Sudden Hearing Loss and Impact on Music Enjoyment

arafiq - While losing any part of our hearing is a shock and a disappointment, it is also something that we adjust to in rather short order.  20+ years ago I was diagnosed with a cholesteatoma (a noncancerous, destructive skin cyst in the middle ear) resulting in 5 corrective surgeries leaving me with a severe hearing loss in one ear. Hearing in the higher frequencies is most difficult.  I do now wear a hearing aid in that ear only.  In selecting speakers, I may have leaned towards speakers that others might describe as bright as they accentuated the sound where I have a deficit.  This in no way hinders my listening enjoyment as this is now how I hear.  I will often seat myself off center when listening to offset my unbalanced hearing. My hearing aid also has a setting for music listening which allows me to experiment for optimal enjoyment.  So, in summation, while your hearing loss may change the way you listen, it should not prevent you from continuing to enjoy listening to music.

@arafiq 

I am really sorry to hear about your situation. I know time has passed since this all started and that is not ideal but there are doctors that deal specifically with this sort of thing. If you have the ability to do so, it would be worth your while to check out  the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles or the Ear Medical Group in San Antonio, Texas where there is a great otolaryngologyst named Dr. Susan King.  I had a similar situation to yours many years ago with something called “Cochlear Hydrops” that caused sudden hearing loss. I did the inner ear injections, steroids etc. I was also given a medication called methotrexate that was at one time a chemotherapy drug. This medication given in small doses performs like a steroid but without the downside of taking steroids.  As a result you can take it longer. Because of the small doses you don’t get typical side effects that one would associate with chemotherapy. Through all of these efforts I was able to get back a lot of hearing in my affected ear. I was fortunate that most of my hearing loss was in lower tones which is helpful since bass is omnidirectional; it is hard to tell where it is coming from or on which side you have a deficiency.

I know your situation is probably different but I still think it would be worth your while to seek out a specialist for advice.  There is a lot of work being done on inner ear issues these days and there are many more advances since I started having issues.

Best of luck to you.

Unfortunately, it seems that hearing aids are off the table given my poor numbers. No too keen on CORS, BAHA, or cochlear implants. Looks like I'll be listening from one ear for now.

I will reach out to a few neurologists at the UT Southwestern by way of reference from another friend who's also a doctor. They might be more knowledgeable than the ENTs around here.

@arafiq

Thank you for asking this question.  The answers have been GOLD.

When I read your post, it sounded just like me, except it's happening to my right ear:  started with sinuses, varying degrees of tinnitus, sometimes sounded like high pitched whine then turned into a muffled rushing water sound.  THEN the whole right side of my face swelled and I got an ear infection!

I took Prednisone for about 2 weeks and 2 different antibiotics:  one a cephalosporin AB, the other was amoxicillin.  Then we added a steroid nasal spray and ear drops.

Between all of this and frequently doing a gentle valsalva technique, the fluid started to equalize.  Music is ALMOST normal again -- tones are about a fifth lower on my right lol.  E.g, you may be a tenor to my normal hearing, but my right side hears a baritone.

Keep after getting yours corrected, even if it means hanging upside down on an inversion table -- it helps!  Saunas, too!

GL

@jasonnewell Thank you for sharing your experience. Although, your underlying causes are a bit different than mine, it is still very relevant, especially for us audiophiles.

Your case is actually what I and my doctor was hoping for initially. Sounds like an outer or middle ear problem due to some kind of blockage such as fluids. These cases have a much better outcome in terms of reversing hearing loss.

In my case, it's an inner ear problem that affected my hair cells and killed them. In mammals, these cells do not regenerate unlike fish or other species. The only option is to get it treated asap, preferably within 72 hours to have any hope of recovery. I lost that window as neither I nor my doctor was informed.

Having said that, both cases are extremely dangerous and can lead to permanent hearing loss if not treated in time. Just that yours has the potential of a much improved prognosis. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope all audiophiles are reading my thread and taking notes :)