Hi, @charlottescot - I also had a scary experience lately where one ear lost about half its hearing after our family went to see my son's drum teacher's concert (sans ear plugs - we didn't think of it and couldn't find any there when we did).

The next day I realized I had trouble differentiating between one conversation I was having across the room with one lady with several other side conversations in the same room. My right ear was super sensitive to sounds, like radio and TV volume. I also had pain in my ear and a muffly, cotton-in the-ear sensation.

I was so scared that 25 minutes of listening to 3 songs (all my kids could do, as they were tired, and it was loud for all of us) might have seriously damaged my hearing for life. However, I was diagnosed Friday with serous otitis (like what kids get when they need tubes - middle ear not draining properly) and the doctor said I had the classic symptoms. His best guess is that somehow the concert aggravated an already sensitive ear and that I'll make a full recovery of my hearing. I can't say how terrified I've been that my hearing was at least 25 percent down overall and might never come back, not to mention my interior ear was so uncomfortable.

I'm doing a regimen of ibuprofen, Afrin, Sudafed and nasal rinse that the doctor put me on.