Actually, it's been a month tomorrow. (April 3rd). It's a long, sordid story, but here it is:
Was on prednisone for 10 days (six days full treatment, 4 days to "taper off". You can't just "quit" prednisone)
Very little improvement. Follow up visit to ENT doc yielded very little encouragement...I was urged to get fitted for a hearing aid and given multiple sad looks and several "I'm sorry's" by the doc, his PA, and the hearing test lady who confirmed that
Yes, Virginia, I still can't hear jack-shitI won't go into a detailed description of the overwhelming wave of feelings that washed over me as I left the office. The doc did offer to see me again for free if I needed...sort of a "consolation prize", I'm guessing. The only good news was that there was no acoustic neuroma (tumor on the auditory nerve) showing up on either CT scan or MRI. That's something, anyway...
Not being satisfied with that diagnosis and having more unanswered questions than answers, I decided to seek a second opinion. I called another nearby ENT medical group and asked for "the best damn ENT doc you have". Surprisingly enough, after a quick exam, he pulled a pea-sized ball of wax out of my left (bad) ear...why 3 previous doctors completely overlooked that before both surprised me and really kind of pissed me off. This doctor was both frank and encouraging and left me with some hope. His auditory tech did another hearing test and found my hearing was up 20 dB on some levels over my last hearing test results from Doc No. 1. I had been noticing I could hear some low-pitched sounds (like water splashing in the shower, metallic clicking noises, deep male voices, motorcycle engines) although they were quite muffled. Reading various hearing loss forums only served to depress me more as most of the posters had nothing positive to report. My Second Op ENT doc did offer me another option...inter-tympanic injections (in which steroids are injected directly through the eardrum into the cochlea in a multiple series (some people got as many as 3 a week for several weeks....EEEEEEE! The good news was that many talked of improved hearing after the injections. But some talked of disastrous side effects such as horrible tinnitus and worse; dizziness, vertigo, nausea, inability to drive and/or work. Since this portion of my ear (balance) was unaffected, after careful consideration I decided I'd rather be half-deaf than unable to work on disability. Plus, one of the "possible" side effects was that that steroids might interfere with healing of the puncture site(s) on the eardrum....and follow-up tympanic surgery was necessary for some. Nuh uh...not this kitten.
It was then while net-surfing I found THIS website:
http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140129/srep03927/full/srep03927.htmlA long read, but the jist of it is this: a damaged ear will "re-wire" itself...which is EXACTLY what you DON'T want. As in with a lazy eye or crippled limb, you want to restrain the good working body part and FORCE the bad part to pick up it's share of the load...hampered or not. I called Doc #2 and inquired. They had never heard of it but indicated it couldn't hurt...what the heck, right?
So I bought a set of earphones and started listening to classical music (as was suggested for the pure tones involved rather than say, rock or country) though my left (bad) ear only, with the other ear plugged while doing my nightly forum surfing. At first it was brutal....it sounded like hearing underwater, or like there was a kazoo stuck in my ear. But after Day One I noticed a distinct improvement. At this time I also started taking multivitamins with zinc, B-12 and also Ginkgo Biloba tabs as some on the forums had recommended. But most importantly, I told my sad story to the guys in my men's group/Bible study. These guys have like a 90% "prayers answered" rating. Seriously. Plus, I've got prayers out there from many of you and others I know. Now, if you're not big on the whole prayer thing, you might not understand where I'm coming from. But lemme tell ya, in the last week, my hearing has improved a bunch. Nowhere close to what it was, but it's
there now. I can now listen to a whole hour of Tchaikovski with my left ear only and hear the entire symphony (albeit much quieter than with the other ear)...and it seems to be improving every day, if just a little. It's worse in the mornings, when driving, and the tinnitus is still there and pretty noticeable. But the change from 4 weeks ago is profound. I was...no kidding...
completely deaf for all intent and purpose in that ear. I fully intend to keep on with the vits, GB tabs, constraint-induced therapy and keeping the Prayer Machine amped up to Eleven in high hopes of even more hearing returning before my next follow-up visit and hearing test (third week of May).
A couple notes here: the second ENT doc told me a very disturbing "factoid"...he said his office normally treats 10 cases a year of SSHL for like the past 20+ years....but in the last two years, they are seeing OVER 100 CASES A YEAR!!!! If you take the number of cases reported yearly (estimated at 30,000-50,000 in past years) and multiply that ten-fold, this means there are really over 300,000-500,000 cases each year. Why? Nobody knows, but I'm thinking there is a new virus on the loose that is being swept under the rug because ENT docs don't know what the hell to do about it or with it, and many cases go unreported as people without insurance don't seek treatment....they just get "deaf in one ear" and leave it at that....
Here's the important part; if you or someone you know suffers SSHL...IT'S A MEDICAL EMERGENCY! Don't go to the ER...they will send you home with Claritin or Sudafed. It's CRITICAL to get steroids started within the first 12 hours...most treated this way have COMPLETE RECOVERY. Or certainly within the first day or so. In my case I didn't start taking steroids for a full week after the SSHL....who knew? Not me. Well, you know now 'cuz I'm telling you. Call an ENT specialist and most will get you in on an emergency basis same or next day.
Next, don't write off some of these "quack treatments"...or the power of prayer. I'm not "healed", but I am most definitely "better" than even a week ago, and certainly much better than when it occurred.
Oh yeah...one treatment suggested red wine helps ease inflammation. I tell ya what...it sure makes you feel better, if nothing else. I really hope this helps one of you or a friend or loved one because this is some scary shit and it appears to be on the rise. I'm here if anyone needs to talk about it.
