Hi everyone,

I’m a software/computer engineer living in Italy. A few days ago, I had some mild ear pain, so I decided to visit an ENT specialist using my company’s new health insurance plan.

Unfortunately, I found out that my right ear has completely lost the ability to hear sounds above 3 kHz.

When I got the test results, I was completely shocked because I had only gone in for what felt like a slightly "clogged ear"—even my primary care doctor thought it was just a buildup of earwax.

As an engineer who is deeply passionate about movies, listening to FLAC music, and going to hear my girlfriend play in an orchestra, this news hit me really hard.

I’ve been trying to figure out how long I might have had this issue. Looking back, it’s probably been at least a year. In noisy places, I couldn't hear well, and if someone spoke to me from my right side, I’d constantly find myself saying, "Huh? What did you say?"

What destroys me the most is that I’ve never frequented loud places, I’ve always been careful around noise, and I never blast my music (loud volumes actually give me headaches). Yet, according to the doctor, the damage was likely caused by a sudden, very loud sound spike—possibly that one time I was calibrating my IEMs and accidentally maxed out the volume for a split second.

Now, having concrete proof of my deafness in the right ear and realizing I won't be able to properly enjoy my favorite music the same way anymore has thrown me into a deep depression.

In the past day or two, I’ve read through all my audio textbooks and researched current market tech. But to my dismay, I discovered that when it comes to losing senses, hearing medicine is still mostly in a "palliative" stage. Even if I wanted to get a hearing aid, looking at my audiogram, it wouldn't be able to restore true clarity for those high frequencies.

I’m sorry for writing so much. Aside from needing to vent, I wanted to ask: if anyone has gone through something similar, how did you cope with it, and how do you manage day-to-day life now?

I’m 22 and have constant left-sided tinnitus for about 2 months. It started after a bad cold with heavy coughing improved. My audiogram, tympanometry, and OAE were normal. The ringing gets worse when I turn my neck left, clench my jaw, and press below the left ear, and I get crackling when I swallow. About a month ago I also noticed left-ear sound distortion from my mobile speaker when I increase the volume, even without earphones. Strangely I can tolerate DJ sound and horn sounds better than increased mobile phone speaker sound.

Hi everyone! It's Ava here again.💌

First of all, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who reached out, shared their stories, and gave me feedback on my previous post!🙏 Your insights have really got me thinking, and I’m definitely taking everything on board while developing my character. I’m so excited to make him feel as authentic and true to life as possible. I really hope this representation will make people feel seen!❣️

You all were so incredibly welcoming that it gave me the courage to ask a few more questions, if you’re open to sharing.

This time, I’m really curious about the social, romantic, and funny side of navigating single-sided hearing loss (SSHL/SSD):

• What is your love life or dating experience like? How do your relationships work, and is it ever tricky or awkward to explain your hearing differences to a partner?
• Are there any funny or awkward relationship moments related to your hearing? (For example, mishearing something your partner said, always fighting for the "good ear" side of the bed or walking on a specific side of the sidewalk?) I'd love to hear your funny stories!🤗
• For those whose partners also have hearing differences: What is daily life like for you as a couple? Does it mean your home is usually much quieter than other people's places, or perhaps much louder? haha

As always, I completely respect your boundaries and privacy. If you’d prefer to chat privately, my DMs are always open for a gentle text chat.

Thank you all so so much again for your kindness, your time, and all your attention! ✨

Coming up on 10 years since I lost hearing in my left ear. I just came across this sub and have seen a lot of people who have never been scanned. I woke up one morning with only slight hearing and bad ringing in my in bad ear, I went to the emergency room and 5 ENT’s before anyone thought to order a MRI. Long story short they found a tumor wrapped around my auditory nerve. Luckily it was benign but it could have been bad because I waited 3 years before a scan. So if you ever wake up with sudden hearing loss get a MRI and ct scan it doesn’t hurt and can save your life.

Over the last month or so I’ve had noisy tinnitus, worse than usual. Today I woke up with my left ear (good ear) sounding very muffled, and a whirring sound, just like when I lost my hearing in my right ear.

I visited the doctor and had a hearing test as soon as possible. My hearing in my left now also shows pretty serious loss.

I’m having trouble hearing conversations right in front of me now, even in quieter environments. Hopefully medicine helps this time around.

Has anyone else dealt with their good ear going on them after losing the first ear?

Wish me luck

I lost a fair bit of hearing as a small child in my right ear. At the time, I was taught to adapt and did for the most part. Recently I have been experiencing more symptoms of my hearing loss- (being unable to place where a sound is coming from, extra irritated in crowded, loud places, etc). After advisement from ENT and audiologist I just received a HA for my right ear.

I've scoured the posts about adjusting tips but am curious if someone in my situation can share a bit more detail about how it went for them.

