4 weeks ago, I made a very stupid mistake shooting my 308 rifle with muzzle brake in a prone position without any hearing pros and it felt like someone kicked me in the ear. It was like nothing I experienced before and I couldn't hear well in my left ear right after that but it mostly came back in the next hour or so. However, Ringing never went away and hearing was noticeably lower in the left ear. It's also muffled especially on higher sounds. I went to a walk in clinic the following day and that was the second worst decision as I didn't know I was supposed to go to the ER immediately. The doctor there said there is nothing to be worried about and that I should give it 2 weeks to heal by itself. And I didn't realize those 2 weeks were the ideal period to start any treatment.

3 weeks passed and the symptoms didn't go away. So, I went to another doctor last week who prescribed me steroids nasal spray and I did a hearing test that showed a mild hearing loss at 4000hz and 25 db while everything else was at 10 db in both ears. And it felt like I was hit by a lightning. So upset and mad at myself that I can't function normally and can barely eat 1 meal a day. This was completely avoidable.

I went for another hearing test in a different clinic yesterday and the results were as in the picture. The second one didn't take as long as the first one though.

As of now, I still have muffled and reduced hearing plus non stop tinnitus. I also have pain and pressure in and around my ear and the left side of my head from time to time. My ear is sensitive to sounds as well.

I've been taking steroids nasal spray for 5 days as well as magnesium and some other supplements. And today I started taking NAC, Zinc Citrate and Iron supplements as well.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my family doctor who will probably refer me to an ENT specialist but that will take from 1-3 months to see him. Not sure if they can do anything for me at this point anyway.

I was hoping to hear from people who may have experienced the same thing or might have some useful information for me.

I'm kind of convinced that it's all been done at this point and I'll have to live with this, but I always remain hopeful in God's mercy and compassion.

I will appreciate hearing your opinions and please no hurtful comments. I'm fully aware it was entirely my fault.

Hello everyone, for a bit more context im M(23) and i fear i might be going deaf or at least some symtoms are showing up. I have been struggling with depression for years now and music seemed like a good way out for it until...it wasn't.

In my case its also associated with another condition called "maladaptive daydreaming" so i was using my headphone for long periods of time with the sound on its maximum volume. Doing it for years now i guess has its price as well, im trying the best i can to let go of it but have been failling.

For couple of days now ive felt a slight discomfort in my righ ear, i can hear normally i guess, but theres a little bit of pain and for example, i have a younger brother, if hes in the living room and if im in the kitchen and the tv isnt very loud im also noticing im having trouble pickin up whatever it is that the cartoons are saying.

Anyways, i couldnt find any subs in my country for the hearing community and was hoping if you guys could share your stories of how things started for you. Also, i know i should look for a doctor but healthcare is expensive here and we dont have the means to provide for it right now unfortunately.

From the article :

"Finally, we identify dlx5a as a key transcription factor required for crista HC regeneration. In this work, we provide a framework for understanding vestibular HC regeneration that may inform regenerative therapies for sensory restoration."

i'm looking into hearing aids again now that my left ear has gotten worse, but i really cant find anything that doesnt go in the ear canal, other than bone conduction hearing aids which aren't really useful in my case.

i know everyone says hearing aids feel different/less obtrusive than in ear headphones, and i believe that, but my issue is having anything in my ear canal at all.

i have an acrylate allergy (still working to track down the specifics of it with my docs, because god forbid any company be open about what Types of plastics they use for things). i can handle natural latex, but not many of the plastics designed to be in that elasticy quality. so most ear buds/ear plugs/etc make my ear canals develop sores over a few days (i also have to be very careful with my clothing. did you know that in the usa and most other places, a bra sold as 100% cotton does not have to disclose anything about any other materials used as long as they fall under a certain percent of the mass of the item? thats how you end up with 100% cotton underwear with elastic threading in the waistband and leg holes, and 100% cotton bras with elastic all along the seams. and seamless sports bras usually have some sort of elastic gluey material along the band, which as it breaks down is the absolute Worst for people with this allergy. all of this detail to explain that no, its not just my ears needing cleaned more often, its my skin reacting to this material.)

any ideas? maybe theres specific buds out there made of other materials that could work? or hearing aids that kind of sit just outside or over the ear? hell id take something with a glass or hard plastic bud, as uncomfortable as it would be. maybe some company out there makes a 100% silicone bud?

