Causes of fast hearing loss?

Hi guys,

Im currently waiting an appoinment with an ENT consultant but was just wondering if anybody here has had the same problems or could maybe shed a bit of light.

I have suffered with my ears my whole life, I got glue ear when I was 3 which resulted in both of my eardrums perforating. I was backwards and forwards from Dr's and ENT consultants for years before they eventually operated on my left ear and repaired the eardrum with a graft. The right ear was not operated on as the perforation was very slowly healing its self.
I went for my last checkup 6 months after the operation, while there I got my ears tested which showed that my hearing on my left side had improved alot but was still slightly less than my right ear.
I have suffered with a few ear infections since the operation, which have all cleared up well with antibiotics.

A few months ago, I was getting terrible earache in my right ear so I went along to my gp's. My doctor could not see my ear drum due to a wax build up and given my history she did not want to syringe them so she refered me to my local nurses ENT clinic where they used suction. The nurse said that there was no sign of infection but my eardrum was slightly inflammed, so she gave me antibiotic drops which also act as an anti-inflammitory. While I was there she did a hearing test which showed that my hearing in my right ear is now worse than my left ear and that I was losing the abilty to hear high pitched sounds. Im not sure if this means anything to anybody but I got a catagory 2 on the audio test.

Anyway I returned to the clinic for a check up, my eardrum was fine and no longer inflammed but I have still been getting the occasional earache and my hearing seems to be getting worse, it constantly feels full and like I need to pop it and I also get tinitus, so the nurse gave me another hearing test. In the 6 weeks since my last appointment, my hearing in my right ear has got even worse  and Im now a catagory 3. She showed this to one of the consultants who asked for me to be refered to himself.

Does anybody have any idea of what could be causing my hearing to deteriorate so quicky in only 6 weeks?

Thanks in advance for any replys

Erin

[LivingInHope]

One thing they will want to rule out that sometimes can cause rapid hearing loss is an acoustic neuroma.  See private message for more info on this.   Loss of high pitched sounds can happen if you damage your ears with listening to music too loud, for example (happened to a parent), or mowing the lawn without ear protection.