Posted on 10/11/2018 7:34:44 PM PDT by hattend
On Monday, my wife woke up with a total loss of hearing in her left ear. Looking online, it said to treat this as an emergency so she went to the ER.
They admitted her to the hospital and she got a CAT scan and MRI to rule out a stroke or tumors. Apparently, it was caused by virus.
She finally got an appointment with an audiologist toady who, after tested, said she has zero response in her left ear. She was given a referral to an ENT doctor on Monday for possible steroid injections directly into the middle ear. Very Painful. Her other option is a hearing aid in her right ear that will help her brain interpret a stereo effect and maybe a cochlear implant which could cost up to $100K.
Just wondering if anybody has ever experienced this and did any of your hearing ever come back after treatment.
Obviously, my wife is freaked out.
I lost most of mine from Ménière’s disease. Destroyed the nerves in the inner ear.
Have not experienced this but may I suggest that you work with the ENT for the meantime. Possibly also get an second ENT to look at it.
Sorry to hear this. I’m afraid I have no advice, but prayers are up for your wife’s recovery.
Was there anything that you had done that restored the nerve’s response?
I guess the audiologist says her inner ear has shut off. She doesn’t expect much in the way of recovery but she says she is still in a fixable “window” and should try all treatments until the window closes.
I would DEFINITELY get a second opinion as far as the ENTs go———hope all works out well.
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My sympathies for your wife and of course, the whole family.
That must be quite a shock, the sudden onset of partial deafness. The fact that it is now limited to only one ear, does imply a localized infection, so antibiotics are probably the best course of action right now.
I’m sure xrays have already been done. Has the probability of a bug being lodged in there been ruled out?
Sometimes, we are invaded while we sleep, vulnerable to an insect seeking a warm place to hide.
Good luck to her.
I have Ménière’s disease. It started about two years ago. I started to wear hearing aids. Seems about every six months I have to turn up the volume on the hearing aids.
How fast did your hearing decline.
He has lost four out of five registers in his left ear.
Thoughts:
- Hearing comes and goes spontaneously sometimes. I’ve had this effect myself.
- Prayers beats doctoring every day of the week.... and you have mine.
Thank you!
See the ENT, maybe young a well as old. I have severe tinnitus and find ENT not overly helpful but have recognized the more recently educated ones are more attuned with advances and less likely to say ‘that’s life’.
I assume they have checked to see if an obstruction exists (?)
A lot of hearing loss in older people is due to ear wax buildup.
Prayers for your wife to be successfully treated.
Every year, usually around summertime, I catch a cold here in Japan that does exactly that. It usually takes 2 days to a week before my hearing comes back (something to do with the air passage between the throat area and the ear drum, so it can’t/wont neutralize the air pressure).
One year ago, I spent five days in the hospital for pneumonia. I was on heavy IV antibiotics. The third day I was having great trouble hearing the nurses and doctor. They sent me to a wonderful audiologist who told me that certain antibiotics can cause hearing loss. I never knew that. I have 80% hearing loss in my left hear and 70% loss in my right ear. I am now using hearing aids......a huge pain, but necessary.
First, I am very, very sorry about what has happened to your wife’s hearing. I don’t know that what I have to say is comforting. But I will tell you, something very similar happened to me about 4 years ago.
At that time, I came down with a bad cold that settled in my right ear. During the illness, I assumed I could not hear out of my right ear because of congestion, but after the cold went away, my hearing did not return. Being very concerned about this, I went to an ENT who told me there was nothing he could do now - I was too late. He gave me a hearing test, which recorded the fact that I had lost hearing in my right ear, and he ordered and MRI which ruled out a tumor.
Since that time, I have looked for remedies, but have not found any that made a huge difference. Over time, though, it seems that the hearing in my right ear has improved a little. I can hear low frequency sounds.
If I were in your wife’s shoes, I would try the steroid injections. Some chiropractors also claim that their procedures can bring back hearing.
I know none of this is very helpful. I truly wish I had more encouraging things to say. It really sucks.
I will add your wife to my prayers. If I do find anything that works, I will reply to you again.
Please take care, and may God restore your wife’s hearing.
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