[gemNeye]

@Light - Man

Aww man, sorry about this. The psychological effect of dealing with something like this is how I imagine something like losing a limb or an eye. It's easy to take things for granted until it's no longer there. You'll adapt in the meantime, so keep your head up!

It might interest you and others here that there is some promising things happening in stem cell research as it pertains to sensorineural hearing loss. A quick google search of stem cell + sensorineural hearing loss will return numerous results on the subject.

Another potential option for those who might suffer from moderate-to-severe hearing loss is a fully implantable hearing device. Unlike hearing aids and cochlear implants, these fully implantable middle-ear devices are completely hidden and require no external components hanging around your head. I recently created a thread here about it if you're interested at the following link:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/suffering-from-hearing-loss.921151/

Best wishes to you, @Light - Man!

 

[Light - Man]

@gemNeye Thanks Man!

Yes it takes a bit of time to adjust with a pinch of a mourning process thrown in.

I notice that you started your thread on Friday the 13th of December last, the same day that my ear packed it in.

The audiologist considers my hearing loss to be moderate/ severe and the my hearing can sound a little distorted with varying levels of tinnitus/noise which I never had before. In my right good ear my hearing is considered to be quite good with some HF roll off starting at 8 kHz

I went to see an ENT consultant during the week to discuss options and he said that he would not recommend any form of cochlea implant because I already have one good ear. He said that it could sound robotic and therefore irritating. He said that tinnitus is thought to be nerve damage. He also though that the steroid I took was taken early enough for it to be effective - if it was ever going to work in my case. He said that they don't really know how it occurs but it is considered to be nerve damage.

I asked him if he could try to repair the nerve surgically and he said no, it would just kill the nerve, which is part of the brain. I reckon that they would be very reluctant to do any surgical procedure when I have a little hearing left in my bad ear, which hopefully will improve a bit with time but I might just be optimistic, but where does pessimism get us.

I had an Intratympanic (through the eardrum) steroid injection yesterday (Friday) which soaks the cochlea in a steroid fluid. There are 2 little windows in the cochlea which the fluid can penetrate and also hopefully soak a bit of the nerve. After which they rest you with the bad ear up for 1 hour in the recovery area. It was done under deep sedation as it could be disastrous if the patient moved during the procedure. Any excess fluid escapes down the Eustachian tube and into the mouth.

I hope to have another injection next Friday and have an MRI booked also that day. I was told that the consultant radiologist would only inject a contrast fluid if they wanted to investigate something sinister that they saw during the first MRI. It seems to be relatively common for there to be a benign lump somewhere on the nerve.

The steroid tablets that I mention in my first post shot my blood pressure up to about 170/120. The consultant said that I should not been given them because I had a previous duodenal ulcer, even though I had it over 20 years ago and is now fully healed. He said that it could have opened up the old ulcer area and the stomach acid burn through a blood vessel and kill me.

I was given a 14 day course of Esomeprazole 40 mg per day taken during the steroid tablets which I took first thing in the morning and then took the steroid with some food in the stomach and wash it down with a glass of water.

I am now taking blood pressure tablets, Valsartan 40mg once a day and I check my pressure a few times a day. It is an Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonists and I don't seem to be having any side affects, which is a relief. I have in recent years had borderline hypertension and I was taking and continue to take a North Atlantic kelp tablet which acts like a natural diuretic and is also good for the thyroid gland.

I don't plan to get a hearing aid and have just adapted to relying on one good ear. I don't enjoy really listening to any head gear at present and mainly listen to speakers. I am also trying to rest my ear as much as possible. My GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) seems to be truly over now!

I hope that the information that I have provided will help some other unfortunate victims!

I will report back next weekend with an update.

 

[gemNeye]

@Light - Man

Good to know that you're doing everything you can to try and regain your hearing in that injured ear. I mean you could get lucky with the current therapy and it'll heal properly and you'll recuperate fully? But you also appear to be accepting of the possibility that it won't fully heal when it's all said and done. And for that I commend you. I mean it's gotta be a psychological toll on you nonetheless. That's the first hurdle one has to conquer whenever something like this happens. As I said before, keep your head up. You'll adapt and continue to lead a productive life. Like the old cliche saying, 'it could be worse'?

As for the possible Carina middle-ear implantation, it makes sense what your doctor told you and I agree with him/her. If I were in that situation, I'd likely opt for that procedure in binaural mode. That way both ears are treated with the same technology instead of having one biological ear and one bionic ear for lack of a better term. I'm sure it'd still work in that scenario too. Again, it's a matter of adapting to it. That's what's great about us mammals. We're adaptable when it matters.

