Confused and Concerned — Are My Symptoms Common with SSHL (Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss)?

Hello to all!

I have been lurking on Tinnitus Talk for a while to find some answers and finally made the push to tell my story to hopefully get some advice or assurance from the community.

Three months ago I had a normal day and a normal night, in fact a normal week. When I woke up on a Friday morning I noticed that my ear felt off. Felt like a slight pressure or irritation. As I progressed through my morning routine I discovered that certain higher pitched voices sounded robotic and slightly distorted. I left for work and as I had some social interaction I noticed it was still there some hours later. It was most noticeable from the radio or telephone. Being generally concerned I went into my local clinic to be seen. They took a look in my ears and noticed some impacted earwax and cleaned them out with some warm water and ear drops. This didn’t solve the problem.

I spent the next three days with this issue and upon waking up on the fourth day, like magic the robotic sounds were gone! Woo victory! But yet the ear sensation remained and now I have tinnitus in that ear.

it’s been three months with no change to the ear sensation that I can best describe as dull pressure or irritation. I see the term fullness but it feels different than when you fly in an airplane or drive up a mountain. I don’t have muffled hearing either. It just feels like there is something there just kinda softly poking the deep insides of my ear. The amount of pressure changes from time to time but for the most part is constant.

luckily for me the tinnitus is not intense but does fluctuate. Some days I don’t notice it at all and others it’s annoying when going to sleep. I rarely notice it during the day.

An ENT visit concluded that I may have had sensoneural hearing loss. A hearing test showed that My good ear has one 20db drop in mid tone and my bad ear shows two mid tone frequencies of 20db drop. The doctor said that even with these drops the hearing is still considered within the normal range.

I went in for a second visit after two months had gone by concerned that the annoying ear sensation had not gone away and that tinnitus was still present but the conclusion didn’t change much and the doctor had said that I could get an MRI if I wanted to to put my mind at rest. I’m typically an anxious person and so when something doesn’t go away after a week or two I tend to think the worst.

The source of this issue is relatively unknown. I wasn’t sick, but I do listen to headphones and play games on a nightly basis. And I can admit that a week or two before this I had been turning up the volume. Dumb I know.

Waking up every morning with my ear feeling goofy/full/pressure etc is starting to break me down especially after three months. Is this common with SSHL? Does this eventually subside? Should I be concerned?

Thank you for taking the time!

 

I'm guessing it was the loud earphones.

 

Sorry for the delayed response. I’m betting that the loud earphones had something to do with it as well. I’m 8 months into this and nothing has changed sadly. I wake up everyone morning with this dull ache or sensation. I also tend to get days and days of dull pain at my temple and back of my neck on the same side. It’s frustrating.

 

It sounds like it is noise induced. This is why we have to be constantly mindful of noise exposure. Problems like what you have been experiencing happen so suddenly that you aren’t mentally prepared for the impact.

 

I can 100% say that I was unprepared.

I’m working on gaining the strength to do some more testing (MRI) to rule out anything sinister. As chronic dull pain and dull headaches are concerning. But alas my anxiety really doesn’t want to see me in a tube.

still yet I appreciate knowing that this type of sensation I’m dealing with is not surprising to the community. Puts me at ease and that means a lot at this particular moment.

 

Update:

I’m on my ninth month with these issues. They haven’t become worse or better. Stayed pretty much the same.

had another visit to the ENT who is now treating me for possible TMJ issues. I don’t have any pain or issues in my jaw that I’m aware of but maybe the Dr. is just ruling things out?

I’ve been taking meloxicam (nsaid) and a muscle relaxer Flexeril at night. However after three days of taking the medication my tinnitus which was normally around a 1 or 2 has now gone to a 6 or 7! I assume it’s due to the NSAID. I’ve been on the meds for about 5 days and haven’t noticed any improvement to my ear.

personally I’m leaning toward it being ETD. But what I don’t get is how chronic it is. Most of the things I read about ETD is that it comes and goes, but this has been 24/7 for nine months.

The doctor said that if I wanted a MRI it would be up to me. He said it would mainly be to calm my nerves to rule out anything bad. But he’s not concerned about it being anything life threatening.

 

Update: I’ve completed my course of medications. Sadly it didn’t change anything for the better and in fact it got worse.

my tinnitus is much louder now and today I had a strange and sudden attack of ear fullness followed by increased volume of tinnitus. This lasted about fifteen minutes and slowly faded back to “normal” or at least what’s been the normal feeling for my ear the last nine months.

maybe one day this gets resolved.

