Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss is a Medical Emergency

What is sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL)?
Sudden hearing loss is a frightening condition. It happens to between 300,000 and more than 1.2 million people around the world each year. A typical patient with SSNHL loses his or her hearing in one ear over a period of one to several days. SSNHL is often associated with a feeling of fullness and tinnitus in the involved ear. There may be dizziness or vertigo. Occasionally, the patient may report an upper respiratory infection prior to the onset of the hearing loss.

How is sudden sensorineural hearing loss treated?
Treatment with oral steroids within the first 2 weeks of the symptoms provides the best chance that some of the hearing may return. Several small studies have suggested that steroids injected into the middle ear can be beneficial, and this treatment may be offered to patients. A delay in treating this condition (2 weeks or more after the symptoms first began) will decrease the chance that medications might help improve the hearing loss.