When one woman went deaf overnight she never gave up hope
If you suffer sudden hearing loss, don’t ignore it. Get expert help immediately, says Nikki Magrath
“The house was strangely quiet when I woke early that morning. Seizing the moment to get ahead on my to-do list, I tiptoed downstairs and got breakfast started.
There wasn’t a peep from upstairs so I almost jumped out of my skin when my husband, Duncan, and two children, Jemma and Craig, appeared suddenly.
It took a few seconds for me to realise that although their mouths were moving I couldn’t hear what they were saying. It was like watching a silent movie.
I shook my head, then pressed my fingers against my ears. Still nothing. ‘I can’t hear,’ I cried. My voice sounded tiny and distant.
Complications from chronic glue ear as a child had left me with only 25 per cent hearing in my right ear. But my left ear had always been pin sharp. Until now.
‘I think it’s congestion,’ said my GP, speaking slowly so I could lip-read. ‘Try inhaling with steam. If it’s no better in a week, get checked out in the UK.’
I nodded miserably. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. We’d moved to California for Duncan’s job. I was flying home to Buckinghamshire later that day with the children for a family visit.
It was a long, frustrating journey. Oblivious to Tannoy announcements, I had to be alerted by airline staff when the flight was boarding and seatbelts needed fastening. And the children grew tetchy and impatient when I couldn’t understand them.
Inhaling steam didn’t help and, after a week of persistent
deafness, I was referred to a consultant at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, who carried out a hearing test and examined my ears.
‘You have sudden hearing loss,’ he explained slowly. I nodded, waiting for him to explain the treatments available.
Then I saw the sad headshake and lip-read the words ‘nothing we can do’ – and stared at him in horror and disbelief.
He explained I’d developed a rare condition called sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), which affects the sensory organs of the inner ear. ‘If steroid treatment is given in the first 24 to 48 hours, there is a chance of saving some hearing. However, once that window of opportunity has passed, it’s too late,’ he said.
And, unlike conductive hearing loss, which can be amplified with hearing aids, sensory hearing loss is permanent and profound.
‘All you can do now is find a good audiologist and get the best hearing aid you can for your ‘good’ ear,’ he added.
Digging out the old ‘emergency’ NHS hearing aid that I’d refused to wear as a teenager when first diagnosed with hearing loss,
I took it to audiologist Duncan Collet-fenson in Amersham to see if it could be refitted.
It was just as big and uncomfortable as I remembered but, when it was switched on, I could have cried with relief at being able to hear. It quickly became my lifeline until I was able to upgrade.
I still hoped the consultant had made a mistake but, as time passed, I accepted the hearing in my left ear had gone for good. ‘Things could always be worse,’ I told myself. I just learnt to adapt – ensuring people were always on my good side and looked at me when they spoke.
Four years later, we moved back to the UK and I registered with Aston Hearing for regular checks.
‘If SSHL ever happens again, it’s a medical emergency – and you need to see us urgently,’ Duncan advised. But lightning wouldn’t strike twice, surely?
By now I was using a state-of-the-art digital aid, continuing to work as a food technician and all was well.
Then, three years ago, on a May bank holiday weekend, I was out walking our dog when I stopped in my tracks. It was as if someone had turned down the volume on ‘life’. Everything sounded quieter and duller – from the birds singing to the hum of traffic. Back at home, I cleaned and tweaked my hearing aid but there was no difference. ‘Something’s not right,’ I thought.
Thankfully, Duncan gave me an emergency appointment. An audiogram revealed a huge drop in my hearing levels. It had happened again.
‘Take this report straight to A&E and explain it’s a medical emergency,’ the audiologist told me. ‘You need immediate steroids.’
One of the hardest aspects of dealing with SSHL is that you look fit and well. As you’re not limping, bleeding or clutching your chest, you come way down the list of priorities.
But even while waiting to see a triage nurse, I could hear the little hearing I had left fading away. When it vanished completely, I began to panic. ‘Please,’ I begged staff. ‘I need steroid treatment or I’ll be deaf permanently.’ I had no idea if
I was shouting or whispering.
Finally, a doctor prescribed a single dose. ‘You’ll need to return tomorrow for proper assessments,’ I was told.
The next day was even more frustrating. As minutes and hours ticked by sitting in A&E, despair washed over me.
The longer this took, the less chance there was of my hearing being saved.
Slipping off to the ladies’ loos, I broke down at the thought of never hearing my children’s
voices again. I returned to the waiting room, red-eyed, to find everyone looking at me. they’d heard every anguished wail.
the triage nurse must have sympathised because I was seen immediately and prescribed two weeks’ worth of high-dose steroids. All I could do now was take them. And wait.
two days later, tinnitus developed. Not only could I not hear anything useful but I couldn’t even retreat into silence. A constant mechanical engine noise reverberated in my ears.
As a week passed, then another six days, things looked precarious.
then, in the kitchen one afternoon, I dropped a metal saucepan and froze. I’d heard a clang as it hit the floor. It was faint, but I’d heard it.
Popping in my hearing aid, a smile spread across my face at the sound of the radio.
With every second, the music grew louder. An hour later I could hear clearly and the tinnitus had vanished. Ringing my daughter Jemma at university, I cried when I heard her voice.
three years on, I treasure my hearing – from early morning birdsong to peals of laughter.
It’s incredibly rare to suffer
SSHL twice. Doctors believe that autoimmune disease can be a trigger. As I have had coeliac disease for 22 years,
I may well have a predisposition to SSHL so have a prescription for steroids to be taken immediately if it strikes.
But so many people have still never heard of the condition. Passionate about raising awareness, I gave up my career in food technology and became marketing manager for Aston hearing – spreading the message that any sudden, rapid drop in hearing is a medical emergency.
If you woke up tomorrow and had no vision, you’d see a doctor immediately. But hearing problems don’t get the same priority.
hearing is vital and needs protecting and preserving. Don’t wait until it’s gone to realise what you’ve lost.”