Mermaid Galene
01-07-2015, 10:04 AM
I suppose I could have put this in the Vent About Your Health thread, but this information could spare pro mers serious medical difficulties, so here you go.
Last month, I had an absolutely delightful time performing at a local indoor waterpark's New Year's Eve party. It entailed about two hours of photo posing and swimming with several hundred little kids and their families. Lots of close contact, being touched and hugged by hundreds of little hands. (And I loved, loved, loved it!) At home after the gig, while I was washing my tail and equipment, I became aware that my right ear was filled with a continuous, staticky white noise, and I couldn't hear much of anything else in that ear. I assumed it was a little water trapped behind the eardrum, figured it would eventually drain out, and proceeded to ignore it for 4 days.
On day 5, the problem had not improved, and I began to get a little worried. I was scheduled to fly in a few days to visit my Mom in Alabama, and I wasn't sure if flyiing was an okay thing to do. So I sat down and googled my symptoms, going straight to the medical literature. (I have most of a PhD in Veterinary Physiology, so I always delve deep when researching a medical problem.) I came across a reference (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072604734.html) to Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss. And then I got REALLY worried.
I made an appointment with the first doctor I could get at our local clinic. And that led to emergency visits to a Hearing Assessment clinic followed by an ENT visit. (Kudos to Hudson Hospital for getting all of these visits arranged, without prior appointment, within an hour of my initial family doc visit.) The diagnosis? I was 100% right, sadly. I have SSHL in my right ear, with profound hearing loss in the mid-frequency range. The audiologist remaked that she had not seen an audiogram like mine in many years.
What caused it? No one know for sure. The most popular current theory is infection by one of a family of Herpes Simplex Type 1 viruses. This group includes measles, mumps, chicken pox, and cold sores - all ailments that children are prone to carry. I most likely was infected by one of those adoring little kids at the waterpark.
SSHL also has been linked to poor pressurization during air travel, pressure problems during swimming or diving, and even common viruses like flu, cold, etc. Sometimes it is the result of a tumor on the nerve that links the inner ear to the brain, so an MRI is often done when SSHL is diagnosed. (I have one scheduled in about a month.)
Prognosis for recovery? That depends on a bunch of different factors including age, severity of hearing loss, particular frequencies in which hearing is lost, and how quickly the problem is diagnosed and treated. My particular combination gives me something less than a 50% chance of recovering my hearing in the right ear.
And here is why I say to you, if you come away from a gig - particularly one including close contact with children - with hearing loss in one ear, usually accompanied by ringing or buzzing in the ear, GET THEE TO A DOCTOR! Because you have a window of only 7-14 days during which treatment might help your hearing return. In many cases, if no treatment is received, or if it is started after two weeks from onset of symptoms, the hearing loss will be permanent. The treatment is massive doses of steroidal anti-inflammatories for two weeks or more. (I have just started on high dose prednisone, which I must continue for a month.)
An innovative, adjunct treatment which I am undergoing is called Constraint-induced sound therapy (http://tinyurl.com/krtbddh). When hearing is suddenly lost in one ear, brain regions that normally process signals from that ear are hijacked by brain areas which process input from the good ear. This can actually cause the brain to forget how to hear in the affected ear, even if steroid treatment does reduce inflammation of the aural nerves. Thus, I am spending 6 hours of every day for the next month with my good ear plugged so it can hear virtually nothing, and an ipod attached to my damaged ear. The constant barrage of music forces the brain to keep paying attention to that ear. (And the music is a great stress-reducer, too!)
SSHL is relatively rare - depending on the study, estimates range from 5-160 people in 100,000. But it is probably underreported, because most general docs don't know about it, and many people with sudden hearing loss ignore it until it's too late. I hope none of you ever face this disease. But if you do, I hope this information will help you to quickly recognize SSHL and get immediate emergency medical care.
I am a professional singer as well as mermaid, and the loss of hearing in one ear is a serious, sad handicap for me. Whether my hearing returns or not, I will adapt and continue to do what I love. But right now, I will take all the healing energy, virtual hugs, and cheerleading my mer family can send my way! Thanks.
