Can sudden hearing loss recover even after some time has passed since its onset?

Even if time has passed since the onset of sudden hearing loss, changes in hearing and opportunities for recovery can still be found.

Even after hospital treatment has concluded, there are still potential approaches and key points to consider depending on the individual's condition.

The graph below belongs to a patient who had actually passed the 6-month mark since onset and was told by the hospital that "recovery would be difficult." About three and a half months after starting treatment at our clinic, low-frequency hearing recovered to the normal level (30dB).

As seen here, it is not uncommon for hearing itself to recover, in addition to improvements in aftereffects.

*Treatment results may vary among individuals.

Sudden hearing loss is believed to be caused by acute inflammation in the inner ear, so hospitals primarily utilize steroid-based treatments.

Steroids promote hearing recovery by suppressing inflammation, and they are considered to be most effective when administered in the early stages after onset.

If sufficient improvement is not observed even after steroid treatment, you may be told that "there is little else that can be done" at the hospital.

This usually does not mean "you will never recover," but rather that the standard treatments available at the hospital have reached a logical endpoint.

After that, it is common to monitor the progress of your hearing while using medications such as Adenosine Triphosphate (Adephos) or Mecobalamin (Vitamin B12).

While sudden hearing loss is often thought of as simply an "ear disease," in reality, it is frequently connected to the condition of the entire body, not just the ears.

Even after hospital treatment has concluded, factors affecting your hearing may still remain depending on your physical condition.

When we examine patients who did not see sufficient improvement with hospital treatment, we often find that their bodies are tense due to excessive stress, or that blood flow to the inner ear is obstructed by misalignment in the neck or body balance.

These conditions can sometimes become more apparent as time passes. Even for those who have passed the several-month mark since onset, these issues may persist as barriers preventing the recovery of hearing.

By re-evaluating the body's condition and focusing on factors such as stress, blood flow, and posture, some patients begin to notice changes in their hearing.

This does not mean that it "suddenly cures itself after a long time." Rather, it is easier to understand it as: once the factors hindering recovery are resolved, positive changes in hearing are more likely to occur.

While sudden hearing loss tends to respond better the sooner treatment begins, many cases still see changes in hearing even after about one month has passed.

In fact, many patients visit us about 3 to 4 weeks after onset, once they have finished hospital treatment. Depending on the care received during this period, the condition of their hearing can still change significantly.

Once several months have passed since onset, the brain begins to recognize the state of "reduced hearing" as the new standard. Consequently, the pace of improvement tends to be slower compared to the period immediately after onset.

However, even at this stage, if you continue to experience discomfort such as tinnitus, resonance, or sound distortion, it suggests that there may still be room for adjustment and improvement in your hearing.

If more than a year or several years have passed since onset, dramatic changes rarely occur within a short period.

Even so, we often see improvements in daily life quality, such as a reduction in tinnitus or the feeling of fullness in the ear, and easier listening in everyday situations.

At this stage, rather than focusing solely on "restoring original hearing levels," it is important to assess your current condition and address the factors affecting your hearing one by one.

As time passes after the onset of sudden hearing loss, many people feel, "I've gotten used to it more than at the beginning," or "It doesn't bother me as much as it used to."

While such changes are not uncommon, it is important to note that this does not always mean actual "recovery."

When a state of reduced hearing persists, the brain may accept that condition as the standard, leading you to feel that "the discomfort has lessened."

In this case, even if the actual hearing level has not significantly improved, you might subjectively feel that "it seems to have gotten better."

When hearing is reduced in one ear, the body unconsciously tries to compensate for the sound using the good ear.

As a result, even if you no longer have trouble with daily conversation, you may be unknowingly placing a burden on your good ear.

Even if you feel you are "living without problems," tests often reveal that a significant gap in hearing ability between the left and right ears remains.

Therefore, for sudden hearing loss where time has passed, it is important not to judge based on sensation alone, but to objectively assess and think through your current condition once more.

Sudden hearing loss is often classified as "sensorineural hearing loss of unknown cause," but in reality, it is not uncommon for blood flow conditions and stress to be involved.

At our clinic, we use medical thermography to check body surface temperature and understand the overall condition before applying acupuncture focused on stress and blood flow irregularities.

By organizing the body's condition, the factors affecting hearing become easier to identify, which can lead to subsequent positive changes.

For those who have passed the early stages of onset, combining acupuncture with sound therapy is more effective.

Since sound is processed not only by the ears but also by the brain, sudden hearing loss can sometimes cause the brain to become hypersensitive to sound.

In sound therapy, we perform rehabilitation using sounds tailored to your hearing condition, aiming to adjust the balance of how the ears and brain perceive sound.

Since hearing often recovers, unpleasant tinnitus, sound distortion, and aural fullness gradually become less bothersome.

*At our clinic, we process Mozart quartets according to the patient's hearing level and conduct sound therapy where patients distinguish sounds using bone conduction headphones.

For high-frequency hearing loss, it is effective to distinguish the sound of the violin, and for low-frequency hearing loss, the cello.

When time has passed since onset, it is natural to feel anxious and wonder, "Is it too late now?" However, many people visit our clinic harboring these same fears and are actually seeing improvements. The duration since onset does not determine everything.

At our clinic, we do not view this as solely an ear problem, but re-evaluate it from the perspective of your entire body's "constitution."

Supporting the "Power to Heal": Acupuncture helps the weakened parts of the body and enhances your natural ability to recover. While we cannot make a medical "promise of a complete cure," we can support your body with an approach different from medication.

Improving "Blood Circulation" to Prevent Recurrence: It is said that individuals with poor blood flow or a constitution prone to blockages are more susceptible to this condition. We examine the entire body to check for such constitutional tendencies. By caring for your constitution, we can also reduce the anxiety of recurrence.

If you are even slightly wondering, "Is it okay to leave it like this?", that thought can be the catalyst to change your current situation.

Even if you were told at the hospital that "further improvement is difficult," please let us examine you once before giving up. You do not need to force yourself to make a decision. Why not start by simply understanding the current state of your body together with us?