Eek! Has this happened to you?

[ozzzy]

I had almost the same situation. Those over the counter wax ear drops made my situation worse. One ear became completely blocked. I think it melted the wax build up and then it sealed around the era drum.

At the Urgent Care facility, they used a 50/50 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide and water.
So, now about every 2 weeks I squeeze that mixture into my ears. Never again had that problem.

ozzy

 

[Rensselaer]

Sudden complete hearing loss in one ear is an acoustic neuroma until proved not to be.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

I had almost the same situation. Those over the counter wax ear drops made my situation worse. One ear became completely blocked. I think it melted the wax build up and then it sealed around the era drum.

At the Urgent Care facility, they used a 50/50 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide and water.
So, now about every 2 weeks I squeeze that mixture into my ears. Never again had that problem.

ozzy

Interesting.

 

[Blackmorec]

Thanks for the kind comments. Well I just finished a week on high dose steroids. The side effects took some really careful dietary management….appetite increases, so no snacking, blood glucose rockets, so no sugar, blood pressure goes through the roof, so absolutely no salt. The upside is, I lost some weight, so not entirely bad.

But based on the latest hearing test results it is looking like I’ll be finding myself a new hobby outside of hi-fi. According to my audiologist, the steroids have improved the hearing in my right ear from ‘terrible’ to ‘bad’ so its back to my ENT specialist for him to pick the best next step…..continued oral steroids or trans-tympanic steroid injections and an MRI scan, which may uncover the reason for why this happened. Whatever, correction will focus on amplification to minimimize the impact on everyday life. Apparently amplification for the right ear will just generate a lot of distortion so the strategy is to provide the left ear with a perfectly flat response curve so that the brain doesn’t have to work as hard to distinguish conversation from background noise without the ability of stereo localisation. Currently spending time in noisy environments is exhausting. You’d think that the impact on my hi-fi hobby would be the worse thing, but I’m realising that it’s the effect on everyday life where the real impact lies.

So my new ‘hobby’ for the next few months at least is literally going to be a quest to put back as much ‘fun and enjoyment’ into everyday life as possible. While I‘m always an optimist, complete recovery would involve a genuine miracle, so I need a back up plan while I’m waiting for that to happen. I’ve already engaged my audiologist in a discussion around how to find the best amplification strategy and I checked to make sure he does ‘extended home demos’, so we can indeed find the most suitable alternative. I‘m in the fortunate position of having the wherewithal to get something state of the art, so I’m hoping not to loose all the interesting technical and psycho-acoustic aspects of the hobby. I’ll also try to establish relationships with a couple of SoTA hearing device manufacturers and maybe help to test a few new developments. The 2 other areas that will require lots of work is vestibular therapy to retrain my balance….I was quite fit and sprightly when this happened and now I’m a bit unsteady and wobbly, so that needs physiotherapy which does make it a lot better I’m told. The other thing is attitude…..anger and self-pity don’t change anything, other than to make me feel down, so I‘m quickly getting my head around my new circumstances and figuring out where the ‘wins’ are. I think its going to be an interesting challenge. At least one benefit will be no longer having to put up with the endless ‘snake oil’ discussions.

 

[Al M.]

Very sorry to hear about the not so great improvement. To go from "terrible" to "bad" hearing is at least a step that allows for more promising implementation of an amplification device. I applaud your attitude about this, and the fact that anger doesn't change anything is good advice that I should apply to some things in my own life and way to see the world as well.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Thanks for the kind comments. Well I just finished a week on high dose steroids. The side effects took some really careful dietary management….appetite increases, so no snacking, blood glucose rockets, so no sugar, blood pressure goes through the roof, so absolutely no salt. The upside is, I lost some weight, so not entirely bad.

But based on the latest hearing test results it is looking like I’ll be finding myself a new hobby outside of hi-fi. According to my audiologist, the steroids have improved the hearing in my right ear from ‘terrible’ to ‘bad’ so its back to my ENT specialist for him to pick the best next step…..continued oral steroids or trans-tympanic steroid injections and an MRI scan, which may uncover the reason for why this happened. Whatever, correction will focus on amplification to minimimize the impact on everyday life. Apparently amplification for the right ear will just generate a lot of distortion so the strategy is to provide the left ear with a perfectly flat response curve so that the brain doesn’t have to work as hard to distinguish conversation from background noise without the ability of stereo localisation. Currently spending time in noisy environments is exhausting. You’d think that the impact on my hi-fi hobby would be the worse thing, but I’m realising that it’s the effect on everyday life where the real impact lies.