Last month, I had an absolutely delightful time performing at a local indoor waterpark's New Year's Eve party. It entailed about two hours of photo posing and swimming with several hundred little kids and their families. Lots of close contact, being touched and hugged by hundreds of little hands. (And I loved, loved, loved it!) At home after the gig, while I was washing my tail and equipment, I became aware that my right ear was filled with a continuous, staticky white noise, and I couldn't hear much of anything else in that ear. I assumed it was a little water trapped behind the eardrum, figured it would eventually drain out, and proceeded to ignore it for 4 days.
On day 5, the problem had not improved, and I began to get a little worried. I was scheduled to fly in a few days to visit my Mom in Alabama, and I wasn't sure if flyiing was an okay thing to do. So I sat down and googled my symptoms, going straight to the medical literature. (I have most of a PhD in Veterinary Physiology, so I always delve deep when researching a medical problem.) I came across a reference (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072604734.html) to Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss. And then I got REALLY worried.
I made an appointment with the first doctor I could get at our local clinic. And that led to emergency visits to a Hearing Assessment clinic followed by an ENT visit. (Kudos to Hudson Hospital for getting all of these visits arranged, without prior appointment, within an hour of my initial family doc visit.) The diagnosis? I was 100% right, sadly. I have SSHL in my right ear, with profound hearing loss in the mid-frequency range. The audiologist remaked that she had not seen an audiogram like mine in many years.
What caused it? No one know for sure. The most popular current theory is infection by one of a family of Herpes Simplex Type 1 viruses. This group includes measles, mumps, chicken pox, and cold sores - all ailments that children are prone to carry. I most likely was infected by one of those adoring little kids at the waterpark.
SSHL also has been linked to poor pressurization during air travel, pressure problems during swimming or diving, and even common viruses like flu, cold, etc. Sometimes it is the result of a tumor on the nerve that links the inner ear to the brain, so an MRI is often done when SSHL is diagnosed. (I have one scheduled in about a month.)
Prognosis for recovery? That depends on a bunch of different factors including age, severity of hearing loss, particular frequencies in which hearing is lost, and how quickly the problem is diagnosed and treated. My particular combination gives me something less than a 50% chance of recovering my hearing in the right ear.
And here is why I say to you, if you come away from a gig - particularly one including close contact with children - with hearing loss in one ear, usually accompanied by ringing or buzzing in the ear, GET THEE TO A DOCTOR! Because you have a window of only 7-14 days during which treatment might help your hearing return. In many cases, if no treatment is received, or if it is started after two weeks from onset of symptoms, the hearing loss will be permanent. The treatment is massive doses of steroidal anti-inflammatories for two weeks or more. (I have just started on high dose prednisone, which I must continue for a month.)
An innovative, adjunct treatment which I am undergoing is called Constraint-induced sound therapy (http://tinyurl.com/krtbddh). When hearing is suddenly lost in one ear, brain regions that normally process signals from that ear are hijacked by brain areas which process input from the good ear. This can actually cause the brain to forget how to hear in the affected ear, even if steroid treatment does reduce inflammation of the aural nerves. Thus, I am spending 6 hours of every day for the next month with my good ear plugged so it can hear virtually nothing, and an ipod attached to my damaged ear. The constant barrage of music forces the brain to keep paying attention to that ear. (And the music is a great stress-reducer, too!)
SSHL is relatively rare - depending on the study, estimates range from 5-160 people in 100,000. But it is probably underreported, because most general docs don't know about it, and many people with sudden hearing loss ignore it until it's too late. I hope none of you ever face this disease. But if you do, I hope this information will help you to quickly recognize SSHL and get immediate emergency medical care.
I am a professional singer as well as mermaid, and the loss of hearing in one ear is a serious, sad handicap for me. Whether my hearing returns or not, I will adapt and continue to do what I love. But right now, I will take all the healing energy, virtual hugs, and cheerleading my mer family can send my way! Thanks.