Sudden Hearing Loss

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Thought this might be interesting to y'all. I saw pweaver 's post on sudden hearing loss, but I haven't had any vaccines in many months.

Four weeks ago I woke up in the morning with total deafness in one ear. I've never had any sort of hearing problem. I thought it might be a cold or something, but it didn't go away. I googled it some. and read about SHL (sudden hearing loss). This alarmed me, so I went to an urgent care. I mentioned to her about the SHL info I found on Google, but she said it was probably a cold or allergy or something, and it will probably go away by itself. But it didn't. So a few days later I went to an ENT. He diagnosed it as SHL. It turns out that SHL should be considered a medical emergency, and if they can treat it within a few days (no later than a few weeks), then sometimes they can reverse it. He put me on a heavy prednisone dose, but that had no effect. I am now "severely hearing impaired" in one ear. I don't know what's next. Hearing aid? Cochlear implant? Anyway, to share what I learned-
1) SHL affects between 1-6 in 5000 people (though may be higher from undereporting). The cause is rarely identified.
2) SHL should be considered a medical emergency (!), requiring immediate treatment by an ENT. If treated early (a few days), there's a chance they can help it.
3) apparently some urgent care doctors are not aware of this condition

 

[Born2BRetd]

My husband had sudden hearing loss over thirty years ago. They did a brain scan to rule out a brain tumor and I believe he was prescribed a steroid. After a few weeks he slowly regained most of the hearing in that ear.

 

[Time2]

My wife had bells palsy 30 years ago. Started with one side of her tongue and progressed until she had a bit of sag around one of her eyes and she lost hearing in one ear. She never regained her hearing, but all the other symptoms went away, but it was over 5 years before the eye sag was completely gone.

 

[badatmath]

Never heard of this. Sorry about your troubles but thanks for the warning.

 

[Helen]

My Mom woke up deaf in one ear. My great grandma woke up deaf in both ears. Neither one regained their hearing.

 

[bluelight]

About 30 years ago I woke up to a 70% hearing loss in my left ear with no explanation. I went to a doctor who couldn't find anything wrong, but put me on antibiotics and told me to go to an ENT if it didn't get better. ENT couldn't find the cause either and told me "it happens sometimes". I was only in my mid 30's and pleaded with him to help. After 2 additional rounds of antibiotics and my hearing slowly came back. For months my ear would occasionally close up then would loudly pop when it reopened. It took well over a year before my hearing was back to normal.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

You may want to look on Pubmed for nutrient deficiency links. A deficiency of almost any nutrient may cause sudden hearing loss and sometimes it has been reversed in studies with supplements - Association of Nutritional Factors with Hearing Loss (nih.gov)

 

[Sunset]

OP - Thanks for this Public Service Announcement.

It happened to my Sister, she let it slide for a week or so, and became permanently deaf in both ears.
It made her last year of life pretty lonely as being deaf is isolating, especially during Covid times.
She wasn't even 63... so not some old folk thing.

 

[whatnot]

Thank you for the information. Never heard of this before.

 

[marko]

I had SHL about 20 years ago. Total loss in the right ear. After six months of 4-5 doctors, 3 different ENTs, massage therapy, chiropractors, visits to Boston's Mass Eye and Ear (one of the best in the nation), MRIs of my head I was told, "well, it's probably just part of turning 50. You'llhave to live with it".

As a last resort, DW suggested acupuncture. Found a 'real deal' acupuncturist and within 12 hours of my first visit, at 3AM, my ear opened up. Woke me out of a sound sleep!

Had to go for several follow ups as it would come back from time to time but after about a year it has never returned. I still see the guy every month for general 'maintenance' but that's what worked for me. YMMV and good luck!

 

[anethum]

I'm sorry you're experiencing this. I had degraded hearing in one ear within 12 hours of receiving a Shingrix shot. Over the next 2 days, my hearing worsened until I became completely deaf in that ear. I was able to see an ENT physician within a few hours of waking up deaf and I was prescribed an oral steroid, an antibiotic, and several over-the-counter medications. (I was later told this was the "shotgun" approach.) Over the next few days, my hearing returned. After completing the course of steroids, I saw an audiologist who gave me a thorough hearing exam in both ears. I fortunately suffered no permanent hearing loss, though I was left with tinnitus in the affected ear.

My primary care doctor, as well as 2 friends who are physicians, all felt virtually certain my sudden hearing loss resulted from the Shingrix vaccine and all told me not to get the 2nd dose, and I did not get it. (The vaccine maker says that a single dose still gives 85% protection against shingles, vs. 95% for two doses.)

