seems that mics distort sound, plus some speakers don't have "rich" voices with lots of overtones. I also still have recruitment, where sharp loud sounds are magnified, sometimes to a painful degree. For example, when my big dog walks across our laminate floors, his toenails are very loud. This makes it hard for me to hear when there's lots of background noise, but I hear well enough to know when someone is trying to get my attention. Once a month I'm a waitress (after having avoided ever being one for over 80 years) at a community breakfast, and all the background talking, doors opening/closing, etc. are a challenge. It helps to let people around you know that you're HOH; most people will wave or do something to get your attention if they know you can't hear well. I think that aids should be some awful florescent color so that people could see easily that you wear/need them.

REPLY
judysmayo | @judysmayo | Mar 4 3:16am
In reply to @jg0rdon "It's only been two days since the onset of what my doctors are treating as SSNHL...." + (show)
@jg0rdon

It's only been two days since the onset of what my doctors are treating as SSNHL. I'm hoping to see an ENT on Monday for more clarity. I've lost about 80% - 90% of the hearing in my left ear. They've already begun me on the doses of Prednisone.

Whereas the hearing loss is obviously devastating, it's the loudness of the world that I'm struggling with, to the point where I'm in agony. I've read about the extreme tinnitus that accompanies SSNHL, but has anyone else experienced all sounds making your tinnitus worse? I had less severe tinnitus before this episode and I found that I could reduce the ringing using background noise like music, or by keeping a radio or TV on. However, I now have to wear earplugs (the workman-style earmuffs) to drown out all sound or my tinnitus becomes overwhelming. And it doesn't matter what ear I expose to noise. Whether I expose the left ear, with substantial hearing loss, or the right which has normal (or what seems like normal) hearing, even taking my earmuffs off for a second turns the ringing into screaming. This is accompanied by what I can only describe as sounding like I'm in a tunnel or on a moving airplane. That deep hollow vibrating sound. The whole thing is debilitating.

Any help or advice or anything would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks.

Jump to this post

Is it possible you have hyperacusis? https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/about-hyperacusis

REPLY
judysmayo | @judysmayo | Mar 4 3:28am
In reply to @lfoster10 "It has been 5 weeks since I suddenly lost total hearing in my left ear. I've..." + (show)
@lfoster10

It has been 5 weeks since I suddenly lost total hearing in my left ear. I've seen 2 specialist. Same treatment, oral steroid and steroid injections in my eardrum, MRI and CT scan. The hearing loss was so severe the doctors don't think I will regain any of my hearing back. I'm waiting for another hearing test in a few weeks. I was wondering if anyone has had cochlear implants, hearing aides....if so, does this help with all the noise I'm hearing in my left ear. I'm also wondering if it has helped anyone to be able to go out in public places and to be able to tolerate all that noise. Right now, I'm home bound because I can't tolerate the noise the noise level when I go out. How soon were you able to begin this treatment? I'm ready to get my life back.

Jump to this post

You might have hyperacusis. https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/about-hyperacusis
If you didn’t qualify for a cochlear there’s CROS and BICROS hearing aids available that send the sound from your deaf ear to your better ear.

REPLY
judysmayo | @judysmayo | Mar 4 4:04am
In reply to @imallears "@julieo4 Hi Julie, I found so many articles and aviation publications online about Hearing and Noise..." + (show)
@imallears

@julieo4

Hi Julie,

I found so many articles and aviation publications online about Hearing and Noise in the Aviation Industry.
Apparently some airlines allow their pilots to wear noise reducing headsets and their attendants to wear earplugs. The passengers, I guess, are on their own.
I have also read conflicting information about taking antihistamines before a flight. One view says that antihistamines depress breathing and in the low oxygen environment of the plane that could be dangerous.

The aviation industry knows all about Airplane Ear as it is called. The hard part, like you said, is how to get this information to airline passengers. Do you contact each airline? Do you contact the head of the aviation industry, the president? I’m not being funny but I remember Reagan wore a hearing aid or two when he started to lose his hearing. What did he do, if anything, all the times he was on a plane?

There should be information about Airplane Ear posted and also a caution about the decibel level in the cabins. I always lower my volume around noise because I know what to do. So many passengers are plugged into their earbuds which may help them. Normally people are not that aware or just oblivious to all the noise in airports and the plane itself.

I know I did more than the usual number of yawning and swallowing on my return flight so that probably helped. I will think more about this but it can’t be just one person attempting to change things…..it should come from a group like the HLAA . No one ever mentioned anything about flying problems in all my years of attending local HLAA meetings. In fact, the Mayo Forum may be the first time I learned about sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Well, God bless the Mayo Forum and at least, maybe I can help someone individually with my newfound information.

