Sudden hearing loss after a long flight

Something very similar happened to me a few years ago. Lost hearing in one ear completely. Went immediately to ENT specialist and they tested my hearing and I was basically deaf in that ear. Long story short - certain virus that needs immediate injection of steroids into ear asap. They thought it had been too long for me to have the shot but put me on heavy steroids immediately. 7 days into steroids and my hearing came back! I asked what had had happened since the period of time from when I should have had the shot was over a month ago and the ENT Doc said "sometimes things happen that cannot be explained but maybe we had enough time to save your hearing!"

The ear is a complicated tool. Happy to hear your hearing returned. My ear is still stone deaf, I am on week 2 of the injections (last one this coming Tuesday - 9/2) and prednisone along with an anti-viral medication (day 3 of 7 day regime). I started the protocol 2 weeks ago with zero improvement. I am still hoping. But the worse is the constant ringing, UGH!!!

Good luck, I hope your hearing comes back. I was shocked and excited when my hearing came back. It wasn't slowly getting better, it was immediate.

We're in the same boat. I woke up on August 6 2025 totally deaf in my left ear and so dizzy I could hardly walk. I got to my regular doctor and got an MRI immediately which fortunately ruled out a stroke or tumor. The dizziness abated somewhat but is persistent and damned annoying.

I went to an ENT and was given a high dose of oral steroids and a hearing test. Left side is totally gone, my right has hearing damage from working in loud environments for years. I've had tinnitus for many years from that and annoyingly it's still present on my left side to some degree, which just figures.

In a few days I'll get my third intratympanic shot. So far none of that has done a damned thing. I am glad I did all this right away so I have no regrets over missing a certain time frame but hold very little hope my hearing will return - I'm going through the motions. My ENT agrees with me that the chances of my hearing coming back are so low as to be unlikely. Apparently age is a factor at 61 and people who get persistent dizziness along with SSHL don't often recover their hearing.

I suppose it still could come back as it's only been a little over a month. I have been trying to work out my own form of vestibular therapy with some success. I can drive locally now, go to the gym, take short hikes with our dog but it's going to take quite some time to shake what I call the damned-ding-dong-dizzies.

I feel the need to put in a disclaimer that there are far worse things a person could get. Something just like this happened to my best friend not long ago and it was a lethal brain tumor. That said, I can still be angry, upset, did I mention angry ?

It is now a full month and as disturbing as it is losing my hearing in the left ear, I am realizing the fact that it had a good run!!! As a teenager we didn't think about the future repercussion of the trauma from blasting the Allman Bros, Bread, Rolling Stones, Elton John while sitting between the speakers. What I am afraid of is all of the young people that cruise around with these stereos that make mine sound like an old AM car radio. Plus they have kids in the cars. Terrible!!! I did suffer an ear injury 30+ years ago while playing racquetball, I could literally feel the air compress in my ear as the ball hit me directly. But that was the right ear. Since then, when I go to sporting events or concerts, the noise just got garbled.
Now I have finished all of the injections and prednisone along with an anti-viral med (7 days) still nothing. My fear now is when I wake up, I won't have hearing in my right ear. Now that would really piss me off. Yes the balance issue and ringing is really annoying. One thing I have noticed, I am more susceptible to the dizzy spells when the temps are hot. I am seeing a specialist that has put me in an Epley Chair that rotates in every direction possible, even upside-down. Crazy, but I did find some relief for about 3-4 days. I have another treatment on Wednesday (Sept 10). One other thing this specialist gave me a supplement protocol to take for the ear ringing. I just started it and she did say of course it may take up to 6 months to show any signs of relief. She also said it may not work. I bought everything on Amazon cost about 35 for everything. 50mg Niacin(1X/day), 500mg L-Lysine(1X/day) , and Bioflaviniods 1000mg (2X/day). Yes it is all so very frustrating!!!

I made a comment to my ENT about all the abuse I subjected my ears to over the years and how I am paying the price for all that now. He disagreed and told be SSHL is idiopathic and people who never abused their hearing get it too, the damage is a matter of what I have left. Well, OK then.

