How to prevent hearing loss at a young age for someone living in Canada? Is it too late for a cure, if a person had just become deaf on one ear already?

Question

My hearing had been perfect all this time with no problem whatsoever. I am at a young age in my twenties and I don't indulge in loud music or noises like other young adults do. I eat healthy and I exercise regularly too. But one day, while I was at work in a restaurant, I took a short break in my car and slept for half an hour. After that, I got up from my sleep and went straight back to work.

Suddenly I felt that I couldn't hear properly on my left ear. The noise and voices were getting lower and lower and I could hear some rustling leaves noise in my left ear. You know that feeling that something is inside your ear and making that rustling leaves noise. So I thought that probably some water must have gotten inside my left ear and caused that noise inside my left ear. Strange as it might seem, I remember not having any water into my ears while showering or washing my face.

Perhaps I thought I might have hurt myself and injured my ear somehow and I probably didn't notice or feel anything hurting. However, nothing of such happened and it really baffled me as to why this is happening to me. I have a grandfather and uncle who both lost their left ear hearing completely due to some unknown reason. I was very worried that it could be genetics as well and the bad genes somehow got passed down to me through my grandfather. If anyone else had experienced something similar as this problem, I would very much like to know how they cured it or treated the problem.

Answer 1

When the last time my left ear starting loosing hearing, I wasn't concerned at first. I thought it was because I was tired from work and just sleepy and dreamy. After I got up from my sleep, my left ear hearing was gone and I sort of became deaf. I could not hear anything on my left ear. I was only 22 years old and the thought of going through life with one ear deaf had me panicking. I rushed myself to the nearest hospital but unfortunately I had to wait for about 6 hours before being seen by a Doctor specialized in treating hearing problems.

The doctor was surprised too to see how young I was and he said it is normal for people to go deaf for no reason. He prescribed me a medicine usually prescribed for people who underwent a deadly car accident, and who needed good blood circulation to survive. It was called "Prednisone" and this medicine was meant to circulate blood flowing throughout our body. He said to try it for two weeks and if this medicine doesn't help, then nothing will help anymore. This medicine was like the last and only option to get my hearing back.

I religiously took the prednisone medicine for about two weeks and during these time, I could feel my hearing coming back to me day by day. I was so happy to get my hearing back that on my next visit to the same doctor in his chamber. He did a complete hearing test on my left ear and I passed the test easily. I could even hear the most faint noise he could throw at me. So I asked the doctor what the reason could be for my hearing loss previously and he said he could only give me the following tips to prevent further hearing loss problem:

1. Do not listen to loud music using your ear phone. If you do want to use your head phone to listen to music, make sure it is turned up only up to 60% max volume. Do not go pass this 60% volume level, otherwise the music could damage your ear drum.

2. Do not out on your ear phone and fall asleep with it attached to your ear. My grandfather lost his hearing on one of his ear, when he did this for a few months.

3. Avoid going to a loud concert where they would be playing extremely loud music, as this could damage your hearing and caused permanent hearing loss. Avoid using some loud power tools such as loud drilling tools, cutting saw tools and other machinery. Use ear plug where possible.

4. Remove ear wax or ear dirt from your ear canal regularly whenever possible. Ear wax if left inside your ear canal for long, it could become hard and compacted making it difficult to remove it later on your own. Then you may need doctor's help to remove it later. Use proper ear wax removal tool. You can get them in most pharmacy stores.

5. Food allergy could cause hear loss as well in some people. I know someone who lost his hearing because he had been drinking soy milk drinks, every single day for many months. He was allergic to the drinks but he didn't know about it. The allergic reaction didn't show on his skin as hives or anything. In fact, the allergic reaction attacked his hearing slowly by slowly months after months. And one day, his hearing just went away suddenly. He somehow was able to get back his hearing after taking medications. Thereafter he stopped drinking soy milk drinks and he never lost his hearing again. Believe it or not, food allergy can cause such hearing loss problem.

6. Some medications will also cause diminished hearing problem. Let me tell you about a case where someone's hearing diminished because he was applying a type of skin cream on his face everyday. Strange as it might sound, this particular skin cream somehow affected his hearing. At first he wasn't sure the skin cream was causing the problem and he tried figuring out what was causing the problem. He tried to think what new routine he added to his life style or what new things is he applying or taking. He realised that the only new thing he introduced to his lifestyle was the new skin cream. Sure the skin cream helped him achieve a smooth and soft feel on his face, but on other hand, it caused his diminished hearing loss. After he stopped using the face cream, the hearing loss problem went away.

Answer 2

Watch video on "How you can improve your hearing at home, by doing some simple stuff and taking some common sense precaution":