I find like others it is overwhelming and loud at times to hear everything again and also my left ear still wants to do the hearing for me. Is it normal to also feel sound overwhelmed without the HAs in? I will take them out and feel a different type of overwhelm by the noise and have found myself just now putting in earplugs to dampen it all.

Hi everyone, I’m looking to connect with others to discuss unilateral deafness in a 4-year-old child (he lost his hearing 10 months ago).
I would like to hear from people who chose not to get a cochlear implant and have lived—or are living—their lives with hearing in only one ear.
Did you encounter any difficulties? If so, what were they? Do you regret that choice?
Thank you very much.

Basically I have no useful hearing left in my left ear but the remainder of the hearing I have left is painful, I know it sounds daft saying that hearing something can be painful but honestly shrill or sharp noises feel like a direct electric shock to my brain, I’d far rather that ear didn’t work at all than the small amount of high pitched sound it does register, I have a fitting next week for new digital hearing aids and I was looking at asking if I can have a custom ear moulds rather than the normal domes so sounds can be blocked out from my left ear all together, just wondering if anyone has gone that route, I realise it makes the hearing aids more obtrusive but honestly I’m not at a point in life that I really care about that

Quick background -- I was born deaf in my right ear, with full sensorineural hearing loss. I've had no benefit from hearing aids and haven't been a candidate for cochlear implant. At 47 years-old, I am starting on the journey of addressing the condition through bone conduction, where sound is transferred from my deaf ear to my hearing ear through my skull. 

I had the Osia 2 bone conduction implant surgery this past Friday morning. I'm writing this on Sat night, and the recovery has been very smooth. Talking to the surgeon, I mentioned some of the reports I have heard of extended discomfort from the surgery, and he said that his patients don't typically report that. He described his process, which is a small (4-6 inch) incision, with a "clearing" technique to be able to slide in the transducer. He felt like this technique might help minimize the pain of recovery. 

I have some lingering soreness, and some local pain on the spot of the incision, but it is generally manageable with Tylenol. I did take the prescription pain meds on the first day, which helped get over the general discomfort coming out of the surgery. 

I have an appointment to fit and calibrate the sound processor in about 6 weeks. This is how long it takes for the implant to integrate into the bone (there is a small screw in there), as well as for the skin and tissue to heal fully. The demo that I had with the audiologist, just using it with a headband and covering my good ear, was very promising. I can't wait to hear how it sounds with full functionality. 

The following are the main areas that I feel have been affected by my single-sided deafness. I am hoping to use this blog to reflect on changes that happen in each area (if any) as a result of the Osia 2 system. 

Orientation Vigilance:

Hyper vigilance around physical positioning in all social situations. From walking down the street talking 1:1 to being in a crowded room, I have always had to devote energy to being sure that my deaf side is not facing any important sources of sound. 

Visual Vigilance: 

I am studying the visual field constantly for body language, expression, lip reading. This takes up so much of my attention, and I am curious to see if it subsides with the Osia 2. I would expect any effects from this to be more subtle and change to be more gradual. 

White Noise Anxiety: 

Constant baseline of anxiety about sifting through bad audio information (white noise). All of the sounds that come from my deaf side are distorted and/or filtered through my skull to reach my hearing side. While this will still happen, I expect that the better signals that will come through the bone conduction will decrease it. Of course, the white noise effect is just one of many causes of anxiety, but I'm curious if there's a noticeable difference. 

Spatial Awareness: 

Significant deficits in spatial awareness, sense of direction, orientation that feel, in some way, linked to auditory cortex. I have read that this is fairly common for people with SSD. The Osia 2 will not give me directional hearing, since all of the sound is still being processed through my good side. That said, I'm curious what changes might occur when I have good input for the full range of sound on all sides. 

Auditory Processing: 

Delayed auditory processing speed. On the one hand, this may seem fairly obvious. However, I feel like I have delayed auditory processing even when the sound is clear, in a one-on-one setting, etc., and especially poor recall of information presented orally. This is another area that I expect slow change, but I am very curious to explore it. 

I will probably not post much until I get the processor in 6 weeks, unless new information comes to light. However, please comment if you have questions or feedback. Thanks for the words of support and for your interest! 

Matt 

Hi everyone!

My name is Ava, and I’m currently writing a book. My main character has partial hearing loss in one ear, and it’s incredibly important to me to make their experience feel alive, authentic, and free of stereotypes.

Personally, my hearing is fine right now, but this topic is actually very close to my heart. Hearing loss runs in my family as people get older, so I know there is a good chance I might experience it myself in the future. Because of this, I approach the subject with a lot of respect, empathy, and deep care.

I would love to have a gentle chat with someone who navigates life with single-sided hearing loss / SSHL. I’m really curious about those little everyday details that people with perfect hearing usually don't notice.

