Sudden Hearing Loss: What are options if steroids don't work?

ENT said I should look into a hearing aid.. The one for both ears. So my right ear would guide my left.. Looking to see how expensive and how well they work

Not exactly sure what your diagnosis is. Is it only one ear that has major hearing loss? If the other ear is OK, your provider may be suggesting a bi-cross hearing aid system. In that system, the aid worn on the bad ear broadcasts to the aid on the 'good' ear.

If both ears have been diagnosed with hearing loss, you may need two aids, but with different settings to accommodate the degree of hearing loss in each ear.

I had micros hearing aids for a while and they worked well then I was not getting stimulation in the bad ear's nerve so I got a Cochlear implant in my bad ear and have a hearing aid in my good ear. I can hear pretty well in most situations. It did take some time to adjust to the Cochlear implant. Make sure that you get one that can handle MRI's and can bluetooth to your phone.

Can your wife recall the name of the medication? Was it something other than Prednisone,?

No, it was Prednisone

Thank you for replying. I asked because, I didn't do well on Prednisone and was wondering if she had taken a different steroid with success. I started taking Prednisone and although it did help right away with inflammation in my ears. I had lost hearing volume on it as well as tones(highs&lows) after just 1 day of 60mg. spread out mind you throughout the day.

I think my wife was lucky that she had an experienced hearing loss person (me) who was aware that she needed to immediately get to an ENT and start treatment, and that her treatment worked. Her acoustic neuroma shrunk enough to not pressure the nerve anymore and she has had perfect hearing for 5 years since the loss. Good luck with yours.

@tmorken @mikepa It's important to understand that an acoustic neuroma presents a very different situation in most cases.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss can be caused by different things. The best recommendation is to get ENT help with steroids immediately. However, that isn't typical for most people dealing with 'sudden' hearing loss or many other health issues. We are inclined to wait to see if the problem dissipates or goes away. Unfortunately, waiting even a few days can mean the difference between steroids helping and not helping.

Several people have shared stories about this. They go to primary care or urgent care where the providers don't have the experience to follow through appropriately, and time is wasted. Sometimes the only person who considers this issue an emergency is the person who has it.

There is little public information about hearing loss.

How many people know that when sudden hearing loss occurs, the best possible treatment has to begin almost immediately?

Exactly, I was told blocked eustacion tube and by the time I got to an ENT although I was just within a two week period suggested for steroids, it didn’t work. The ENT said that sudden loss of hearing is something that all medical personnel should be familiar with.

The reality is that those medical personnel are not familiar with sudden sensorineural hearing loss. The tendency is to tell people to wait a few days or a week and see if it goes away.

This brings to mind a good question. We have seen advertisements and educational announcements on TV and in other forms of media about 'warning signals' of various diseases and conditions.

Have you ever seen a statement that says "If you experience sudden hearing loss see an ENT specialist immediately. Steroid injections can help, but only if given within 48 hours of the SSNL occurring?