Hearing loss after MRI

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It is inexcusable for medical professionals to not know about how excess noise can affect a person's ears, but it's a reality. Unless a medical professional specializes in the field of audiology or otology, they receive very little training in this area. Until the late 1990s very little research was being done on hearing loss. The prevailing belief was that once the auditory nerve was damaged nothing could be done. Hearing instruments could only amplify sound when clarification and understanding were the problems. Today's hearing instruments are capable of doing more, but they still don't 'cure' hearing loss. Today we also know that in most cases of sensorineural hearing loss the auditory nerve is intact. It's the cochlea that is damaged. Cochlear implants, which came on the scene in the 1980s and have improved a great deal since then, are able to bypass the hair cell damage in the cochlea and stimulate the auditory nerve that sends sound to the brain. CIs are modern miracles.

Thanks to a group of hard of hearing people who banned together to found organizations like the Hearing Loss Assn. of America (HLAA) in the early 1980s, there was a push for more research on hearing health and other communication disorders. HLAA pushed for the establishment of the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) within the National Institutes of Health. NIDCD became a reality in 1988. Most other institutes within NIH had been in place for nearly a century. Previous research had lumped deaf and hard of hearing people together and did virtually nothing for the hard of hearing population. Being born with hearing loss or becoming hard of hearing after the acquisition of language require very different strategies for coping. That is an interesting story in itself. Language is the key issue.

People with hearing loss who want to remain in the hearing mainstream must learn everything they can about coping strategies that work, technology that goes beyond hearing aids, and opportunities to advocate for better services, technologies and medical procedures. Getting involved in HLAA matters. Again, I encourage everyone who is frustrated with hearing loss, concerned about living well with it, AND promoting further research to find cures and solutions for tinnitus and other problems that are related to speak up, learn and become an advocate.

If you live anywhere near or in Wisconsin, PM me and I will share information about a very special educational conference that will be held in Appleton WI in April. It will focus on research and development in this field. It will address many of the issues being discussed.

I live in the Mpls. area. This is getting louder with each passing day. Not a “ringing,” but incredibly LOUD “hissing!” Supposedly louder at night because of the quiet room, so I play a radio…NO relief whatsoever! The weird part is if I have on my TV and not in the least bit loud and fall asleep in my chair, the Tinnitus gets a lot louder and wakes me up. I don’t understand how a clinic can cause such permanent damage to a patient, such disruptive damage. Mine is accompanied with a constant headache! I guess what I have going for me is that I turned 79 in November and hopefully will not live longer with this!

I hope you join the Hearing Loss Association of America either in a chapter if one is available in your area or receive their publication every other month. So many people confuse hearing loss with being not too smart. You meet people who may have an answer to your problem.
Hermine Willey, Past State Coordinator of Ohio

This happened to me recently. I had an MRI with the ear protection that they provided. The ear protection was not adequate. I had to stop them and readjust the earplugs and it still was painful. My left ear actually began to hurt. So, it does happen and it I ever need an MRI again, I will be bringing my own earplugs. It's been over 2 weeks now with no improvement. From what I have read here, I wish I had done something sooner.

What are your current symptoms?

This is crazy wrong that techs operating these machines apparently have no idea the damage they can do to many people.
How can this not be part of their training?
I was also rushed and had poorly fitting ear protection. I did not know enough to stop the proceedings. Two years later I’m living with the damage done.

I had an MRI of my shoulder in 2023 which required my head to be inside the machine. I was not given ear plugs. I was given flimsy ear muffs. I was in the machine for approximately 30 minutes. The noise was loud at first. Then they raised the noise and it sound like a jack hammer --very loud. It was awful. And then they raised the noise even louder and it was unbearably loud. So loud that the noise traveled through my bones. I felt like my brain was being scrambled. I wish I never got the MRI. After the MRI I had a stuffed feeling in my ears and found that sounds were much louder. The next day I went to the post office and the lady at counter talked and it was as if she was shouting at me. I had talked to here before the MRI and her voice was fine. Now it was unbearable. I developed very bad hyperacusis and tinnitus from the MRI. It is life altering. I have to use ear muffs when vacuuming and other tasks. I am miserable when planes fly overhead, leaf blowers are used, etc. It has been just over a year and the stuffed feeling did subside and it no longer sounds like people are shouting at me when they are talking. However, high pitch voices, people laughing etc. hurt my ears. Being on an airplane is really uncomfortable. And the tinnitus is really bothersome every day. I am so upset with the MRI company. There was no warning about possible hearing loss. I would never have gotten the MRI if I had been told that this could happen. I think that many more people have hearing loss from MRIs. There is no recourse for those harmed and no one is keeping track. of the issue. It is an invisible injury. I share my story in the hopes that someone will finally do something about it. It is too late for me though as I will have to go through the rest of my life with this problem. Since the MRI, I have had a hissing sound in both ears, and daily clicking sounds and dripping sounds in both ears. Hyperacusis makes daily life difficult. After doing some research, I learned that when they increased the sound during my MRI that it was to make the MRI process faster. They were late to bring me in for my appointment. I assume that they sped up the machine to get back on time for their next appointment. My question is why isn't there rules about the decibel level of MRIs for people having their head exposed to the MRI sounds?!!! I complained to the state health department and to the MRI certification entity and got nowhere. When I contacted the hospital to complain I was redirected to the marketing director of the company!! Absolutely no accountability. If we could actually see the injury to the ears that MRIs do, I am sure that something would have been done long ago and that people would be able to successfully pursue legal action against the MRI companies.

You should have kicked your feet once the noise increase to levels that can destroy your hearing cells in your cochlear and destroy hearing loss. Get a lawyer they had people who where not able give a correct MRI and especially with ear protection that was useless to protect your remaining hearing. Marketing director is a useless person. Obtain your ear doctor who may know a lawyer for your complaint.

I already did post my comment, above. Thank you.