Sudden Loss of Hearing

Hi,

I am in my late 20's and I developed total hearing loss in my left ear last summer.

There were a sequence of events leading up to the loss;

1. Developed a very bad flu.

2. Went to GP. A locum doctor prescribed anti-biotics for the flu.

3. Hearing went completely when taking the anti-biotics.

4. Went back to GP. GP refered me to a Public Hospital. He gave me a letter specifically instructing the hospital to organise a specialist to see me.

5. Seen a registrar doctor who said that the hearing would come back in time and specifically said that there was no point in seeing a specialist.

6. Waited for a few weeks to see if hearing would improve but it stayed the same.

7. Went back to GP who said that they were surprised that I did not get to see the specialist in the hospital.

8. After being let down with the GP and Hospital, I organised to see a specialist which was not cheap. I went for an MRI scan and audiology test immediately. Nothing showed up.

9. I was told that the hearing loss was because my hair cells in my ear just stopped working for no apparent reason.

10. I have since gone to an Advanced Hypno-Therapist who said that the loss was due to phsychological reasons and that I caused the hearing myself due to the stress I was under at the time personally.

11. I spent alot of money on the therapist who did help me with any personal issues but the hearing is still the same.

I would appreciate if anyone has any comments. I read that prescribing anti-biotics if someone is experiencing hearing loss is not the correct procedure.

Also, there seems to be alot of research at the moment into regenerating hair cells in the inner ear.

As you can imagine I am very angry with my GP and the hospital system. The loss of hearing is very profound and is causing me alot of stress in my life.

Thanks.

[Nancy T]

The doctor mentioned in #5 was a complete idiot and should be kicked out of the medical profession, or at least sent to a re-education camp!!

The "hypno-therapist" mentioned in #10 was cruel to blame YOU for the hearing loss. It just happens. You could not have prevented it.

Certain intravenous antibiotics can cause hearing loss, but I'm not sure about oral antibiotics. They prescribed the antibiotics for the flu anyway, not the hearing loss, correct?

More likely, the flu virus attacked your ear and caused the hearing loss. The accepted treatment for sudden hearing loss is high-dose oral steroids (prednisone), and now many people are getting steroid shots directly into the middle ear (see other recent posts on this forum).

If I were you, I'd be extremely angry at the system too, especially the doctor who said you didn't need to see a specialist. That was totally irresponsible (though pretty common among general doctors, who mostly don't recognize sudden hearing loss).

The research on regenerating hair cells is probably not likely to help us in our lifetime. Certainly not anytime soon. Check into options for single-sided deafness: CROS aid, TransEar (which is fairly new and is only beginning to make inroads in the US, much less the UK), and Baha. Baha is well established in the UK.

Sorry about your hearing loss. Do see if one of the hearing aids mentioned above could help you (they all work by transferring sound coming from the deaf side over to the good cochlea, the last two via bone conduction). I got a Baha last year and it is a huge help to me, especially at work.

Best wishes,
Nancy

[Nancy T]

Forgot to say, antiviral meds are also sometimes used to treat sudden hearing loss too--that probably would have been appropriate in your case.

[TimboS]

Hey Sean,
I'm Timbo,49 yr old male and overall healthy.

I also had total hearing loss in my left ear on March 10.It took only 2-3 hrs and GONE!

I'm sure most people on this site will advise you to get into an ent practice asap.

I went to my gp also who said I had a blocked eustachian tube,not.Then the NEXT day I made arrangements to see an ear specialist,you should do the same,soon!

The ear Dr said I had sudden sensorineural hearing loss,sshl.He said its is caused by a virus in the inner ear that does actually partially or completely destroys the inner ear hairs that cause you to hear.I also had a mri to rule out a tumor and blood labs to test for certain types of viruses,herpes,parvo b19 etc.All were negative

I'm sure NOT saying you have what I do ,but It sounds very similar.You have to be proactive,when you call the ent make sure you tell them you have total hearing loss,they Should get you in right away,my first call didn't so I called another one!

I'm still seeing a specialist,hearing has improved some.

Good luck!

[Wear/a/Jimmy]

Timbo,

It is probably too late, and honestly, it is too late for medical intervention.

The OP's story is typical and I would say the norm.

Try the TransEar before you go to the BAHA....   at least with the TransEar you will not have to deal with any more "Doctors" and you will not have surgery.

Sorry to hear about your situation...

[wongtanlim3]

Let's all be positive about the recent advances in treating inner ear hearing loss. I have sudden hearing loss in Jan 2009. I had read a lot on the topic and is hopeful a cure is on the way. They are doing tests on animals now. What say all of you ?

***@****

[TimboS]

Yes,I echo your thought,
We have to be hopeful that more treatments or a cure will be found.
I'm striving to stay positive,with the support of some  good knowledgeble people on this site! I'm thankful to have them!

[wongtanlim3]

Broadly, these are the challenges to finding a cure:

1. finding a cure -

a. using stem cell (human ear nerve recently grow in UK Uni lab)
b. using gene (injecting turn-on gene and suppressing turn-off gene)
c. brain material (recently discovered)
this is the link for the brain material which can be transplanted to the ear :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7770665.stm

2. Delivery of treatment to ear cochlea where damaged ear hair cell is

3. Volunteers

4. Funding.

For 1 , I understand that there are at least 20 to 30 teams of scientists in different countries looking at hearing loss. Perhaps a solution is just round the corner.

For 2, If a potential treatment can be delivered to a guinea pig inner ear , the same technique should be able to be used on human

For 3, I am sure there are plenty of volunteers who will sign a no-liabiliy contract to try out whatever trials there is. I can volunter also.

For 4, with at least 10 million hearing loss (due to nerve damage) sufferers in the developed and developing countries (like US, UK, European countries, Japan, Korea, Singapore (from where I am) etc), can't we all group up and donate at least $1 each and there will be a working captial of at least $10 m annually ? May be the problem is not lack of funding but the sufferers do not know that the scientists need money and the sufferes do not know how to donate ?

Some one should start something

From : ***@****

[philly840]

Hello I was diagnosed with SSHL a few weeks ago.. My hearing loss was profound and there was alot if vertigo. So im def not getting any of it back.. For those of you w SSHL how does your other ear act? Any popping or is it normal? Thanks! Phil

[beachcomber13]

Hi Phil, and welcome to the hearing loss forum!

Your other ear should be normal. I take it that it is not?

Maybe you could post your story by starting a new thread in this forum. I would enjoy reading your story, and I am sure others would, too.

Keep us posted on how things go for you! Has the audiologist suggested a hearing device? Maybe a BAHA or CROS aid?

BC