I reported my hearing loss to the VAERS database. I just did a search today for cases of deafness reported in 2019 & 2020 to the VAERS database. There were only 118 cases reported for all vaccines given in the US. Of these, 44 occurred after a Shingrix vaccine, by far the highest number reported following any vaccine. Based on the descriptions some people provided in their VAERS database entries, people who were quickly treated were much more likely to not suffer permanent hearing loss.

edit: My scary experience with the Shingrix vaccine has not kept me from getting other vaccines. I've had both Pfizer shots plus a recent booster, and I get an annual flu shot. No issues with any of them.

 

[ERD50]

I had SHL about 20 years ago. Total loss in the right ear. After six months of 4-5 doctors, 3 different ENTs, massage therapy, chiropractors, visits to Boston's Mass Eye and Ear (one of the best in the nation), MRIs of my head I was told, "well, it's probably just part of turning 50. You'llhave to live with it".

As a last resort, DW suggested acupuncture. Found a 'real deal' acupuncturist and within 12 hours of my first visit, at 3AM, my ear opened up. Woke me out of a sound sleep!

Had to go for several follow ups as it would come back from time to time but after about a year it has never returned. I still see the guy every month for general 'maintenance' but that's what worked for me. YMMV and good luck!

Is the cause of the deafness understood? What exactly is the acupuncture doing to help this?

By 'open up', do you mean some physical change (like a blockage clearing), or just the sense of hearing?

-ERD50

 

[marko]

Is the cause of the deafness understood? What exactly is the acupuncture doing to help this?

By 'open up', do you mean some physical change (like a blockage clearing), or just the sense of hearing?

-ERD50

By open up I meant that I could suddendly hear from that ear after six months. Just the sound coming in awakened me.

Eastern medicine is far different from Western medicine. The mechanics of what acupuncture does has more to do with moving energy to an area than physically adjusting something. Im no expert but Ive learned that the approach and mindset is not intuitive to Western mentality.

All I know is that it worked for me. Could not have been a coincidence after all that time.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I had SHL about 20 years ago. Total loss in the right ear. After six months of 4-5 doctors, 3 different ENTs, massage therapy, chiropractors, visits to Boston's Mass Eye and Ear (one of the best in the nation), MRIs of my head I was told, "well, it's probably just part of turning 50. You'llhave to live with it".

As a last resort, DW suggested acupuncture. Found a 'real deal' acupuncturist and within 12 hours of my first visit, at 3AM, my ear opened up. Woke me out of a sound sleep!

Had to go for several follow ups as it would come back from time to time but after about a year it has never returned. I still see the guy every month for general 'maintenance' but that's what worked for me. YMMV and good luck!

I've never had hearing loss, but I've had clogged ears in the past from muscle tension. I could usually get them to pop open up with certain yoga poses. Weightlifting has been linked to plugged ears and hearing loss, so it makes sense that activities that relax muscles could aid in reducing pressure in the ears - Could your exercise program be causing hearing loss? (healthyhearing.com) My muscle tension usually comes from being on the computer too much and getting tight neck and shoulder muscles.

Ear clearing - Wikipedia - People who do intense weight lifting, like squats, may experience sudden conductive hearing loss due to air pressure building up inside the ear. They are advised to engage in an ear clearing method to relieve pressure, or pain if any.

Traditional Eastern medicine has solved many issues for my family over the years when modern Western medicine had no answers. The whole it just happens is a blanket comment made by doctors who don't understand anything about nutrition or exercise or don't look up research on Pubmed. There's tons of causes on Pubmed on sudden hearing loss linked to diet and muscle tension, and reversals from nutritional supplements and acupuncture.

Acupuncture for the treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss: A systematic review and meta-analysis: Acupuncture for SSNHL - PubMed (nih.gov)

 

[harllee]

DH had a very bad case of influenza 3 years ago (he had the flu shot the September before but he caught the flu in late February, probably the flu shot had lost its effectiveness). He lost his hearing, sense of smell and taste. He was put on all sorts of antibiotics and steroids. It was awful for him. All 3 senses came back over a few months but he still has tinnitus in his ears.

 

[ERD50]

By open up I meant that I could suddendly hear from that ear after six months. Just the sound coming in awakened me.

Eastern medicine is far different from Western medicine. The mechanics of what acupuncture does has more to do with moving energy to an area than physically adjusting something. Im no expert but Ive learned that the approach and mindset is not intuitive to Western mentality.

