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

I was just diagnosed with SSHL on my right ear. I lost complete hearing in the afternoon of Feb 5th I saw medical attention right away and I have been in 60mg of prednisone from Saturday Feb 8th and asked my primary doctor to keep me on prednisone for 4 full weeks + weening period. Had audiology test and showed moderate to sever hearing loss. I took 2 tests a week apart and didn't show much progress. I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) to perhaps try to get some hearing back? It's will be 3 weeks on prednisone tomorrow.

It seems recently, i can scratch the outside of my ear and hear some scratching noise and when people talk now i hear pitching noises of the words that are spoken.

Any help with this is greatly appreciated. Are there any ENT's doctors in this forum?

Fifty years ago I lost my hearing in my right ear. Diagnosed as Menieres. I did not try HBOT, if they even had it back then. I had had severe vertigo and lost it when I lost my hearing, so I wasn't devastated by the loss. Fast forward a decade or so and I started losing it in my left ear. I was immediately put on Prednisone. This was pre-internet, but fortunately there was an apartment I wanted to rent and I had to pretend I knew the current tenant. He and I had dinner to get to know each other; he was a chiropractor. I come from a famil y of Yale MD's and had been snobbish about chiropractors. He told me the history of chiropractics and that the first person ever treated was a deaf farmhand who got his hearing back. I was desperate. It had been years since our one meeting, but I tracked him down, reminded him of the deaf farmhand and cried, asking him if he could help me get my hearing back. He said he'd try. I felt a cold instrument tap against the back of my neck ( as if it were on a spring) and he manipulated/twisted my head. I heard a horrible crunching sound and felt some heat. I left, went to a movie to sit in the dark to cry, when partway through the movie it was as if the sound volume was cranked all the way up. I had my hearing back! I've had it happen two or three times since and each time a (different) chiropractor helped. But never as much as the first time.

This is a long story, but after 53 years of being deaf in one ear, and losing some in my good ear a few years ago, I've learned that while the science of hearing has progressed, there's really been no progress in treatment. I don't want to discourage you, but give you hope that by going non-mainstream, like to a c hiropractor, might possibly help. I'm still a snob about what doctors I see, but I'm now more open to alternative medicine.

Also, Facebook has support groups for SSSH sbd other hearing issues, with hundreds of people sharing what's worked for them. And they share their cochlear stories. Some good. Some not.

I wish you the very best. If you cannot get your hearing back, I recommend CROS hearing aids (amazing!). And there are now smart glasses with "closed captioning" by Vuzix so you can read what people are saying!! 'They're $500 and I'm getting them as soon as they're back in stock.

@nancyjg Thanks for sharing your story, I know I am in the beginning stages of dealing with this and I appreciate people’s feedback and learning more about alternative methods of perhaps treating this. ENT doctors still seem like there is no clear answer as to why it happens to certain people and not others.

I am researching other options and continuing my prednisone treatment.

Very much appreciated for sharing your story.

@nancyjg Thanks for sharing your story, I know I am in the beginning stages of dealing with this and I appreciate people’s feedback and learning more about alternative methods of perhaps treating this. ENT doctors still seem like there is no clear answer as to why it happens to certain people and not others.

I am researching other options and continuing my prednisone treatment.

Very much appreciated for sharing your story.

I'm sorry you are experiencing this. SSHL is not common. Most hearing loss happens gradually. However, people on MCC have shared their experience with SSNL. You did the right thing by seeking immediate medical attention. It seems that steroid treatment only works if it is given very quickly after the hearing loss incident. However, it does not always work.

It's helpful to know that hearing loss technology has improved greatly over the last few decades. Hearing aids are better than they used to be. Bicross hearing aids can transfer sound from a 'deaf' ear to the hear that hears when there is single sided deafness. So some single sided implants.

If the damage is in the cochlea, which it often is, a cochlear implant may be a possibility. The large majority of cochlear implant recipients have excellent results.

I am unaware of HBOT treatment, but encourage anyone who has experience with this to share what they know.

Was there an incident of some kind that may have caused the SSHL? Were you on an airplane? Were you exposed to extremely loud sudden noise? Is there possibly a genetic connection?