I tried two sessions of acupuncture which was actually kind of relaxing but did not help. Thought some PT might help and went looking for the excellent chiropractor I've known forever and unfortunately he retired. Found another one that claimed great success with SSHL and tried it but turns out it's something called Atlas Orthogonal Therapy and not to put too fine a point on it, it's nonsense. Apologies to those who may use and like it but for me it seemed silly. To be fair maybe some practitioners are better than others, IDK but that's not for me. That's another one that says six months of ($$) therapy and it might not work.

Six months ? If your hearing came back how would you know it was the therapy or it just did it by itself?
Someone who can perform an Eply maneuver - maybe - but that Atlas stuff is not for me.

I've read about this endlessly and there is the 'viral infection' camp and the other is 'restricted blood vessel'. Those seem to open the door to pseudoscience-y methods that I want to avoid. I tend to view supplements like that also. When you are upset about something like this, especially as its sudden and shocking and frustrating I think there's a tendency to look anywhere for help and after the first week or two of that my inner cynic put a stop to it.

I just had my follow up with the ENT There is zero word recognition in the left ear, the only thing I can hear is the freakin ringing!!!. He recommended a Cochlear Implant. He did mention Bi-Cross hearing aid, but felt that the Cochlear would have better results.
Just testing the waters to see how people feel about each. If you were recommended the Cochlear and went thru with it or tried another device.

It takes time to adapt to the SSHL and yes to grieve over it. I tried acupuncture for a few months, unfortunately unhelpful, and for me very uncomfortable. After a few years I got the bicros hearing aids and a few yrs later stopped using the microphone in my deaf ear because all it did was relay sound to my right side. Was no help in helping me orient myself in space, not able to tell where sound is coming from. What they can help with is if someone is talking on your hearing loss side. You will hear that on your good side.
I think one day the science will improve. Meanwhile whatever you try can’t hurt, right?

Hearing loss is confusing isn't it. We get conflicting information about it all the time. Far too few primary care doctors know much about hearing loss because it was a very small piece of their training. For years the believe was that nothing could ever be done to help hearing loss. Do you think that some of the advertisements full of false information about hearing aids have promoted that?

I can only speak from my experience as a person with progressive SNHL, who is an actively involved member of the Hearing Loss Association of America since 1983. So much has happened since then. Being involved gave me the opportunity to watch hundreds of people I knew talk about their personal experiences, AND to also follow many of them as they became involved in clinical trials that have led to much better technologies and hope for more in the future.

Among those technologies that were experimental back in the late 70s and early 80s are cochlear implants. For many people they are true miracles that have kept them in the hearing mainstream. I am one of those people who decided to go the CI route after watching the success other people had with them. I'm very thankful for the CI I had done in 2005. Each external processor upgrade has been better than the last one. They are not perfect, but I am able to remain in the hearing world socially, etc.

I also embrace the add on technology that works with cochlear implant processors and with most hearing aids. Being able to hear clearly in event centers that have hearing loops, FM systems or Infrared systems has been amazingly helpful. Same in restaurant settings. These technologies help by eliminating the background noise that interferes with our ability to understand clearly. It's a bit like having binoculars for your ears. BUT, you have to use it and to do that you have to know how to use it and what personal technology to have that will connect with it. I firmly believe that an option called a telecoil is an absolute must in a hearing aid or cochlear implant processor. Even with all the improvements in connectivity.

Unfortunately ENTs and many audiologists do not explain these add on technologies or the options you need to use them. They don't demonstrate them. They don't have them in their offices to give people with hearing loss an opportunity to try them and ask questions.

I don't know the answer to changing this. I do know that when a person with hearing loss chooses to be open to learning from other people with hearing loss, they are likely to get answers they won't/don't get elsewhere.

Take time to explore the website of HLAA http://www.hearingloss.org and the website of the Hearing Health Foundation http://www.hhf.org You'll find quite a bit about options, along with possibilities for the future that are currently being researched.

Tell your congressional representatives that hearing loss deserves far more attention than it gets, and that hearing instruments should be covered by insurance and that other technology that benefits us should be available everywhere. Learn so you can be an advocate.

I’m 64 , two years into sensory hearing loss on the right side. All I’ve ever got from the doctors is a cochlear (might) help. I’m not interested in might. I get along good except in crowd situations, and orienting where sound comes from. Dizziness is pretty much gone, but it will get me if I make a sudden change of position like laying on the floor then jumping up. This is the first time I have seen this much discussion of this subject. I’m not sure I even believe the virus theory, I think they don’t know and just have to say something!