I lost 80% of my hearing about 6 weeks ago after having covid. I can

It's alarming to realize how little our first line of defense in the healthcare field knows about sudden sensorineural hearing loss. How do we get more information out to the public about this?

How do we get more information out to primary care specialists about sudden sensorineural hearing loss and the very short timeline for any hope for improvement?

This is a huge issue.

When any sudden hearing loss occurs out of the blue you need a steroid shot within 72 hours. We have a captioner at our HLAA meeting, she experienced hearing loss suddenly. Thankfully she went to a competent ENT physician immediately and received a steroid shot. She regained her hearing and is still working as a captioner.
Hermine Willey
cohear@aol.com

That’s a great question. I think most people are so shocked to wake up with a hearing issue that they think it’s temporary loud music, a cold I could’ve never imagined I would wake up at 56 years old and be told I could possibly lose my hearing in both ears due to a very rare auto immune disease.
Obviously, there’s something in the current environment that’s causing this.

Deafness is a whole new field of study. Did you know that most of the institutes within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been in place for over a century? The institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) was founded in 1988. That seems like a long time ago but it's really not. Until then there were virtually no grants or researchers studying hearing. We've come a long way, but there's a long way to go.

Yes, we wonder what is causing this. Noise in the environment is a big factor, but unless that noise is a sudden blast or something extremely loud for a period of time (think rock concert), the loss is usually progressive rather than sudden.

How many people go directly to an ENT specialist when they wake up with sudden hearing loss?

Not only that, but it’s really difficult to get into an ENT I lucked out. I just happen to make the call on the right day and they were adamant about getting me in as soon as possible.

Yes, it's nearly impossible to get into a specialist of any kind without a wait.

It's important for the person making the call to emphasize the reason for the request for an immediate appointment. The ENT specialists know this is a serious issue that needs to be prioritized.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is not common, but it is not rare either. Education is so important. Unfortunately most people put off that appointment and usually go into their primary care doctor first. The PCPs don't always realize this is an emergency.

Are you willing to help educate the primary care doctors about this?

I agree. The ENY is an important step. It sounds like you have a lot to save as it comes back. Don’t want that to linger on. I know what you mean by “the fog”. It’s not a great place to be. I have a very close friend that completely lost her taste 2 years ago after having COVID. She really struggles

ENT ….. sorry

ENT very important step. Went to my GP and did 2 weeks of antibiotics b4 I was sent to ENT. I have since educated her. ENT gave me 3 steroid shots in my ear and put me on steroids and no luck. Lost my hearing 5 days after 2nd COVID shot. Been 2 yrs. The gig is the worst.

So sorry to hear this @vickies It may not be due to the Covid shot. That is hard to identify. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is not uncommon. It's unfortunate that the GPs and PCPs don't always understand that time is of the essence when it comes to steroid injections for this issue. Hearing loss and deafness are grossly misunderstood by far too many.

How are you educating your GP?