FL Mary

Jump to this post

Found the comment What I learned is there are over 2 dozen causes of SSHL I don’t fly because I’m fearful of losing hearing in my one good ear and have had Airplane Ear in the past. I never heard the term but yes the air pressure can be another cause of SSHL. There’s a product called https://www.earplanes.com/ that helped the last time I flew 20 years ago but I’m too fearful of trying them since I not have SSD

REPLY
lynnehenry21 | @lynnehenry21 | Mar 6 10:22pm
In reply to @bgbg "SHL is scary and frustrating and uncomfortable and embarrassing..... such a burden. I have been suffering..." + (show)
@bgbg

SHL is scary and frustrating and uncomfortable and embarrassing..... such a burden. I have been suffering bouts of SHL for about 3 years. I’ve seen numerous ENTs, allergist, and an otoneurologist. ENT’s are often undereducated in SHL and the otoneurologist who treated me injected steroid into the middle ear. But once that procedure was done, he let me know that he had done all he can for me and suggested I go to Cleveland Clinic. Each time this hits me I lose most of the hearing in my left ear and each time the episode eases, my hearing is a little worse. I am wearing hearing aides now but the tinnitus and pressure in my head is so severe, again, during episodes, and the sound distortion is so severe that I feel I could go crazy. I am wearing only one hearing aid in the better ear right now. Seems to help a little. Sometimes I know an episode is coming because I have severe allergy symptoms. This makes me think that this might be a histamine overload. (Allergy testing, for me, is inconsistent and doesn’t cover anything but basic environmental exposures.). Yesterday, I was being seen by a cardiologist and just because I was having such a hard time with this SHL episode, I discussed it with him. He too encouraged me to go to Cleveland or Mayo. But I have read so much about this and there doesn’t seem to be any cure or long lasting treatment. Mayo is supposed to be #1 in ENT. Are there any success stories at Mayo treating SHL? I would love to think so but I am skeptical. Anyone?

Jump to this post

I am deaf in my right ear and have lived with a left hearing aid for 10 years. This has caused balance problems and not being able to hear where sounds are coming from. In November i lost hearing in my left ear and it scared me!!! After much research on Cochlear Implants I have decided to see if i am a candidate. Medicare pays for a CI. Ive watched many YouTube people talk about the process and one man said it is like going from black and white to technology. And with bluetooth you can hear music. Yes it takes awhile to retrain your brain but ive spent 10 years not hearing well. Yes it’s scary too!!!

REPLY
rlsutton | @rlsutton | Mar 7 1:55pm
In reply to @lfoster10 "Thank you so much for all the useful information. I'm learning to deal with SSD. It..." + (show)
@lfoster10

Thank you so much for all the useful information. I'm learning to deal with SSD. It wasn't bad at all when it first happened. I was not experiencing all the extra noise. Now I'm hearing all this noise. I can't handle the noise/feedback I hear in my deaf left ear when a lot of people are talking or a lot of background noise is happening. It sounds like a loud honking sound. It gets so loud I can't hear anything but honking. It startles me because I don't know when it's going to, happen. I guess certain pitches set it off. I try to cover both ears to block the noise to make it not as loud and stop. That doesn't help. At night when I'm trying to sleep, it's a crunching, pulsating sound. Sometimes I hear what sounds like a radio that needs tuned in. When the sound around me is loud, these sounds gets louder in my ear causing me increased vertigo, headaches and anxiety. Is this what tinnitus is? I was under the impression tinnitus was a ringing in your ear. Could this be me ear trying to regain hearing? I have the same problem with trying to figure out which direction noise is coming from. The noise can be happening on my left and it sounds like it's coming from the right. So scary when I walk through parking lots. I'm also having trouble adjusting to the dark. When I turn the light off and start walking into a darker room my body almost freezes up and I lose my balance causing me to fall all over the place. It's almost as if my body is scared of the dark. It really throws my equilibrium off. This is getting better. I just have to remember and be prepared for it. My friend just told me about Costco. I will definitely go there. The hearing devices are a lot less costly. Good to know they are highly recommended. I have read a little about BICROS and will be sure to read the link. Thanks again. I was hoping to be able to cope without any hearing devices but if I'm going to be out and around in public areas, I think I'm going to need a hearing device that hopefully helps me deal with all my issues I'm having. My work place is loud and I would like to have something in place before returning to work so I am able to keep my job without being miserable throughout the day with all these added noises.

Jump to this post

I’m six months into single sided deafness. The dizzines is much better. I have numbness on the right side of my face, almost like having a tooth filled. It also has affected my sinus on that side. This ailment is almost worse than the deafness. I am also trying to live with all this. The noise in a crowd is the worse, makes it hard to focus on what the person you are talking to is saying. I’m wondering if the coclier implant would do any good if you still have hearing on the other side or would the conflict with each other?

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.