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

@wendymb

An anti inflammatory “diet” is not extreme by any means. Avoiding processed foods and sugar as much as you can and eating whole foods the way we used to when I was growing up benefits your entire body. Eat more organic fresh vegetables and buy grass fed beef and organic chicken…wild seafood and avoid GMO foods. Avoid refined flours and sugary drinks…they are not doing you any good.

Read your labels on products and you will find that most have some type of sugar in the ingredients along with a bunch of ingredients that are unpronounceable. Sugar, by the way is measured in grams and we don’t use the metric system in the US. This is a Big Agriculture ploy to deceive you into not knowing how much there really is.

Food has been processed so many times to make it convenient as pre packed meals, it’s almost unrecognizable. The fresh vegetables are in your supermarket and there are more nutritious products available than ever before.

Goggle anti inflammatory diet and you will get a glimpse of what you should be eating. Start reading and get a couple of cookbooks about whole foods or true foods . Cook from scratch…it’s not any more time consuming or involved prep.

Going this route will go a long way to eliminate the obesity epidemic and all the chronic diseases associated with being overweight. Every organ in you body will thank you and you will know it by the way you feel and look.

Food is medicine and it’s very powerful. Exercise is important but you can’t outrun a poor diet. You have to do the research and it doesn’t mean you have to forgo a pizza or a decadent piece of chocolate cake occasionally. It’s how and what you eat the other 90% of time.

Yes, you can reverse a lot of the medical problems and illnesses. The FDA, the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries are not your friends and are not interested in your health and well being.

In addition….most Doctors of any discipline don’t know enough about nutrition to offer advice. I think Nutrition is a minor course given in medical schools today and just glossed over.

FL Mary

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm an actively involved member in HLAA (The Hearing Loss Assn. of America). Through involvement I've met several people who have experienced sudden sensorineural hearing loss. While it isn't common, it happens and is traumatic. We are told that immediate treatment with steroids may help, but it is nearly impossible to get immediate treatment. First, the person affected tends to think it's temporary, so waits a few days to try to see a doctor. Often they see their primary care physician who has no experience with this, but refers them to an ENT. Trying to get into the ENT quickly isn't easy. So all of a sudden time has passed and it's too late for those injections to help.

I hate to say it, but this is common. Hearing loss is not considered an 'emergency' until it's irreversible. How horrible it has to be to be told "If you had been treated sooner.....etc."

The good news is that cochlear implants do help. Most of the people I mention above have gone the cochlear implant route and are back in the hearing mainstream. They've received a great deal of help and peer support by participating in HLAA chapters. It helps a great deal to know that you are not alone.

HLAA chapters have been holding meetings online via Zoom, which is captioned, during COVID. The good news is that those chapters have opened up participation to folks who don't live near active chapters. We have people from all over the country attend our chapter meetings held in Appleton Wisconsin! Soon they will be meeting in person again, but we are hoping to be able to provide hybrid meetings that will include everyone.

The national HLAA organization is holding a large national convention this summer in Tampa Florida. That event brings people from all over the country together to learn in an environment that is accessible and quite amazing. The exhibit hall is incredible as so many new devices and products in research are featured. The majority of attendees have hearing loss so everyone understands our unique need to communicate. These events can be life changing.

You might want to learn more about that HLAA convention. It's worth every penny to attend. More information is available at http://www.hearingloss.org The national website provides a great deal of information that you may wish to explore while you're there.

Is there an HLAA chapter in your area?

Hello,
I new to this forum, but have had sudden hearing loss that happened almost 20 years ago. Had the steriod injections, but I am left with 4% hearing in my right ear. I've tried several hearing aids, including a Adhear bone conduction hearing aid, with no success. I am currently approved for a CI. I live in FDL and didn't know there is an HLAA connection in Appleton. Can you give me more info on that? I would really like to talk to people who have had a CI, especially for SSHL to see what their experience has been. Thank you!

Hello,
I am new to this forum, but excited to have found it. I lost hearing in my right ear almost 20 years ago. Went through the steroid injections and antibiotics. No improvement. I have 4% hearing in that ear. I have tried several hearing aids, including an Adhear bone conduction hearing aid, with no success. I am 63 and now have some mild - age related hearing loss in my good ear. It is so nice and interesting to hear others similar stories! After a 6 month process with my insurance company, I have just been approved for a CI. I'm excited but terrified at the same time:) I would love to hear from anyone who has gone through the process of a CI and have lots of questions . Thanks, Lynn

I am experiencing SSHL, 5 weeks in. I have complete hearing loss in my right ear per hearing test. I immediately started 60mg daily of Prednisone per ENT for 10 days, 10 days of Augmentin, and five days of Tamiflu. MRI showed no irregularities. I still have no hearing. Some suggestions I have heard are steroid injections into the ear, hyperbaric chamber, or just wait and see if hearing returns on its own per follow up appt. with ENT. Does anyone have any suggestions, pros or cons, for treatment or other options from a shared experience. I would appreciate any helpful comments, as I am concerned. Thank you.

I am experiencing SSHL, 5 weeks in. I have complete hearing loss in my right ear per hearing test. I immediately started 60mg daily of Prednisone per ENT for 10 days, 10 days of Augmentin, and five days of Tamiflu. MRI showed no irregularities. I still have no hearing. Some suggestions I have heard are steroid injections into the ear, hyperbaric chamber, or just wait and see if hearing returns on its own per follow up appt. with ENT. Does anyone have any suggestions, pros or cons, for treatment or other options from a shared experience. I would appreciate any helpful comments, as I am concerned. Thank you.