Suggest Treatment For Tinnitus And Hearing Loss In The Left Ear
I am a 30yr old female. I currently have high frequency tinnitus and high frequency hearing loss in my left ear which is driving me mad. About a week ago I got a really painful ear infection. 2 days later I had to catch a 6 hour flight with my ear blocked - and then 1 day later catch another 13 hour flight back to Australia. The 6 hour flight was agony - was crying due to the pain on decent. Ever since then I have had hearing loss and tinnitus in that ear.
I was offloaded from the 13 hour flight and had to wait 24 hours to catch the next flight. This flight I wore ear plugs and it wasn't painful.
My ear still feels blocked and has the maddening high pitched sound but I went to an audiologist who said there was no fluid in the middle ear. She said my outer ear all looks ok but She did say my ear drum is slightly retracted and that I have hearing loss in the higher frequencies. Said my cochlear is good. But could not account for the high frequency hearing loss as usually a retracted ear drum affects the lower frequencies.
It has been 7 days since the painful 6 hour flight and my symptoms have not changed. Have I permanently damaged my ear? Will I have tinnitus and hearing loss permanently now?
Please not that sometimes I get little pains from that ear.
Thanks
Sudden Sensori-neural Hearing loss...
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for posting the query
After going through the history, I am of the opinion that, you could be suffering from Sudden Sensorineural Hearing loss (SSNHL) of the left ear.
SSNHL is considered ENT emergency and you need to consult an ENT specialist at the earliest.
You would require a battery of blood investigations and MRI of the brain. Medicines such as oral steroids have to be started with or without intra-tympanic steroid injection. The sooner we start the treatment the better is the result.
Hope this answers your query; I will be available for the follow-up queries.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon
Answered by
Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Nanjasetty
Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist
Practicing since :2001
Answered : 2543 Questions