Hello,
I have a genetic SNHL and recently was exposed to firearm noise. My hearing in my right ear sounds tinny and muffled. Does anyone have any experience with this?
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Call your audiologist stat. Otherwise, what’s the emergency route where you are to get in to see an ENT?
Otherwise, if by “recently” you actually mean over a month ago, disregard my above suggestion.
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Yes, if it was not earlier than a month ago, it is possible to treat with steroids. Time counts from injury to treatment.
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I was able to see an ENT and they did prescribe steroids. Unfortunately, it did not help and at this point it looks like my sensory neural hearing loss is worse than it was before. My audiologist suggests that this is permanent and I am struggling a bit to just accept it. Thanks so much for responding.
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Which steroid and which dose? There is also hyperbaric oxygen therapy option in at least 2.5ATA. Quite expensive, but possible.
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Hi,
Thanks so much for your response. I was originally on a very high dose of prednisone 60 mg a day for 10 days. Unfortunately, it made me sick so I ended up taking 20 mg for five days only. I am three weeks past the original acoustic trauma, I did find a place where they provide HBOT for a reasonable amount per session. Everything coming into my right ear is distorted and muffled that is, despite the fact that I had an audiogram that shows the SNHL is the same as it was prior to the trauma. The audiologist explained that the disruption that I’m experiencing is beyond simple frequency detection. I am scheduled to begin HBOT next week. I will keep you posted.
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I have distorted hearing in my left ear.
I’ve had it for a long time. Not exactly sure when it started are how.
I’ve been told I have nerve damage.
No one has ever said let’s try to figure out why.
Tell audiologist about it they just look at me with a blank stare.
My ENT just kind of smiles. Figure he doesn’t know what to say.
I have it without my hearing aids.
With my hearing aids I hear it even better.
As I’ve said before, it is what it is.
Yeah, the prednisone is to reduce swelling and try to control damage that may be caused by that. With an acoustic trauma there can be swelling, but if the gunshot was loud enough there can also be physical damage that the prednisone can’t touch.
You’re in a bit of a waiting period. If there’s been no change in threshold and you’re just getting a lot of distortion, that may still improve over the next few months.
Just in case someone needs to tell you this, it’s totally reasonable to be upset. This sucks. Just because it’s “hidden” doesn’t make it less significant than any other permanent injury to your body. Often because it is invisible other people will not understand the consequences for you very well and will fail to give the level of sympathy they would for a different type of injury. If you don’t really have anyone good to talk to about it, it would not be unreasonable to reach out for professional counselling support.
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I was just about to write this, but Neville was the first one:) I agree, @SLP5366, you have a high chance of improvement with time, especially if you still have the same tonal audiogram thresholds and regarding ongoing HBOT.
The dose of prednisone (60mg) was maximum dose (IIRC) and 20 mg is better than nothing, however consider taking 40 mg. You may talk with your ENT about taking steroid during HBOT period for boosting its efficiency, although it’s no guarantee.
Maybe you are lightweight person and amount (mg per kg of body weight) was simply too high. I wonder what means you were sick - infection?
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I went through a similar firearm event 3 years ago. There was a clear difference between right (damaged) and left ear. Did the prednisone drill without any obvious improvement. I had Philips 9030 HA’s fitted which worked pretty well. My Costco audiogram as well as some online tests showed the clear difference in ears. Last fall when the 9050’s came out I had another audiogram that showed a reduction in the differences between ears. The 9050’s worked very well for me.
Bottom line - you may see some improvement over time from having a quick prednisone treatment. I am not a doc. but I have no other explanation for my situation. As they say, YMMV.
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Neville,
Thank you so much for your encouraging thoughts and your empathy. It means so much to me right now.
In fact, thank you to everybody that has responded. I really appreciate hearing that there is still the possibility that my hearing will improve. I am a speech, language pathologist, and work with children. Preserving my hearing so that I can continue working is so important to me. Thank you everybody again.
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@SLP5366, what are the outcomes after HBOT?
Hi,
I ended up having an MRI and a CT scan in order to rule out any structural abnormality before the HBOT. As it turns out, in my left ear, the one least affected by the acoustic trauma, I have something known as dehiscence of the superior auditory canal. I am going to be meeting with an otologist before I pursue any other therapy.
Thanks for asking. I will keep everyone posted.
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