So my new ‘hobby’ for the next few months at least is literally going to be a quest to put back as much ‘fun and enjoyment’ into everyday life as possible. While I‘m always an optimist, complete recovery would involve a genuine miracle, so I need a back up plan while I’m waiting for that to happen. I’ve already engaged my audiologist in a discussion around how to find the best amplification strategy and I checked to make sure he does ‘extended home demos’, so we can indeed find the most suitable alternative. I‘m in the fortunate position of having the wherewithal to get something state of the art, so I’m hoping not to loose all the interesting technical and psycho-acoustic aspects of the hobby. I’ll also try to establish relationships with a couple of SoTA hearing device manufacturers and maybe help to test a few new developments. The 2 other areas that will require lots of work is vestibular therapy to retrain my balance….I was quite fit and sprightly when this happened and now I’m a bit unsteady and wobbly, so that needs physiotherapy which does make it a lot better I’m told. The other thing is attitude…..anger and self-pity don’t change anything, other than to make me feel down, so I‘m quickly getting my head around my new circumstances and figuring out where the ‘wins’ are. I think its going to be an interesting challenge. At least one benefit will be no longer having to put up with the endless ‘snake oil’ discussions.

I'm very glad to read that there has been an improvement in your hearing, even if it doesn't mean a full recovery. Finding joy in small everyday things is a habit worth practicing no matter one's situation, I am sure that it's going to benefit you greatly in the long run. There's tons of fun and enjoyment to be found in everyday life - you just have to let it in. Please let us know how your recovery progresses!

 

[Blackmorec]

I'm very glad to read that there has been an improvement in your hearing, even if it doesn't mean a full recovery. Finding joy in small everyday things is a habit worth practicing no matter one's situation, I am sure that it's going to benefit you greatly in the long run. There's tons of fun and enjoyment to be found in everyday life - you just have to let it in. Please let us know how your recovery progresses!

Some very true words there. Just before this hearing loss happened I’d added the final two cables to a streaming system I’ve been building and refining for the past 4 years. The job was finished and all that was left to do was to sit back and enjoy the results, which were a lot better that I’d ever dreamed possible.

But maybe the ‘Universe’ had other ideas and I’m meant to discover some new or unexplored aspects of my life. Three weeks ago I was ‘fat (fit) and happy’ so in danger of inertia starting to dominate. Now all that has changed. Bad thing? Not necessarily. Depends what comes next I guess.

 

[Gregadd]

i hope this does not come off as flippannt. here is always mono. An a pair of headphones with the ability to play right and left channels at different levels. It is worth a try.
Did they test to see if you had a stroke?

 

[Blackmorec]

i hope this does not come off as flippannt. here is always mono. An a pair of headphones with the ability to play right and left channels at different levels. It is worth a try.
Did they test to see if you had a stroke?

Hi Gregdadd,
No, it’s a good question. In nature, all individual sounds are mono i.e they come from a single source. It’s only stereo hi-fi where 2 sources are used to create an illusion of space. But for mono to be heard correctly, you still need 2 ears. In my case, my right ear is -70dB down vs the left but according to my audiologist, anything in the right ear boosted by 70dB will generate what is perceived as high levels of distortion. His strategy is to equalise the left ear to cancel out any HF roll-off, making conversations easier for the brain to interpret in a noisy environment.
So essentially if I want to listen to music, it would be via my left ear, exactly as I used to listen to Radio Luxembourg on AM radio as a child, completing the audio circle as it were.

 

[brad225]

I had almost the same situation. Those over the counter wax ear drops made my situation worse. One ear became completely blocked. I think it melted the wax build up and then it sealed around the era drum.

At the Urgent Care facility, they used a 50/50 mixture of Hydrogen Peroxide and water.
So, now about every 2 weeks I squeeze that mixture into my ears. Never again had that problem.

ozzy

I have the same issue. I purchased the same washer/pump bottle the clinic uses. It is called Elephant Ear washing system. The 50/50 % mixture works great.

