Thank you, Colleen and Eloise. I was pretty disappointed with my care, so I’m looking for a new doctor. His response was that MRI hearing loss is uncommon, and he didn’t think it was that. He then went on to diagnose ETD, which may or not be a complicating factor, but clearly not the catalyst. He told me it’s all psychological (given that my audiology test was mostly in normal ranges) and to try to get back to normal life as much as possible. He did give me a referral for hyperacusis counseling, and I’ve already reached out. It’s been really tough protecting my ears without shutting down my life because I live in New York City. I’ve been doing my best to avoid loud sounds and wear ear protection outside. Even in the house it’s difficult. Yesterday, I accidentally knocked the toilet seat down, and it made the loudest clatter. I’ve read not to shut out all sound cuz that’s bad for brain conditioning. I put classical music on low volume to keep my ears active but not in distress. The last complicating factor was that I went through the first ten days of this ordeal with Covid and all the respiratory complications including sinus pressure. I’ve been absolutely miserable. I’ll likely go for another hearing test this week because I’m pretty skeptical of single opinions, especially of my current doc.

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