Hyperacusis and Dysacusis After Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

I've been aware of my tinnitus since around 2018. It sounded like cicadas, and never particularly bothered me; I constantly listened to audiobooks or podcasts so I would be hearing a spoken voice rather than my cicadas.

On April 1st of this year, something happened in my right ear. I call it "the event" and it was like a door or window slamming shut. It grabbed my attention, then I went about my business. The next day, while I was cooking and listening to my audiobook, I became aware of a lot of noise in my right ear. I moved my Bluetooth speaker from one ear to the other and found significant hearing loss in my right ear. It was SSHL (Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss), which is considered a medical emergency, and thus began my medical journey. Now, after a Medrol pack, then 60 mg of Prednisone for 2 weeks, then 3 cortisone injections a week apart in my ear drum (this is interspersed with many visits to an ENT doctor and an audiologist), the conclusion that my doctor has come to is that I have hyperacusis and dysacusis. Noises are amplified in my head, so a noisy room is torture.

I am getting a brain MRI next week and am scheduled to see a tinnitus specialist who does Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (which is not covered by insurance), but I am afraid that because my problem is not tinnitus, but rather hyperacusis and dysacusis, that it won't work for me.

I have been doing a lot of crying...

 

Hi Justine, I'm really sorry to hear you're struggling with this right now. I have dysacusis as well which started last year and it's been a difficult journey trying to get used to it and try to live normally again.

Did the Prednisone and cortisone change anything in your distortions? I'm pretty curious about this, considering my doctor never bothered to prescribe anything (they're not very quick to do that in this country) and I just had to deal with it without any medication.

 

MRI is very loud and can make you much worse.

TRT is pseudo-science. There are studies that show it is no better than placebo. It can also make you worse.

Tread carefully.