How soon should hearing resolve itself after a cold?

April 2, 2023 9:32 AM

I had a cold this past week including terrible earaches on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I can barely hear in one ear and I'm having some...sound? in my hears. A sort of high tone on one side and a constant humm? in the other (this one keeps making me look at the window thinking its drizzling). I assume this will resolve itself. How long is it reasonable to wait?

Many years ago I lost much of the hearing in one ear as a complication of unrelated surgery. That was eventually resolved by putting tubes in my ears (the kind kids get -- a remarkably simple procedure done in 5 minutes on the spot in-office on the same day of the initial consult with the specialist if you're old enough that you can be trusted to stay still without general anesthesia).

Anyway, that took months between when I first complained of not hearing (when I woke up from surgery) and then getting the doctor to take me seriously and then waiting for the specialist appointment. If I need tubes again, I want to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. So I need to know, at what point should I assume this isn't going to resolve itself and go get my hearing tested so I can show up at the doctor's office results-in-hand (which is what worked last time).

posted by If only I had a penguin... to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

My inclination would be to give it a couple more weeks, and take decongestants during that time to encourage everything to drain.

I would also email my doctor a "hey, this is happening, and I'm concerned that it might be the same problem as last time, but I'm giving it a couple of weeks and doing a, b, and c, to see if it settles down," just to start the clock and hopefully avoid the initial appointment where they send you home to give it two *more* weeks before they take it seriously.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:49 AM on April 2, 2023

You should go see an ENT immediately. If your hearing loss is sensorineural, rather than cased by blockage, then it could be permanent unless you are treated with steroids immediately.
posted by unhappyprofessor at 10:07 AM on April 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

What unhappyprofessor said. A family member went to the ENT in a similar circumstance and was told, good thing you didn't wait because we can treat this now with steroids.
posted by tuesdayschild at 11:32 AM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I already got over the counter steroids at the pharmacists suggestion. Am I good? I mean I can't just walk into an ENT office.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:30 PM on April 2, 2023

Over the counter steroids? Where are you? In the US this would be a prescription, but anyway, no, you need an ENT. In some cases of sensorineural hearing loss they will inject them into your eardrum. Don’t fuck around with your hearing. (Also what you are experiencing is tinnitus. It can occur as a result of COVID. Did you test?)
posted by HotToddy at 12:44 PM on April 2, 2023

Response by poster: Yes I tested multiple times and was negative. I had a terrible dry cough. I'll call my doctor in the morning. I'm in Canada. I got fluticasone.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:56 PM on April 2, 2023

Came back to say that when I said steroids I meant the kind that are injected into the ear. Do whatever you can to get an ENT referral/appointment.
posted by unhappyprofessor at 2:47 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Btw, audiologists are constantly calling me and nagging me to check my hearing. I'm pretty should I COULD just walk into an audiologists office. Would an audiologist know enough to tell if this is a cold I need to wait out vs. something I need to be treated?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 3:15 PM on April 2, 2023

Hopefully it's from excess ear wax. For which the treatment is getting them irrigated. And, man, will you ever hear that -- it's reminiscent of the sound of a jack hammer. On your eardrums. But, oh what a relief it is to hear clearly again.
posted by y2karl at 4:23 PM on April 2, 2023

As unhappyprofessor and others have said, it is extremely important that you get this checked out as soon as possible. Oral steroids can actually work for hearing loss caused by damage to the auditory nerve if taken early enough -- when it happened to me, I was mercifully able to avoid having the steroids injected. However, you really need to see an ENT regarding the proper steroid to take and the proper dosage. From what I can see online, fluticasone looks more like an allergy/asthma treatment than something that would help with nerve damage, if that is what you have.
posted by Dolukhanova at 1:00 PM on April 3, 2023

Response by poster: So I talked to my family doctor today and he is confident I don't have the thing requiring hardcore steroids, but just the thing requiring decongestion, which is apparently going to take 3-4 weeks.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:08 PM on April 3, 2023