Hi I'm a hearing college student, who enjoys learning American sign language. I've taken college courses in ASL from a deaf professor. I attended coffee chats, read ASL history, watched documentaries. Recently, I've completed an internship where I attended a conference about what deaf and hard of hearing individuals experience in the science/workforce industry. I made some deaf and HoH friends in the program and got a sign name as well.

I know there is a history of hearing people making wrongly decisions for the "benefit" of the deaf and hard of hearing community. So, I am unsure if I should follow thru this idea that I've been thinking about for 3 years now.

As a hearing person, I'd like to create a ASL club on my campus. The advisor/professor of the club is fluent in ASL and is hearing. I'm going to try to find students who may be deaf or HoH that would be interested in serving in a leadership position, and participate in the club. I don't want to claim that I know or that I can teach, however I just want to provide an opportunity, or space.

Some event ideas include:

• Movie night - CODA, and Deaf President Now. (More recommendations are welcomed.)
• Paint hand signs - (ex. turtle sign into an actual turtle with paint.)
• Panel Speaker - bring guest speakers who are deaf or hard of hearing and share their stories, and experiences.
• ASL game night - bingo, charades, with prizes. (More recommendations are welcomed).

I could bring snacks, educational books, alphabet, and stickers. I'd like to add, that my university is very small with total enrollment of 3,339 students.

Can anybody give me an opinion or thoughts surrounding this idea? I'd appreciate your honesty. Thanks.

I realized recently that I do this without even thinking about it.

At a restaurant, I’ll look for a seat where I can see everyone’s face.

At a family dinner, I’ll try to sit somewhere with less background noise.

If someone is sitting behind me, I already know I’m probably going to miss half of what they say.

And sometimes I catch myself choosing a seat based on who I need to hear, rather than where I actually want to sit.

It’s such a small thing that I never really thought of it as part of hearing loss.

But now I’m wondering how many other people do this automatically.

Do you have a “best seat” for hearing?

Hi all, I've been following this community group for a while, since I lost my hearing due to the 2nd COVID Pfizer vaccination, and later Lupus / autoimmune / APS.

Im sharing this reflection post I made to hopefully encourage others out there who can relate to my experiences. It's positive and inspiring for most people, but please feel free to read this for some extra encouragement in life, particularly the challenges related to deafness and hearing loss.

Thankyou

Kelvin

I’ve still got some normal hearing in each ear but it’s wildly asymmetrical. My left benefits from an aid a lot. The right is just a supporting role, like an additional backup speaker. Anyone else have an Audiogram like mine? I just got full generic tests back and there was no cause found.

I have been deaf in one ear since childhood from the mumps. I also have some hearing loss in the other ear.

How have people found the use of the bicros? Does it give good sound, is it comfortable, what brand did you get?

I'm 23 and I had perforated eardrum since I was like 10 or 12 y/o. I recently got infection due to monsoon and checked with an ENT. The last time I went to an ENT was like when I was 15 or 16y/o. The hole has gotten significantly bigger, like I can neither see the eardrum nor the hole (yk, they kinda merged). The doc said that it's time for a surgery. I didn't ask if it will be tympanoplasty or something else, what do you think since I've had this from a long period

I live in a different state alone for work and was thinking of going home so my parents can atleast take care of me during my recovery. I cannot ask them to come here because I have to make them stay in a hotel (me too) and that will cost me a ton of money, also the flights are pretty expensive. I'm thinking of going home for this reason and have my surgery there.

The max off work I can get is like 14 days. I have to return to work on day 15th. The doc might check for an infection first and might give some meds before surgery which will then add to the days I can get off work. I have 12 Paid Leaves and apparantly I cannot combine it with casual leaves. I can take LWP (Leave Without Pay) but the company doesn't like that and I have to take permission from the Director of the company for that. Since it's a medical reason, they may grant it. Also any tips on how to persuade them in some way like they wil surely ask me to call my parents here and have the surgery here or wil ask when is your surgery or who's gonna do it. If you can give me some advice on it, it'll be great.

Question - How long does it take to recover from tympanoplasty. How long to wait before I can get on a plane (since I'd be taking flight to my work state). Can I travel in a train? After how much time.

I'm from India.

The answers will help me plan my surgery effectively. Thank you so much!

