Tinnitus

[Earear0071]

Lost my hearing in my left ear all of a sudden and now have a constant hissing ringing noise which from time to time gets louder as the day goes. Any suggestions hints tips I’m a HGV driver 😪

[doglover1973]

Hi Earear (Name made me smile) Welcome to the forum 🙂

Speak to your GP - if you haven't already. They'll refer you onto ENT probably quite quickly as it's sudden hearing loss.

I imagine your job is fairly noisy so you might want to consider hearing protection. Alpine have a good selection of plugs and muffs.

Other than that it's a question of getting used to it. I'm the same as you. Deaf in one ear with a high pitched hiss. It takes time but it's possible to learn to live with it.

[Happyrosie]

just to reinforce what doglover says. Also, if you are not familiar with it already, the website Tinnitis UK is very helpful in explaining hissing and ringing noises.

[Darren6]

Hi EarEar,

Like your story i took had sudden loss in one ear after a suspected ear infection but was never truly diagnosed. It regained some hearing in that ear but sounds were distorted and accompanied by a low hissing in the morning that would transform to a loud tone by midday. In my case I had hyperacusis, sound sensitivity where many sounds were super loud and would make my tinnitus climb through the day and would mostly reset to a low hiss by the next morning.

I am no medical expert and long with almost all of the people on this forum we can only speak about our own experiences and what worked for us. In my case I used CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy and meditation) to lower and remove negative thoughts causing stress. This then helped with being able to cope with the noise. I also had sound therapy via a hearing aid which would play a constant low level sound that also didnt aggravate the tinnitus, and over time, the tinnitus would start to lower its reaction to every day sounds to now where I am rarely affected by even the loudest of noise.

Low stress and give it time, protect your ears in loud situation where possible but dont overprotect as your audio system needs sound to help desensitise.

One last note, if you had sudden hearing loss in 1 year, have your doctor check it out and will most likely send you for an MRI just to rule out anything sinister.

[Beesmac]

Hello - I too lost my hearing in my right ear overnight but I had dizziness and sickness so was told I had Labyrinthitis - within a week I began hearing music - thought I was going round the bend however an audiologist explained to me that with sudden hearing loss the brain realises that there is no noise being picked up in that ear so puts some noise in for you - you are probably thinking I am a nut case but do look up musical ear syndrome. - the noises you hear and those I have are all tinnitus I’m afraid. The NHS does advise that if you have sudden hearing loss you should seek help straight away - if it happened less than a month ago they can give you a steroid injection directly into your ear. You should really speak to someone quite quickly. In any case it does need looking into. We don’t realise what complicated instruments our ears are until something goes wrong! Good luck x

[doglover1973 in reply to Beesmac]

So true Beesmac .. I always thought an ear was an ear but it's so much more.

[Earear0071]

Would being deaf in 1 ear be classed as a disability and who else would you need to notify for example car insurance dvla ect

[Hamsterfun]

Like you I woke up with sudden hearing loss in my right ear. Saw doctor 4 days-later & put on steroid tablets for last 10 days. Over that time I have regained some hearing but sounds from tv, music, loud voices have been distorted.

I have been on Atorvastatin (Lipitor 20mg) for 4 months which lowered my chloresterol to normal 4. Just read medical paper that Sudden Hearing Loss may be connected to Atorvastatin so have decided to stop taking it. 2 days on and my ears are feeling ok with no muffling or distortion. Hoping this is permanent.

Not sure if it’s been the steroid treatment or stopping Atorvastatin & will see my doctor to discuss. Anyone else experienced this ?