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Hearing loss after MRI
I had a 15 minute MRI yesterday and experienced very noticeable hearing loss afterwards. (I already wear hearing aids for congenital bilateral hearing loss.). My ears feel “full” and sound is muffled. I did wear ear plugs and have had MRI before without this happening. It seems slightly better this morning but even my hearing aids turned all the way up doesn’t help much. As a matter of fact, wearing my aids is uncomfortable right now. Has anyone else had this happen? I am not sure what to do. Should I go see my PCP, is this likely temporary and is there anything I can do to help matters?
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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.
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3 ReactionsI 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.