I have had severe hearing loss since i was five due to cholesteatoma. I’ve worn hearing aids and in recent years gotten a bone bridge on my left. I feel like i’m still so left out, i can barely hear in class and talking to my friends is a nightmare. I really hate it. I have always wanted to work in healthcare but unless i want to go into audiology there’s not really a good place for me. I’m getting my degree in health sciences currently hoping that with time maybe something will come up. I feel so hopeless, i don’t want to live like this, i want to be normal

Firstly, just wanted to say I'm stoked to find this sub, as I've been HoH since birth, severe loss in one ear, increasingly worse (mild to moderate) in the other. Love being able to relate and also seeing the messages of support!

So I don't have a hearing aid, tried them years ago with the free healthcare in my country but they weren't good enough. Now my hearing is getting worse I'm in the process of sorting it again.

Meanwhile I'm in tears. I love music, I love running, but my ancient wired earphones (which limped on with a usbc - audio adapter) have died. I've already ordered 3 sets of wireless earphones from Amazon from recommendations and both are too quiet for me. Tried all the android hacks to bypass safety but the sound gets scrungy and still isn't loud enough.

Any suggestions from the community? I bought £120 ones that also weren't good. Happy to hook up something wired again even to go out running.

This quilt almost broke me but it is finally - almost six months later - finished! A meditation on my hearing loss, each block is the pattern of a Chladni plate (google it - it’s magic!) at a frequency I can no longer hear without my hearing aids for support (I have cookie bite hearing loss). The embroidered text (“I can’t hear you” - a several-times-a-day thought for me) breaks up as you read downwards, much like the missing pieces of sound that I experience every day.

hi chat,
i recently moved to pune a couple of weeks ago and would love to connect with people who are HoH. so that we’ll be able to understand each other. i always feel left out in conversations when going out as a group. so yes i thought why not connect with people who’ll be understanding. if you are from pune, feel free to text. i would be glad to connect.

More hearing loss related posts I’ve come up with over the years :)

As always, these are things which may apply to anyone with hearing loss, my point is that they do apply to mild hearing losses, too, and recognizing this can help with the mild hearing loss impostor syndrome :P

1-That moment when you have absolutely no idea what’s going on because the room has terrible acoustics.

P.E. class. Pep rallies. Indoor recess. Some awards ceremonies. Basically anything involving a noisy, echoing gymnasium.

2-Managing to catch enough of a conversation to understand the basics of what it’s about, but not catching enough to be able to contribute without worrying about saying something off-topic.

3-Watching a youtube commercial and being confused about why the ad is singing “sabotage, sabotage sabo-sabo-sabotage” only to realize they are actually singing “summertime” and I’m just hearing it wrong.

4-When someone’s talking to you, and you hear them and realize they’re addressing you, but they didn’t catch your attention first so you weren’t focusing on it well enough to properly comprehend what they’ve been saying. So you turn to them and ask if they’re talking to you, just to clarify so you can ask them to repeat themselves if needed, and get a Look Of Befuddlement like, “You’re not even that far away, can’t you hear me?” lol

To be fair, I’m not sure how much she knew about my hearing loss, and she was only a few feet away and slightly stressed because we were in the middle of setting up for a fundraiser and she was trying to give me instructions... but I was already focused on something else when she started talking to me and I needed to give her my full attention in order to comprehend said instructions. :P

(she didn’t say anything about it, I just could tell that she found it strange that I wasn’t even sure whether she was talking to me or not)

5-Person: “what’s that sound?”

Me: “....”

My Brain: *what sound?*

My Joker Side, hours later: *You totally should’ve said it was aliens*

i was in a group project and couldn’t hear two of my classmates because they were mumbling, covering their mouths, and there were other groups also talking at the same time. i heard less than half of what was said and then blurted out “hey can you speak up? i’m hard of hearing” they apologized and then went straight to speaking at their normal level.
this is such a repeating thing for me. i will ask people to enunciate or speak up because of my auditory processing disorder and they’ll apologize, but do absolutely nothing so that i can actually hear them. i’ve only noticed this with young people.
lip-reading is such an important skill for me now because of this.

Hello,

My son plays football (soccer) as a goalkeeper. He also wears hearing aids. His loss isn't too important, he can normally discuss and play football without. However, when he is a bit far, he doesn't hear well and often doesn't react when being called.

Until last year I was coaching his team so when he played or trained I could manage to stay close enough and make sure he got what was said. But this year I won't be here, also the game gets a bit tougher as he changes category.

So my question is: would you recommend to remove hearing aids before trainings/games or keep them?

Any seggestions for learning Spanish and Being HOH. I speak English and use ASL?