Hello.I'm 44. I was told by family members that I have a "busted" eardrum ever since birth. Until recently as I inquire more, the same family members told me I have nerve issues. Not sure why it changed. If that the case and according to all the audiograms(only) I've had over the years, it appears I have bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss. I'm not convinced my audiologist knows exactly what I have without an otolaryngologist diagnosis. As I research more online about nerve damage, i found there's a host of other possible disorders that go along with this affliction.

I have so many questions and any reply from this forum would be forever grateful. Can anyone tell me if nerve damage means auditory nerve only, or both auditory and vestibular nerve? How one know if they may have balance issues without seeing a specialist? How does your diet play a role in having a healthy hearing lifestyle such as salt intake?(I omitted caffeine)

I've seen a few therapists thinking I have depression. What I believe I have is hearing loss depression. Most of the jobs I had were in a loud environment with constant communication with people. This leads to listener fatigue which leads to fatigue which leads to the concept of depression. Now I know. My fault I guess. I'm my own therapist and I'm suggesting my own therapy routine. Be more assertive with my audiologist(maybe change), join this forum, join HLAA, interact with Blogs, change my diet if necessary, and finally, if possible, find some people in the flesh that have some form of hearing loss whom I can relate to. Will see if I'm successful. I know I will be.

Thanks for listening( I'm sure you heard that before)