 

Update:

things are still...well the same. I’ve never had anything chronic like this that doesn’t have anything that makes it better or worse. The doctors always ask me this question and I have no answer for it. Sometimes it’s just worse and other times it’s just not as bad but I can’t for the life of me determine any logical link.

however, I had an epiphany that I hope to explore with the doctor and that’s the possibility that this may have all started from LPR or silent reflux. I’ve had issues in the past with a sore throat that lasted months (about six years ago) I get really bad post nasal drip and runny nose when I eat a big meal and I struggle with some meals making me nauseous.

the final piece of the puzzle is that the four days before I woke up with this annoying ear issue, I was suffering from odd left sided chest pain that would either be at my heart or shoulder blade and radiate down my arm. I clearly didn’t have a heart attack but didn’t really know what to think about it... but now I realize duhhh it was really bad heart burn that went on for days and then BAM! I wake up with a funky ear.

I learned that LPR can cause acid to reach all the way to your Eustachian tubes and cause inflammation. This blew my mind. So I’m hoping that this may offer some kind of explanation. But we shall see.

 

@Rackit

Sorry to hear you’re going through this. I’m going through the same thing. I was diagnosed with mild hearing loss at one tone only in April in my left ear that they think was the result of a virus in my ear. I’ve had no loud noise exposure and I don’t use earphones. I developed tinnitus at a lower tone in that ear that was easily masked but a month later I developed bilateral high-pitched tinnitus that fluctuates constantly and drives me crazy. Hearing in my other ear is still perfect.

My left ear always feels very full and hurts all the time. Lots of pressure but mine feels more like I am on a plane that dropped too quickly and the pressure hadn’t adjusted in my ear. It’s not getting any better. I’ve been back-and-forth to the ENT and they both ENTs said that the minimal amount of hearing loss I have should in no way cause this pain and the ears rarely are a source of pain unless you have an ear infection or fluid in your ears. I have neither. It is very frustrating and at times I want to cry it hurts so bad. I think it is worse than the tinnitus. Sometimes I get it on the other side too but not nearly as bad or as frequently.

My ENT is convinced it’s TMJ and recommended I get a bite guard. There is a nerve that runs right up your jaw and right by the front of your ear and when irritated, the pain is often felt and experienced as if it’s in your ear. I’m hoping things will change with the bite guard. I’m not sure how bad my TMJ is but my jaws are definitely really tight and it hurts to open them sometimes. I think I have some eustachian tube issues to as my right ear is always popping for no reason and my left ear feels like it never pops when I open my mouth and yawn. And the last time I had feelings like this in my ears I had fluid in both ears so I am wondering if my eustatian tubes are part of the problem. The doctors can’t see them on exam so they really have no way of knowing if they are blocked or not functioning.

Did you try a bite guard? I hope you find the cause and you get some relief soon.

Danielle

 

Hi! I've got that robotic hearing every once in a while. It started in my right ear, and I've got a slight low frequency hearing loss and a slight low tone tinnitus in that ear. But it became bilateral, although I take a course of prednisone every time it comes back and my hearing has returned to normal so far.

I wonder why my right ear got stucked with the slight hearing loss and tinnitus and it actually clicks or "blups" sometimes. It can be heard from outside. In my last pressure hearing test right ear showed something abnormal. My otoneurologist told me it looks like it has to do with the inner ear muscles.

Please let me know if your finding about reflux has something to do with your hearing.

 

That's not SSHL. There's a clinical definition for that: the sudden loss of 30 dB or more on 3 consecutive frequencies.

 

No, but the doctor had me on some muscle relaxers for about two weeks in the hopes that it would ease the possibility of TMJ. Sadly it didn’t help much and made my tinnitus worse for that two week period.

I don’t seem to have any issues with my jaw that I can pin point, no tightness no noticeable clicking but then again it could all be manifesting in the headaches and “ear discomfort” I feel.

I’m almost to the point where I’m going to just have a MRI done just for peace of mind.

 

from my own research over these past months, I’ve discovered the same. The ENT Dr. has even moved passed this diagnosis as well.

 

Ive been laying low due to Covid and taking it day by day so I have yet to go back to the Dr. if it turns out to be something the Dr. is willing to explore, ill update.