Mine is caused by excess drainage from sinuses. 6 ENTs with the same diagnosis. The called it Torturous Sinuses. Extra bends and pockets that create excessive mucus. On the other end, my gastroenterologist has told me that I have a Torturous Colon. Same thing extra bends and pockets.
My problem has me covered coming and going. Sorry for making a joke of this but there is nothing I can do about it so, hopefully someone might get a smile.

My right ear's ability to hear gets worse each year. I make adjustments in the equipment to make it as normal as possible and move on. I'm sure there will come a time when I don't bother and I will live with background music.

I would also suggest regular washing of your sinuses with distilled water and saline crystals using a bottle sold by Dr Neil or something like that. I like his because of the better pressure the bottle allows.
I wash mine every morning. Major help for breathing and not coughing from drainage.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Some very true words there. Just before this hearing loss happened I’d added the final two cables to a streaming system I’ve been building and refining for the past 4 years. The job was finished and all that was left to do was to sit back and enjoy the results, which were a lot better that I’d ever dreamed possible.

But maybe the ‘Universe’ had other ideas and I’m meant to discover some new or unexplored aspects of my life. Three weeks ago I was ‘fat (fit) and happy’ so in danger of inertia starting to dominate. Now all that has changed. Bad thing? Not necessarily. Depends what comes next I guess.

I like your approach to all of this. Maybe behind all of it lies a new path that will bring you even more happiness - one just has to stay open-minded.

 

[Blackmorec]

I thought it would be nice to do a quick follow-up.
So where was I? Quick recap: Woke up, no hearing in R Ear, no balance. Several doctors and audiologist visits and a month later, still no hearing but balance is somewhat better as long as my eyes are open! So the odds are high that this is a permanent situation, which means, hi-fi doesn’t sound good anymore because my hearing is now extremely low-fi and not something that’s nice to listen to. The other side of audio paradise, so to speak.
But all is not lost. Far from it. I realised something very early and that is, how this episode makes me feel is entirely based on how I choose to react. I can be sad, angry and miserable and pine everyday for what I’m missing. How would that make me feel? How would it make you feel? Would it change anything? Or, I can accept that what has happened has happened, that my previous life and a lot of its pleasures are no more, and set about building something else that’s equally pleasurable. Put together a plan and put my time and effort into implementing it. How would that make me feel? You? It’s taken me 70 years to see that clearly. How I feel is up to how I choose to react.

Shortly after this happened, I felt that the best way to find those alternatives was to go over my life in my memory and pick out the events and things that gave me the most pleasure. While thinking about this, I suddenly realised that I was on an 17-18 year cycle of change. At 18 I left the UK for South Africa. At 36 I left South Africa for Germany. At 54 I left Germany for the UK and at 70 I lost my hearing and am now changing my life again. So far I’ve enjoyed each phase, so its up to me to make the next one fun.

So I’ve fully accepted what‘s happened and now I‘m working full speed on the transformation.

I need to sell my beloved hi-fi system. Tear it apart and sell it. What an incredible waste for such a highly sorted and well matched system. Oh well! So instead of hating doing the adverts I got out my camera gear, charged all its batteries and ordered a light ‘cabinet’ so I don't have the sweat backgrounds and lighting. Turns out Im really enjoying the photography, just like I used to.
I needed to sell my car, a BMW X4M because it was simply too loud and too wild for my new situation. Im going to morph the car and hi-fi into a camper van, set it up with a satellite ISP and and a good network and Im going to start a blog, because the other thing I love to do is write (if you hadn’t noticed). Happily my wife is into a touring camper just as much as me, so another nice thing for us to do together.

So, shitty situation to warrant the change, but I‘m welcoming the change with open arms and in the words of Nina Simone, “I’m feelin‘ good”. You’ll see my ads start appearing soon. If you want to contribute to my camper, that will be your chance

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

I thought it would be nice to do a quick follow-up.
So where was I? Quick recap: Woke up, no hearing in R Ear, no balance. Several doctors and audiologist visits and a month later, still no hearing but balance is somewhat better as long as my eyes are open! So the odds are high that this is a permanent situation, which means, hi-fi doesn’t sound good anymore because my hearing is now extremely low-fi and not something that’s nice to listen to. The other side of audio paradise, so to speak.
But all is not lost. Far from it. I realised something very early and that is, how this episode makes me feel is entirely based on how I choose to react. I can be sad, angry and miserable and pine everyday for what I’m missing. How would that make me feel? How would it make you feel? Would it change anything? Or, I can accept that what has happened has happened, that my previous life and a lot of its pleasures are no more, and set about building something else that’s equally pleasurable. Put together a plan and put my time and effort into implementing it. How would that make me feel? You? It’s taken me 70 years to see that clearly. How I feel is up to how I choose to react.

