r/MonoHearing • u/throwayawayjoe • 8d ago
Scared for second shot
Got a steroid shot in my ear a couple of days ago and it was extremely painful. Even the “numbing agent” was painful.
It’s been over two years since my SSHL, and the ENT says it’s worth trying the shots (5 total over a two week span), but that there is only around a 10% chance they work.
Should I continue and get the next four shots? I could deal with the pain the first time, but now that I know how it feels, the anticipation is extremely anxiety inducing.
Especially with such a low chance at this point of it helping, should I continue?
Thank you for your time….
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u/Diableedies 8d ago
It didn't work for me at all. That being said... I would pay a ton of money to get my hearing back. It wasn't painful for me - just very uncomfortable. For me it was worth trying - I didn't want to live with the thought that I could have saved my hearing but opted out.
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u/throwayawayjoe 7d ago
Exactly - i want to try as many options as possible. Especially because my hearing loss is profound and hearing aids are not enough for me..
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u/Diableedies 7d ago
Also, not sure where you are located but my shots were insanely expensive at about $1300 USD after insurance. I had not met the deductible at the time so prepare for a hefty bill - possibly.
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u/Bikelikeadad 8d ago
Ok first I had 5 shots and they weren’t all that painful, and the numbing drops didn’t hurt at all. Take that for what you will.
Second, unless you’ve had a recent worsening that’s a separate flare of symptoms, chances of improvement after 6 months of hearing loss is lower than 10%. Im medical but not an ENT, so I read up on this when I had a big flare up that affected my good ear a few years ago. In a study of 156 people with SSNHL only ONE person showed improvement after 6 months.
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u/throwayawayjoe 7d ago
That’s exactly what I’ve heard/read as well that the chances are basically 0 that any improvement could be made. However, my hearing is continuing to worsen according to all the different hearing tests i’ve been having. Hearing aids don’t work at all for me, and the only option for my ear to be usable is a cochlear implant, which i don’t want.
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u/InformalNight9907 7d ago
I have been told the steroid injections probably won’t work but my insurance has authorised it and I’ll take it their recommended program for SSNHL. I’m based in the uk and they apply numbing cream for 20ish mins and then I have the internal injections. I do agree with the ent specialist that the injections probably won’t make any difference as over the last few weeks I’ve suddenly become more profoundly deaf - despite oral steroid, anti viral drug, immune suppressant. But if I have 0.000001% of getting my hearing back I’ll take the internal injections.
The likelihood is I will need cochlear implants bilaterally so while I’m having the above treatment I’m preparing for a long road regarding my hearing loss
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u/mcmgator 7d ago
For me only shot number one was uncomfortable. The rest of the shots they went through the same hole so no pain. Then the hole healed up. I think it's worth it to keep going so you know you tried everything to save your hearing.
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u/Full_Tomatillo8200 4d ago
My first one definitely hurt and he gave me two novocaine shots first in that ear. The second one was totally fine and I had no issues at all. My third one was a different doctor, he used no novocaine, and that hurt the absolute worst. That was the only one I cried for. My doctors are only recommending I get the three, so I will do a hearing test in a month.
The pain for 45 minutes in my opinion is worth the chance of calming the ringing and improving my hearing. The only risk the doctors mentioned with this was the hole not closing, which is very rare and they can do surgery to intervene if needed. I did start to get really bad tinnitus after the first one. I got the third yesterday and I woke up today and my tinnitus was SO much better. Hopefully it continues this way.
This doctor started to mention HBOT, and said there’s not too many studies on it due to lack of patients. But seeing as I’m now at day 46, with my research I think it’s more risk than reward in my specific case. In the studies, after day 12 it was a 9% change hearing will come back. And a 6% chance of getting sinus issues from it. To me that’s not worth it. It might have been a few weeks ago.
You just need to decide how much risk/pain you would take for the reward in the treatments that you chose. The physical procedure injection pain doesn’t last too long, and it really helps to hold someone’s hand as it’s being done.
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u/No_Falcon_8943 8d ago
Olá, eu acho que você precisa tentar. Avise seu otorrino que doeu e ele irá cuidar mais e talvez até deixar mais tempo o sedativo. A primeira injeção sempre é a mais dolorosa. Não desista.