Another thing too for whatever it's worth, the great Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is deaf in one ear, and yet he put out some of the most brilliant music of all time. He wasn't born that way either. If you're not already familiar with his story, when he was a teenager his father hit him on the right side of his head in a fit of rage for whatever reason and it basically blew his right ear out from the impact and he went deaf in that ear. But he adapted and he's still regarded highly by his peers as a musical genius.

Just wanted to share that tidbit to give you some inkling of hope that you'll be fine during this trying time, @Light - Man.

So keep us posted on your therapeutic journey in the meantime. I'd be curious to see if you make any progress towards healing, both physically and mentally.

 

[rays12]

I’m very sorry that I’ve not seen your post before now.

I genuinely really hope you’ve seen (or heard really) improvement since you posted this. I know how difficult this experience is and how alone you may have felt when you posted here. Personally, I ended up with open fit hearing aids tinnitus and quality of my life improved significantly

 

[Light - Man]

Thanks Rays for your kind words!

It seems that few people on HF have had similar issues or were unaware of this thread or maybe were unwilling to post here about it.

We have had about 900 views on this thread so far, so hopefully a few more people have become more aware of the issue.

I suppose that I am lucky to only have lost hearing in one ear and the other is pretty good.

I tried a few hearing aids and they just amplified distortion and were more of an irritation than a benefit.

What hearing aids have you tried so far and why not tell us more about your situation?

I will give more details about my journey over the weekend. I have been meaning to post here but the rampant virus has demanded our attention!

 

[Light - Man]

Over 2000 views of this Thread, but no one has had a similar issue within the last three years?

Lucky You!

 

[Trihexagonal]

I hope to have another injection next Friday and have an MRI booked also that day. I was told that the consultant radiologist would only inject a contrast fluid if they wanted to investigate something sinister that they saw during the first MRI. It seems to be relatively common for there to be a benign lump somewhere on the nerve.

You never said how the MRI of your brain turned out. I opt out of them, and never go to the doctor.

I had one in 2019 and my brain was so full of toxins they could be seen on the MRI. I had one after that where she either missed the vein with the contrast or it infiltrated (so she said) and thought I was going to die on the table before I got her to stop injecting me. It felt like my arm was going to explode and really thought I was going to die.

I've had tinnitus since October 1987 but decided early on I wasn't going to let it get thew best of me and it hasn't. I'm lucky that mine is the same in both ears and while it's s loud as everything else doesn't effect my hearing.

Except for that part where it sounds like cicada have been making that noise 24/7 the last 37 years. Silly me... I keep that part to myself, mostly.

I am a proponent of massive doses of vitiman C and can eat a couple bottles of the sugary gummies a month. I don't know if it had anything to do with my body overcoming the toxins or not, but am sticking with it. I've got a way to go yet.

Chin up, you can handle it.

 

[Light - Man]

You never said how the MRI of your brain turned out. I opt out of them, and never go to the doctor.
I am a proponent of massive doses of vitiman C.
Chin up, you can handle it.

Thanks Man!

I did have an MRI but without contrast, even though my ENT surgeon had requested one. I had it at the Beacon Hospital, Dublin, which at the time in Jan 2022 was the best available. They said that they only do the contrast if they found something that they wanted to investigate further. The logic seems to be that the contrast has it own risks and they do not do it unless necessary. The MRI turned out to be completely normal, much to my wife's surprise! I got a copy of it on disc and was able to view it myself at home.

I am not fond of high doses of Vit C as it gives me headaches. Vit D seems to be the golden boy of the moment for the immune system, along with helping calcium absorption to prevent osteoporosis.

 

[LanceSaintPaul]

Thank you so much for this essential PSA. Had no idea of this phenomenon.
I hesitate to say we are all pulling for you (don't want to assume I speak for others), but I think we are.
Medical limbo is a terrible place to be.
Wishing you the expertise you need as well as a generous portion of luck.
Ultimately you'll have no choice but to make the best of whatever the outcome. Keep us posted.

 

[benhatchins]

This is what I'm going through right now. It scared me. Thankfully, I have a doctor's appointment next Monday..even though that is not why I'm going. My ear canal is slightly swollen and painful. I didn't even know this could happen

 

[Light - Man]

This is what I'm going through right now. It scared me. Thankfully, I have a doctor's appointment next Monday..even though that is not why I'm going. My ear canal is slightly swollen and painful. I didn't even know this could happen

A week is a long time to wait. Could you not get them to have a look at you, at one of those hearing test/aid places or a chemist/pharmacy. It could be a simple ear ache on the outer ear canal or a mild middle ear infection, etc.

It seems that what I had was winning the Lotto of bad luck, and not that common.

 

[benhatchins]

All good now, thanks a lot