Cheers. 🍺
Do you wear earplugs when riding your motorcycle? I have heard that not doing so can result in the loss of hearing.
Hello, world. Maybe this'll be useful to someone who might experience this someday and is anxious or simply curious.
On Tuesday I lost all hearing in my left ear over the course of three hours. I had that otherwise common, ephemeral tinnitus that one sometimes experiences for 3-4 seconds. I had an unusual number of bouts, and they started lasting progressively longer. Then hearing just never returned.
I'm somewhat acquainted with this phenomenon known as idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, so I went to a GP for oral prednisone, which is the first line intervention. On Wednesday, I went to an ENT for a full work-up and intratympanic dexamethasone, or a shot in the ear. This sounds worse than it is. A cotton swap of phenol anaesthetic is dabbed on the eardrum, which is just a slight burn for about 1 second. The only feeling after that is a cool sensation when the dex is administered into the inner ear. It's an odd but entirely tolerable sensation. Then it's just a matter of sitting there for 15 minutes while is "marinates." Anyway, nbd; I did another injection today, and it was even easier.
Now, it's Friday. I've gone out with friends, rode my motorcycle, visited restaurants. Things sound weird, and I certainly have to concentrate more to hear, but it's fine. Maybe I'll recover enough to be able to use a hearing aid. Based on the available literature, it appears that the 3-week mark is the most important. If anything significant will happen, it'll be more the 90% likely to happen within those 3 weeks.
If nothing improves: oh well. I've got another ear. For me, a good outcome will be simply preserving that one, which I've been assured is extremely likely. So, in that regard, it's kinda like the backup plan is working out. Not ideal, but this is a mitigated situation.
Also, the ear has no bearing on my ability to converse in this pub.
Cheers, all.
Cheers. 🍺
Do you wear earplugs when riding your motorcycle? I have heard that not doing so can result in the loss of hearing.
It is unlawful, where I am, to operate a motor vehicle while wearing hearing protection.
That said, this is sudden hearing loss, which is a different condition than progressive hearing loss.
Regardless: I hope you will be able to live large despite your loss of hearing. Why would your lawmakers ban protection?
Thanks! Yeah it's really not debilitating. Things sound weird, but otherwise I'm entirely functional. I'd prefer to hear, but this really isn't life-altering.
re: earplugs, it makes sense for the general population. One really should be able to hear the surroundings for things like horns, sirens, etc. It doesn't jibe well with "what if you go deaf" because we can still drive, but it's kinda a fringe population.
Hey at least it's not an eye, and sometimes hearing less in this modern ever-more-verbose world of ours can be a blessing.
I have tinnitus too. For my own health, may I ask what degree you were experiencing it before it switched off?
Exactly. I'd be upset if it were my eye, surely.
I don't have noticeable tinnitus. At least not in a way that I've heard other describe it. Nothing too distracting. The inability to localize via sound is the biggest difference.
I had all but perfect hearing in the morning. A few hours later, I was unable to even hear the physical manipulation of my ear. It went from 100% to 10% in an hour, then that 10% faded over the next 2 or 3 hours.
The first indicator was what, upon any other occurrence, I would deem an insignificant event. I heard a slight high-pitched whine, and the hearing faded, which lasted for about 3 seconds before returning to normal. It happened maybe two or three more times before I started noticing it not returning to 100%. That was it.