My hearing loss was "Sudden". I went from no problems, never even an ear infection, to 100% loss and tinnitus in a matter of 2 HOURS!!! Although this truely is sudden, any hearing loss that occurs in a matter of days is usually placed in the category of SSHL.

Welcome to HearingExchange. I'm glad you found us. I was sorry to hear that your audiologist was not proactive in helping you locate someone with hearing loss to talk with.

Did your audiologist mention getting a cochlear implant? If you would like to learn more about them, you can visit a local implant center in your state to find out if you are a candidate and what it is all about. There are also several resources in our Resource Directory, including the three manufacturers' website links.

As for learning sign language, you have made a good point. Most classes do seem geared to hearing people! Perhaps there is a local school for the deaf that you can contact to get referrals.

There are also several books in our Bookstore and many more on Amazon and Barnes and Noble about coping with hearing loss. It can be a traumatic experience and adjustment for many. Please know that we are here to listen and assist you in any way we can.

Kindest regards,

I am beginning to wonder about your motives as the moderator of this site. As the person that started this SSHL topic, I find it peculiar and uncomfortable that every chance you get, you mention cochlear implants! Are you a marketing rep.? I have mentioned this before and will continue to as long as I feel it needs to be said...COCHLEAR IMPLANTS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER. In fact, they are a very crude technology that is changing every day. The sound you hear with them is very robot-like and the quality of materials used is moderate at best. Finally, by having a cochlear implant done now, you risk the chance of excluding yourself from future, better, technology and medical advances taking place. 10 years ago it was a fascinating approach, but today it is far from the best case scenario.

Thank you for your comments. I am not a marketing rep for any company. I am the publisher of the HearingExchange site. The reason I mention cochlear implants is because a lot of people don't even know they are available and there is also a lot of misinformation about them. Cochlear implants have come a long way in the last 10 years.

I am a parent who has observed MANY children who are completely deaf and get a cochlear implant and they learn to develop normal speech. Also, many adults have said that they hear people's voices the same way they remember them before their hearing got so bad. It is not a crude technology nor is the sound quality or the materials that make it up. You can visit the manufacturers' sites to learn more about the materials they use and the benefits and studies they have done.

HOWEVER, I do agree that cochlear implants are not for everybody and it must be intensively researched by each individual before they decide to get one. It is not all roses and no doctor should ever say it is a cure all or that it will give you normal hearing.

The point is, people need facts and accurate information to make informed decisions. No one has the right to tell anyone else whether they think a cochlear implant is or isn't right for them or their child. People need to do their homework and learn as much as they can. They also need to know that something like a cochlear implant is available now, especially when it can help their child to hear and learn to talk if these are their goals.

Regards,

Paula

Sounds like you are the kind of guy who likes have things under control, and doesn't spend too much time relaxing.

At first, I was going to recommend what I have found to make my hearing problem and tinnitus worse, and what seems to make it better. Then I read about the hole in the ear, and how the problem may not be fixable, with current technology. I don't think my suggestions would help at this point.

But I will tell you this. It is good to look for solutions. You obviously have done your research on many topics. But there comes a time when a person exhausts all of his options. It kind of sounds like that is how it is concerning you. Maybe it is just time to accept the fact that you are deaf (or close to it). I spent years denying that my hearing problem existed, blamed it on everyone else, and consequently wasted a lot of precious years where I could have been more constructive. Somehow I have come to terms with my hearing problem, and most of the time it is okay when my hearing is far less than perfect.

I've taken up sign language on and off for years now. I've come to the conclusion that I do need it, and that it does saves me from a lot of grief. No, everybody else in your business environment won't know it. That doesn't mean you can't have an interpreter there to keep you up to speed during business transactions. It sounds like money isn't a problem in your line of business. Yes, you'll have to learn American Sign Language, and study, and take time out to make adjustments, but you seem like the type of person who could accomplish it.

I wouldn't suggest cochlear implants, only because I've heard a lot of disagreeable stories, and I don't think I would want to take the risk myself.

Hearing aids are a crap shoot as far as I am concerned. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

I am new to this forum and wanted to submit my $0.02 worth...

By trade, I am an educational audiologist and work with deaf/hard of hearing kiddos in the public school (mainstream) and residential school settings. I make sure their equipment is working and do hearing tests in my office.

About 1 year after starting my job, my co-worker and I discovered that I had a mild-moderate SNHL in both ears. Subsequently, my loss became progressively worse and within 6 months both ears were in the profound loss range. My sister likes to equate me to a "blind opthalmologist" . I was prescribed Prednisone and/or Methotrexate at different dosages but the loss continued. I was eventually diagnosed with Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (my immune system decided to attack my ears) though, of course, this may not definitively be the cause. I tend to categorize myself among the Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss category...

I've had amplification from the beginning and used it quite successfully. One of the most important things that I've learned first-hand (and now preach loudly from my soapbox) is the following: Hearing aids make things LOUDER, not necessarily c-l-e-a-r-e-r. I think people assume that just like glasses, with hearing aids you can have "20/20 hearing" which is NOT TRUE. Especially when you have damage to the hair cells, the sounds that one gets through hearing aids are distorted and for people who are late deafened, very frustrating because they know what it SHOULD sound like. In addition, sounds get louder much faster than for normal hearing people, so the gain from the hearing aids oftentimes adds to the distortion. I think of what the old transister radios sounded like when their battery was about to die and the volume is cranked up all the way...

Anyway, after a hearing test that showed that I had no measurable speech discrimination ability with my hearing aids (i.e., I could not repeat back sentences that were played through the speakers in the soundproof booth), I had to decide whether I wanted/needed a cochlear implant. With the support of my husband, family and friends, I decided to go ahead with it.

I am extremely elated with the results, though I do have bad days also. Just like all of you with hearing aids, noisy situations and group discussions still SUCK! I continue to learn how to effectively use my accessories and advocate for myself. Just like Paula has mentioned, a cochlear implant is NOT for everybody and I think I have become an excellent user because (1) I was hearing first, (2) I lost my hearing quickly and (3) I was quickly implanted [within 1.5 years from my initial diagnosis of hearing loss].

In the beginning, I remember asking, "Why me?" but after all of the wonderful encounters I've had with children and other adults, my answer has come back: "Why not me?"

Good luck to all in your treatments and searches for answers.

Well, I could live with that, but then a year ago I started getting chronic ear infections in my right ear along with a perforation in the ear. They would always come back, but I didn't lose any hearing in that ear. After a recent bout of infection in my right ear about two months ago, I experienced a brief infection, or it seemed so in my left ear. I was taking prednisone and antibiotices for the infection. This "infection" had very little drainage and no pain, but it knocked that ear out completely...I'm deaf in it. After many tests and CAT scans my ENT thinks that the joints of the middle ear bones are loose and that there is no way to restore the hearing. Audiologists told me that my nerve hearing is still good in that ear.

Is there any operation that can repair those bones in my middle ear? My ENT can't tell me why I keep getting infections (I have a slight one now in my right, or good, ear), and he says he can only wait and see if I get hearing back from the left ear.

I'm a musician and I'm really depressed. Everything sounds different and I can't hear people talking. Music was my life and I'm not coping well. No one understands why I'm depressed. I'm also afraid infections going to take out my good ear and I'l be totally deaf.

Any advice???

Steve