Diagnosed with ssnhl on 6/26/2026

Posting my recent SSNHL experience if it helps anyone

Thursday June 25, 2026, I started having issues with my hearing. I felt like I was hearing everything underwater. By Friday morning, hearing was back to normal on my left but in my right ear I couldn’t hear anything. Overnight. Now normally, I would just assume that everything would get better but I happened to have a meeting with someone that day who told me the same thing had happened to them and they lost 40% in their ear. So, I took it a bit more seriously. An ER trip and ENT visit later it was determined that I had lost the ability to hear anything below 80 decibels and had 0% word recognition in my right ear.

Research and the doctors told me I had a 1 in 3 chance of getting it back if I did nothing and 50% to get something back with aggressive treatment in first two weeks of symptoms. I also found out that hyperbaric oxygen treatment can really help and just so happens North Kansas City Wound Care specializes in it. On July 1, I started the day with an injection to the ear and 130 minute stay in an oxygen chamber.

I didn’t know this was a thing and I was a little overwhelmed that you had to make so many decisions without really having time to think. For the injections or the HBOT to have meaningful impact you have to start within two weeks. I feel very fortunate insurance approved the full 20 sessions and I am seeing progress. My ENT seems suspect of it but I know the chances of HBOT improving your outcome drops from from 50% to 9% if you don’t start within two weeks…preferably 5-7 days after after onset. You don’t need a referral from your ENT. If you find a program in your area that specializes in it…they can help you with the paperwork. I think many ENT only recommend when steroids don’t deliver improvement. It will probably have minimal impact at that point. Dont wait!!

After five HBOT sessions and one injection, i could recognize human speech even though it sounded mechanical and far away. After 8 sessions speech sounds normal in my right ear now but at half the volume than my left ear. Also the fullness or absence of sound i had my right ear has largely resolved itself. It is hard to describe but the whole ear felt empty and full at the same time. As my hearing has improved that feeling has gone away. My higher frequencies are coming back faster so i hear s and t really well. The ent says when the hole from the injection heals the lower the frequencies should come back.

The cause is officially idiopathic but I did have covid in early june. I am convinced it was a combination of inflamation and microclot but unfortunately you never know.

Good luck to anyone going through this…advocate for yourself and don’t wait to see if one intervention resolves it. you have to throw the kitchen sink at it within two weeks for best chance at recovery.