Shortly after this happened, I felt that the best way to find those alternatives was to go over my life in my memory and pick out the events and things that gave me the most pleasure. While thinking about this, I suddenly realised that I was on an 17-18 year cycle of change. At 18 I left the UK for South Africa. At 36 I left South Africa for Germany. At 54 I left Germany for the UK and at 70 I lost my hearing and am now changing my life again. So far I’ve enjoyed each phase, so its up to me to make the next one fun.

So I’ve fully accepted what‘s happened and now I‘m working full speed on the transformation.

I need to sell my beloved hi-fi system. Tear it apart and sell it. What an incredible waste for such a highly sorted and well matched system. Oh well! So instead of hating doing the adverts I got out my camera gear, charged all its batteries and ordered a light ‘cabinet’ so I don't have the sweat backgrounds and lighting. Turns out Im really enjoying the photography, just like I used to.
I needed to sell my car, a BMW X4M because it was simply too loud and too wild for my new situation. Im going to morph the car and hi-fi into a camper van, set it up with a satellite ISP and and a good network and Im going to start a blog, because the other thing I love to do is write (if you hadn’t noticed). Happily my wife is into a touring camper just as much as me, so another nice thing for us to do together.

So, shitty situation to warrant the change, but I‘m welcoming the change with open arms and in the words of Nina Simone, “I’m feelin‘ good”. You’ll see my ads start appearing soon. If you want to contribute to my camper, that will be your chance

It's great to hear that there is some positivity to be found in your situation. Maybe you can somehow incorporate the photography hobby into your camper journey.

 

[Al M.]

I thought it would be nice to do a quick follow-up.
So where was I? Quick recap: Woke up, no hearing in R Ear, no balance. Several doctors and audiologist visits and a month later, still no hearing but balance is somewhat better as long as my eyes are open! So the odds are high that this is a permanent situation, which means, hi-fi doesn’t sound good anymore because my hearing is now extremely low-fi and not something that’s nice to listen to. The other side of audio paradise, so to speak.
But all is not lost. Far from it. I realised something very early and that is, how this episode makes me feel is entirely based on how I choose to react. I can be sad, angry and miserable and pine everyday for what I’m missing. How would that make me feel? How would it make you feel? Would it change anything? Or, I can accept that what has happened has happened, that my previous life and a lot of its pleasures are no more, and set about building something else that’s equally pleasurable. Put together a plan and put my time and effort into implementing it. How would that make me feel? You? It’s taken me 70 years to see that clearly. How I feel is up to how I choose to react.

Shortly after this happened, I felt that the best way to find those alternatives was to go over my life in my memory and pick out the events and things that gave me the most pleasure. While thinking about this, I suddenly realised that I was on an 17-18 year cycle of change. At 18 I left the UK for South Africa. At 36 I left South Africa for Germany. At 54 I left Germany for the UK and at 70 I lost my hearing and am now changing my life again. So far I’ve enjoyed each phase, so its up to me to make the next one fun.

So I’ve fully accepted what‘s happened and now I‘m working full speed on the transformation.

I need to sell my beloved hi-fi system. Tear it apart and sell it. What an incredible waste for such a highly sorted and well matched system. Oh well! So instead of hating doing the adverts I got out my camera gear, charged all its batteries and ordered a light ‘cabinet’ so I don't have the sweat backgrounds and lighting. Turns out Im really enjoying the photography, just like I used to.
I needed to sell my car, a BMW X4M because it was simply too loud and too wild for my new situation. Im going to morph the car and hi-fi into a camper van, set it up with a satellite ISP and and a good network and Im going to start a blog, because the other thing I love to do is write (if you hadn’t noticed). Happily my wife is into a touring camper just as much as me, so another nice thing for us to do together.

So, shitty situation to warrant the change, but I‘m welcoming the change with open arms and in the words of Nina Simone, “I’m feelin‘ good”. You’ll see my ads start appearing soon. If you want to contribute to my camper, that will be your chance

I applaud your terrific attitude about this. All the best with your life changes!