SSHL (Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss) or Big Spike?

Woke up with very, very significant increase in tinnitus and MASSIVE ear fullness. Hearing might or might not be different in that ear, no idea - impossible to tell with this ear fullness.

Contemplating going to ER, DIY hearing test showed nothing interesting, will repeat it in the morning.

 

If a hearing test showed no difference, it's not SSHL.

If your ear feels "full", that suggests either fluid or some sort of muscle tension. I hope that your T increase is simply a result of it being perceived as louder because something is blocking your ear. Keep us posted.

 

I woke up at 3am with scary, loud tinnitus in my left, ear fullness and slighltly muffled hearing (maybe ?) so I got concerned it might be sshl. (My left ear felt so bad I was sure there will be). Did some android-app hearing test fearing that there will be a signifficant difference between my ears. It wasn't. But I didn't even use headphones so I need to repeat that.

The question now is whether I should go to ER. Do you think I stil should go if my DIY test will be ok?

 

Are you having significant ear pain? If you think you have an ear infection, a trip to the ER might be warranted. If you're concerned about SSHL, can you see your general doctor on Monday?

Did you do anything different before bed? For some bizzarre reason, I wake up in the middle of the night to even louder tinnitus if I eat anything sweet or salty before bed. I had ice cream tonight, totally anticipate it being bad at 3am.

 

No, not at all. Just Very significant worsening in tinnitus, ear fullness, and (maybe just maybe) slightly muffled hearing.


I went to a park and a (not loud) restaurant with family. <80dB of noise most of the time but it was a day with more noise than usual.

 

It's your health man. If you're certain it's not just anxiety, go to the ER.

 

I had a very nice progress now - I've had many, many spikes before and never lost my cool, this time I panicked because of it's randomness and severity.

 

Yeah, you're right. It's my decision. Anyways, thanks for being with me here.

 

I understand. Is your T still as loud as when you awoke?

 

Oh and to be clear, when I wrote "it's your health man", I meant it as "it's your health, there is nothing more important".

 

Has it remained louder? If so, in your shoes I would probably try to see my general doctor or ENT within a day or two. That's still a very good window for oral steroids if needed, or an intratympanic steroid injection if you have SSHL.

 

How are things now? I would get it checked out ASAP.

 

Oh, I misunderstood. Either way - You're right

 

Tinnitus reduced from REALLY bad to bad. Slightly worse than my worst bad day ever, but not so ultra-scary.

Extreme ear fullness reduced by 50% to concerning, but not terrifying level.

For over 2 hours, it was at unprecedented level, combined with symptoms such as significant changes in pitch and volume with every move of my jaw.

 

Got an ENT appointment in 2h. Wow. I'm lucky.

 

Ask your doc about the possibility of prednisone. I went the other day after an increase in T and ear fullness from a fireworks show. I told my GP that I wanted prednisone - a big dose not a wuss dose. And she gave it to me! One week of 60mg followed by one week taper.

 

Good luck. We all hope for the best for you.

 

Hey guys,

1. I've seen ENT. She refused to give me any medication and demanded I do an audiogram first. When I saw her 24h after the spike started, "muffled hearing" improved a bit.
2. Audiogram was done 48h after this whole super spike started and showed no hearing loss. My muffled-hearing-ear was a tiny bit worse than on previous audiogram but nothing significant.
3. ENT I saw again after 72h since the spike said no medication is needed. At this point muffled hearing was gone.

There is still some fullness and I still have a spike but that's nothing I'm concerned about.

Maybe I overreacted but I was really afraid I'm going to loose more hearing. My hearing muffled + T spiking more than ever... I'm glad I got it checked.

ENT said that ETD could cause something like that. I've never had any problems with my ET but everyone in my family does... so it might be a possibility

 

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT I GOT FROM YOU.


YOU ARE THE BEST

 

Did it turn out to be SSHL?

 

Read the posts above yours.

 

I experienced the same thing, its been almost a week since my right ear hearing dropped and got plugged. But from what I've read 30db low or less is considered SSHL. I don't know if I should wait or not to see someone. I have an ENT appointment in about 2 weeks. You think its better to wait it out?

 

https://www.everydayhearing.com/hearing-loss/articles/when-is-hearing-loss-a-medical-emergency/