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Sudden Hearing Loss–What Should You Do?

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A young man pleaded:

Please help, I have experienced severe hearing loss in my left ear. I am already deaf in my right ear. I currently have a cold, nothing serious, and am praying this is the cause.

I have been taking Prozac for 3 weeks now. I also take Propranolol when needed for anxiety.

My right ear developed a cholesteatoma and I had a mastoidectomy when I was very young leaving me almost totally deaf in this ear. I have always coped fine as the hearing in my left ear has always been perfect.

Three days ago I woke up with my hearing down to about 15%. I saw one doctor yesterday who gave me a decongestant and asked me to take olive oil drops for the wax in there and see her in a week. I am very scared about this, Please give me advice ASAP. I have read worrying stories on the net.

You are right to be concerned over this significant sudden hearing loss–even more so since your other ear is deaf. The first thing you want to determine, if possible, is whether this loss is from the wax in your ear, or from your being stuffed up by the cold, or whether it is something else, and thus is a true medical emergency, in which case you want to see an ear specialist now.

Let’s look at each of these factors in turn.

I can’t see that ear wax would cause massive hearing loss overnight. Typically, ear wax builds up and slowly fills the ear canal and causes increasing conductive hearing loss. Even if the wax shifted and suddenly blocked your ear canal, you would still be able to hear via bone conduction–but at a lower level. It would not cause you to lose most of your hearing.

The same goes for colds. If the results of the cold clogs up your middle ear, you would also have a conductive hearing loss. However, even if you are congested, you don’t lose 85% of your hearing overnight! As with the ear wax, you would still be able to hear via bone conduction.

The two drugs you are taking are both ototoxic and can cause hearing loss. Although Prozac (Fluoxetine) can cause hearing loss, I wouldn’t expect it to act quite so fast. I’d expect it to take 3 or more months. Even then it should not cause sudden hearing loss–but you never know–everyone is different.

Propranolol can also cause hearing loss, so it might be a contributing agent, but a rather doubt it in your case.

My feeling is that you may have had a viral attack. Thus you should treat it as a medical emergency until it is proven otherwise. This means you want to get in to see an ear specialist now. Any ear specialist that won’t see you today doesn’t understand about hearing loss being a medical emergency and is not a doctor you want to go to.

I suggest you read my short article on how to decide whether your hearing loss is likely a medical emergency or not called Sudden Hearing Loss–Medical Emergency or Just a Cold? After you have read it, click on the links there, and read the two articles to which it refers. Then you can decide for yourself what you want to do.

Me? I’d hurry to a knowledgeable ENT or preferably otologist today and see what they suggest. The common treatment for sudden hearing loss is a course of steroids (Prednisone) and also, if they suspect a virus, an antiviral drug as well. Time is of essence if this is a viral attack.

There are no guarantees that treatment will bring your hearing back–but you are giving yourself the best chance. You should also be aware that the latest research indicates that spontaneous hearing recovery without any treatment whatsoever occurs in from 30% to 60% of the cases of sudden hearing loss. As a result, taking a wait-and-see attitude may work–but if it doesn’t, by the time you finally seek medical help, it will be too late for the drugs to do much good.

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Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

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Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

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Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].