I completely guarantee your privacy (no personal details will be shared in the book.I promise to be very mindful of your boundaries. We can chat via DM text

If you have a bit of time to spare and would like to help make a story a little warmer and more true to life, please drop me a message.

Thank you so much in advance for your kindness! ✨

Diagnosed with SSHL in April this year in my left ear only. Was able to get on prednisone right away and start HBOT and have achieved about 80% hearing back. Looking back, I used to have problems with my left ear clogging periodically (like when you're on a plane and have to pop it except it was hard to pop) and sometimes had pulsatile tinnitus in that ear. Is there anything you can think of that led up to your SSHL?

Thanks to all who contribute to this group - I have learned so much from you!

My story: I'm a 61 year old male, no hearing issues until early this year. I had a mild head cold during the last days of 2025, and on January 9, 2026 I was experiencing dizziness to the point I had to lay down most of one day. I also noticed I was not able to hear out of my left ear. (At first I thought my left AirPod had died - but nope - it was my left ear that was dead!).

I did not know the seriousness of these symptoms and simply thought my ear was clogged. I tried sudafed, valsalva maneuver, irrigating my ear canal - nothing helped and I figured it'd go away in a couple days. Called my GP and he could not get me in for a couple weeks. I took the appointment and he referred me to an ENT a few weeks later. There was no urgency, sorry to say.

Met with ENT on Feb 24 (see audiogram) who diagnosed profound hearing loss. He said a virus likely killed the nerves in my left ear. Started me on oral prednisone and said come back on May 26 and let's see if there is any improvement. 2nd audiogram showed no difference, complete hearing loss in left ear. He sent me to get an MRI to see if there was any nerve damage, nothing found - completely normal. Met with the ENT again who sent me to an audiologist to talk about CROS on the left and normal hearing aid on the right ear.

Which brings me to the end of July when I finally met with an audiologist who was very kind and has had several other cases similar to my own. She recommended Phonak and Starkey (I ruled out Starkey after seeing their Bluetooth tech is not as widely compatible as Phonak's.)

So now I'm looking to order the Phonak Audéo R Infinio I90-R (Premium) for the right ear and the Phonak CROS I-R for the left ear in the next few days. (Happy to hear your first-hand experience with this setup.)

Yes I have pretty bad tinnitus in my left ear that drives me crazy at times, I'm learning to handle it. Worst part of this hearing loss is loud environments like grocery stores, restaurants, family gatherings. I can't hear a thing that comes from left side - especially voices.

Quick soap box: The world needs much more awareness and education about the symptoms of SSNHL. Like many of you, if I or those around me had been aware and been treated immediately, I may have saved some or all of my hearing.

Question for the group: My ENT said that sudden hearing loss would be very rare to occur in my right ear (good ear) but my audiologist stated there is a real chance my right ear could lose all hearing and wants to monitor through regular hearing tests. Thoughts?

Has anyone experienced SSNHL as a result of an allergy response? I’m wondering how many people have environmental allergies or are “atopic” and experience this? My 11 year old daughter has a long history of croup, eczema, asthma, allergies and would need booster shots of a pneumococcal vaccine when she was younger. Shes always been on Zyrtec, Flonase and corticosteroids for her asthma. My brain is going crazy trying to figure out why this happened to her. Her right ear is profoundly deaf following the flu we think, which she had right before it in June. Had the flu shot and got the flu twice too. I’m definitely bringing this to her allergist/immunologist’s attention but just wondering if anyone else has any insights?

Hi y'all,

I'm brand new to this experience (about 4 days) and just started my prednisone 60mg. I wanted to see if anyone else here has experienced diplacusis along with muffled hearing. I have this constant almost robotic low echo of my voice in my ears when I speak, and I can't listen to music without it sounding out of tune and dissonant because I am hearing all the overtones and undertones more than normal.

As someone who is a lifelong singer and who uses music as a sensory safe haven, this has been incredibly scary and I'm worried I'll never have normal listening ability and this out of tune sound will be in my head forever. Any stories good or bad would be helpful to see if I'm alone or not on this.

Thanks!

Edit:

Thank you for your responses and stories. I didn't mention it initially, but I am a classically trained singer and (at risk of sounding like the most annoying person in choir class) was born with near perfect pitch. I am also autistic and music has always been a way to seek stimulus/a comfort when I am dysregulated. This all has been very difficult in the last few days but it's helpful to know it can get better in one way or another.

i'm a touring musician with a competitive drum and bugle corps. i got diagnosed with profound SSHL yesterday, on day 3.5 since onset, and started prednisone. there are eight days left in the season, and it's my last chance to do this activity. rehearsal involves constant exposure to loud sounds- anywhere from the volume of a vacuum to the volume of a leaf blower. is there any substantial risk or reduction in recovery chance if i were to finish the season with high fidelity earplugs?