Hearing loss & meds: Too late to try an intratympanic injection?

I would love to hear other people on this site weigh in. I have never heard of this procedure.
My gut feeling tells me it is too late and time to get the best hearing aids you can find for your hearing loss.
I look forward to hearing from others.

It was suggested by my neuro-otologist to have this done last year when I lost my hearing due to unknowingly having COVID and flying home from vacation. It turned out that my hearing loss was conductive not sensorineural and a much less invasive procedure called a myringotomy was performed which allowed for fluid to drain in my ear and most of my hearing was subsequently restored. PLEASE make sure you know what type of loss you have - it may or may not be warranted to have the injection(s). I am not familiar with having 3 of them but know that there are different points to inject and maybe the doctor wants to cover all bases. Just a guess. As to timing, earlier is better but do know if it is too late. I hope this helps.

I'm assuming that sudden hearing loss is the diagnosis. I would try to get a second opinion as quickly as possible. There is only a short period of time when steroids are effective. If there has been no improvement yet, I would think that injections may be unnecessary. Whatever you decide, keep us informed.

If it is within 2-3 months of the onset of the hearing loss, intratympanic steroid injections are commonly used as a salvage therapy after oral steroids haven’t worked. The injections can sometimes help recover some hearing. There is some risk associated with perforating the ear drum this way, but it should heal okay. The risk/reward usually depends on how significant the hearing loss is. A loss of 20 dB or more over 3 frequency bands is probably worth trying the injection.

That being said, you need a provider who you trust. Try to find an oto-neurologist (neurotologist), they have more expertise than an average ENT.

@bwoerner11 @daveshaw None of us in this hearing loss support group are professionals in the otolaryngology field. We can only speak from experience. Part of that experience comes from 'listening' to people who have been there in specific situations. There is a lot to learn!

From what I've learned, sudden hearing loss must be treated quickly after it happens for steroid treatment to be successful in most cases. However, a few people have talked about getting treatments later that have worked.

A reality with hearing loss is that today there is a lot of research going on. That wasn't the case even a few decades ago. For years, prior to the 1980s, it was simply accepted that hearing loss was caused by a 'dying' auditory nerve. People were told they had 'nerve deafness' and that there was absolutely nothing that could be done to help them. Thankfully, that changed when they discovered that the nerve was not transmitting sound to the brain because the cochlea that picks up sound was dysfunctional. Bypassing the damaged cochlea made it possible to stimulate the auditory nerve. Prior to this the prevailing attitude in medicine was that NOTHING COULD BE DONE TO HELP PEOPLE WITH HEARING LOSS. We were told we just had to live with it.

Thankfully research continues. I guess I'm going 'back there' because there are a lot of people who still get the message that their case is hopeless.

Sometimes we have to consider optional treatment when a medical professional suggests that something 'new' might be helpful. My question would always be "If it doesn't help me, can it hurt me?"

Hearing loss is still a mystery. Until they find a way to regenerate the damaged cells in the cochlea it will continue to be so.

We are where we are today because people with profound hearing loss were willing to be pioneers in the development of cochlear implants. I am so very thankful to those people. I am sure there will be further developments in the future. I wonder when?

Like you I was stunned to hear that research in to hearing loss did not occur until around 1988.
I have researched as much as I can and always hope to learn more from people on this site.
I mentioned earlier that through my Humana Gold Plus Medicare Advantage plan I get excellent prices on top of the line Signia hearing aids. They have providers all over the country that work with TruHearing. That is the good news. The bad news is that my local provider is excellent but unfortunately understaffed. I went to the audiology department at our largest hospital in the area and even though I had to pay an out of network cost it was the best money I ever spent.
The testing was more sophisticated and after the testing she tuned my hearing aids to maximize their capabilities. More importantly she told me that getting Cochlear Implants would not significantly improve my hearing over my existing hearing aids.
Like you I am excited about research currently going on around the world trying to find a way to regrow hair cells in the inner ear.
At 74 it may be too late for me but I have learned to never say never.
Good luck to you.