Hello I am wondering if you would read this email I received from a friend of mine who is not able to go to a doctor now. Any information you could give me for him would be greatly appreciated. I had broke out in hives all over my body. That lasted almost a week before they were all gone, and i never figured out what caused that. Then when the hives were going away, I noticed I had a slight sensitivity to sound on the left side. Like door slams and toilet flushes made me wince. But it wasn t loud.. it was just intense / harsh. Then I realized that I had lost a significant amount of my hearing in that ear. Especially the very high and very low frequencies. The middle frequencies seemed harsh and unnatural. I also started to feel discomfort.. like a slight pressure / ache. Mind you, this felt nothing like ear infections I ve had in the past which were marked by intense pain and pressure that lasted for a few days then went away. Sounds seemed slightly distorted / warbly. And when I was in a quiet room, I noticed some tinnitus that sounded like a distant waterfall as opposed to ringing. I also noticed that tones sounded slightly lower in pitch on my left side than my right. For instance, if I hold the phone up to the right ear, then the left, I hear a drop in the pitch of the dial tone. By day 16 the pressure / ache / discomfort started going away. Then it came back a few days later when I contracted some kind of cold. After about 35 days, all the symptoms had lessened significantly or went away all together accept for the hearing loss in the high and low frequencies. Now after about 52 days, I still have the hearing loss, but the other symptoms relating to distortion and discomfort are gone. I m wondering if there is anything that can be done to restore my hearing, or if my current state is permanent.