← Return to Anxiety and disbelief over sudden hearing loss and tinnitus

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@judysmayo

I never heard of SSHL until a month ago at our HLAA. Word needs to get out that this happens and can be treated.
“Steroids are the treatment for SSHL. Sudden sensorineural (“inner ear”) hearing loss (SSHL), commonly known as sudden deafness, is an unexplained, rapid loss of hearing either all at once or over a few days. In 2011, a clinical trial supported by the NIDCD showed that intratympanic (through the eardrum) injection of steroids was as effective as oral steroids. After this study, doctors started prescribing direct intratympanic injection of steroids into the middle ear; the medication then flows into the inner ear.“
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/sudden-deafness#1

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Replies to "I never heard of SSHL until a month ago at our HLAA. Word needs to get..."

@judysmayo I think sudden hearing loss is a great one for a Chapter meeting as many people don't know what to do if it occurs. I learned about sudden hearing loss 2 years ago. It comes in several forms. I was at the convention in Salt Lake City and got an urgent text from my wife at home in PA to call her ASAP. She woke up friday morning and couldn't hear in one ear. She previously had perfect health and hearing (she could hear anything I whispered under my breath from the other room!). Fortunately I was at the right place as I had someone from HLAA track down a nationally known audiologist to talk to me. He said with sudden hearing loss the first thing to do is immediately get to an ENT or emergency room. I called my ENT back home and he agreed to see her. Put her on steroids and something else right away and had her get an MRI. It turned out to be an acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the hearing nerve. By getting her on steroids immediately, the inflammation went down and within a week most of her hearing came back. And the neuroma was small enough that they could just watch it every six months since neuroma's are slow growing. Two years in and she is doing well. Next MRI this summer.