All I know is that it worked for me. Could not have been a coincidence after all that time.

Thanks for the explanation. And I wasn't being dismissive of acupuncture, if it came across that way. I was just trying to understand if there was some known pathway for this effect.

Some Western medicines do act similar to this I think - some pain creams contain capsicum (hot pepper ingredient), and I've read that by creating more pain at that site, it causes the body's defenses to kick in stronger, and promote healing, or something like that.

This is a scary thread, I've read about this before, sure I hope I never experience this

-ERD50

 

[Bob_Walter]

Ugh, tinnitus. The sound that never goes away.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Ugh, tinnitus. The sound that never goes away.

Check out Pubmed. Here is just one of many articles - "There were associations between both single nutrients and dietary patterns with tinnitus and hearing difficulties. Although the size of the associations was small, universal exposure for dietary factors indicates that there may be a substantial impact of diet on levels of tinnitus and hearing difficulties in the population. This study showed that dietary factors might be important for hearing health." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31356390/

Here is another - Although research in complementary/integrative medicine continues to be scarce and inconclusive, studies are pointing toward the positive effects of acupuncture, herbal remedies, dietary supplements, antioxidants, melatonin, and hypnosis on tinnitus. Although the efficacies of these treatments are inconsistent and may depend on a patient's unique circumstances, studies acknowledge that each treatment is worth trying in light of the potential benefits while being both noninvasive and well tolerated." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32362562/

There's hundreds of studies on tinnitus and noninvasive, can't hurt, might help kind of treatments out there.

 

[Bob_Walter]

Check out Pubmed. Here is just one of many articles - "There were associations between both single nutrients and dietary patterns with tinnitus and hearing difficulties. Although the size of the associations was small, universal exposure for dietary factors indicates that there may be a substantial impact of diet on levels of tinnitus and hearing difficulties in the population. This study showed that dietary factors might be important for hearing health." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31356390/

Here is another - Although research in complementary/integrative medicine continues to be scarce and inconclusive, studies are pointing toward the positive effects of acupuncture, herbal remedies, dietary supplements, antioxidants, melatonin, and hypnosis on tinnitus. Although the efficacies of these treatments are inconsistent and may depend on a patient's unique circumstances, studies acknowledge that each treatment is worth trying in light of the potential benefits while being both noninvasive and well tolerated." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32362562/

There's hundreds of studies on tinnitus and noninvasive, can't hurt, might help kind of treatments out there.

Had tinnitus for 20 years, intrusive type. Nothing has helped. It's okay, it's not the end of the world like it once was.

 

[jaybee0]

Any relation to covid vaccine? Many reporting SHL and tinnitus after vaccination.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19vaccine/92699

 

[Sunset]

Any relation to covid vaccine? Many reporting SHL and tinnitus after vaccination.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19vaccine/92699

Actually it reports that SHL is NOT a vaccine side effect (maybe it prevents some cases of SHL.) as there are less numbers than expected normally:

"These results so far provide evidence that COVID vaccination is not associated with sudden hearing loss,"

 

[harllee]

Any relation to covid vaccine? Many reporting SHL and tinnitus after vaccination.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19vaccine/92699

In reading the article I don't see where it says "many" report sudden hearing loss from Covid vaccine. The article says there have only been 40 people out of all the vaccinations given that had SHL and concludes that the vaccine may not have caused it --it could be a coincidence. On the other hand, I have seen reports that up to 7% of people who have had covid have some hearing loss.

 

[aja8888]

Had tinnitus for 20 years, intrusive type. Nothing has helped. It's okay, it's not the end of the world like it once was.

Same here, had it for 30 years now. It's like part of me that belongs to me. No big deal anymore.

 

[MC Rider]

Never heard of this before. Glad mine was just ear wax build up. Easily fixed.

 

[PatrickA5]

I've had tinnitus for probably 20 years. I sleep with a fan on - otherwise the noise would keep me awake.

I had sudden hearing loss in one ear. It only lasted for maybe 30 minutes, but it caused a really bad vertigo attack that landed me in the hospital emergency room. My ENT said they really have no way of knowing why my right ear just stopped working. It hasn't happened again.

Anytime I get a bad cold I can just plan on the fact that my ears will stop up and I'll be really hard of hearing for a month or so. About 20 years ago, I had my right ear drained and a tube put in. Worked well for about a year. Won't do that again. It was quite painful having a hole poked in my eardrum.