I'm scared-Please help me :(

[dogone988]

Hi, I'm new here. I believe that someone will provide me with an advice about the issue that I have. I truly don't understand what has happened to my ear and how it can be cured. My hearing ability has been superbly fine until I had met an accident. Recently I met an accident and hit my ear really hard. After this, my left ear is always ringing and I can hear voices distorted, particularly in loud gatherings/situations and it has been truly getting me down. My audiologist in Nu-life hearing centre (Bowmanville) told me that it might be SSHL and recommended me to do steroid therapy. Does anyone experience the same? It would be great if you share it. What treatment did you have to gain back their your hearing? I'm really scared. I don't want to lose my hearing ability permanently.

[Tabby-Cat]

I suffered SSHL in my left ear four years ago, but in my case it was a total loss. In the space of a few seconds I went from perfect hearing (had never even had an ear infection) to totally deaf in that ear. I was admitted to hospital immediately and had four days of intensive oxygen therapy along with six weeks of steroids. Unfortunately it did nothing, and I've been completely deaf in that ear ever since.

Sorry to be the voice of doom, but the specialists who treated me told me that you have to start steroids within 48 hours of the hearing loss to have any chance of it working, and that even then the chance of the steroids improving your hearing is pretty low. On the other hand, some patients find that their hearing improves again on its own. The medics don't fully understand what causes SSHL, so reversing it seems to be down to whether you're lucky and it comes back on its own. I'm afraid all the single-sided deaf folk I've spoken to have had to learn to live with it. There's nothing to be scared about, though, we all manage fine. There are a lot of worse things that can happen - I'd rather lose an ear than an eye or a leg for example.

[Lenocker68]

A couple weeks ago I was assaulted, slapped very hard on my left ear and face, I couldn't hear a thing afterwards. I had my gp check my ear out, she said it looked fine. But diagnosed me with a concussion due to the pain. And swelling she found. The ringing seems to be muffled low roar now. Can't understand it.