Mikebits
Well-Known Member
I awoke a few days ago with a funny weird feeling. It was kinda like vertigo. I walked around for most of the day knowing something was not quite right, but I just could not figure out what was wrong. Well, the phone rang, I answered it and I kept saying "Hello" I switched the phone to my other ear, and sure enough someone was talking on the other end.
At this point I realized my hearing was gone in my left ear. I decided not to panic at this point as I was sure it would pass. By day two my hearing had become progressively worst. Now I started to panic as the only thing I could hear was the horrible ringing in my ear. By 4:00PM I could no longer stand the incessant ear ringing and loss of balance, so I drove myself to the VA hospital. After a 4 hour wait, I saw an ER Dr. She prescribed me some Prednisone and set me up to see an audiologist the next day along with an ENT Dr.
I went for my follow up appt. I had a quite intensive hearing exam. They have this cool device which has a sound emitter and a receiver in same package that gets placed against the ear opening. With this device they measure reflections and can pinpoint where ear obstructions are occurring. In my case it is my inner ear, my middle ear seems to work okay. At the end of the test it was found that I have a 70 dB hearing loss across the band in my left ear in other words that is a 70% loss of hearing.
The doctor said that this affliction is somewhat rare 20% in 100,000 people, and they are not sure of the cause. The planned treatment is Prednisone for two weeks. I have a 35% chance of permanent hearing loss.
So I am wondering. Will a hearing aid help if my condition persist? 70 dB sounds like a lot for a small device. What is the typical amplification of hearing aids?
I found this web site that talks about my condition.
**broken link removed**
At this point I realized my hearing was gone in my left ear. I decided not to panic at this point as I was sure it would pass. By day two my hearing had become progressively worst. Now I started to panic as the only thing I could hear was the horrible ringing in my ear. By 4:00PM I could no longer stand the incessant ear ringing and loss of balance, so I drove myself to the VA hospital. After a 4 hour wait, I saw an ER Dr. She prescribed me some Prednisone and set me up to see an audiologist the next day along with an ENT Dr.
I went for my follow up appt. I had a quite intensive hearing exam. They have this cool device which has a sound emitter and a receiver in same package that gets placed against the ear opening. With this device they measure reflections and can pinpoint where ear obstructions are occurring. In my case it is my inner ear, my middle ear seems to work okay. At the end of the test it was found that I have a 70 dB hearing loss across the band in my left ear in other words that is a 70% loss of hearing.
The doctor said that this affliction is somewhat rare 20% in 100,000 people, and they are not sure of the cause. The planned treatment is Prednisone for two weeks. I have a 35% chance of permanent hearing loss.
So I am wondering. Will a hearing aid help if my condition persist? 70 dB sounds like a lot for a small device. What is the typical amplification of hearing aids?
I found this web site that talks about my condition.
**broken link removed**