I have headaches after sudden hearing loss. Am I going to be okay?

If symptoms accompanying sudden hearing loss—such as tinnitus, aural fullness, or recruitment (hypersensitivity to sound)—persist, the brain remains in a constantly stimulated state, which can lead to severe stress.

For those who are already susceptible to physical ailments due to weather changes or prone to migraines, it is not uncommon for this stress to act as a trigger, causing persistent headaches.

As temporary relief, wearing an earplug in the good ear to balance hearing or consuming a moderate amount of coffee (caffeine) may help alleviate the pain.

When hearing becomes difficult in one ear due to sudden hearing loss, you unconsciously tend to tilt your head or body to listen with your "good ear" only.

If this posture persists, the muscles in your neck and shoulders become severely tense, which easily disrupts the balance of blood flow to the brain and inner ear. As a result, you may experience what is known as postural headaches, or find that pre-existing migraines become more intense.

If you feel that "neck and shoulder stiffness has become severe recently" or that "your head starts to ache after staying in the same position for a long time," it is possible that changes in your posture are influencing your headaches.

Physicians view sudden hearing loss as a condition where inflammation is occurring in the inner ear. Therefore, a large dose of steroids is administered over a short period to suppress the inflammation, after which the dosage is gradually reduced.

Normally, steroid hormones are produced by the adrenal glands. However, once the administration of external steroids stops and if the natural secretion from the adrenal glands remains low (becoming depleted in the body), symptoms such as fatigue and headaches may appear. This is why you might feel unwell after steroid treatment has concluded.

After finishing steroid treatment, starting with gentle aerobic exercises like walking can help improve blood circulation and often alleviates headaches.

Steroids can also affect neurotransmission in the brain, which may lead to mood swings.

When the anxiety caused by sudden hearing loss is combined with the physical changes following treatment, it can lead to low moods and make one more susceptible to headaches.

While light or sound stimuli may sometimes intensify the headache, going outdoors within a comfortable range—once you feel your mood has stabilized enough to go out—can serve as a helpful change of pace and lead to the alleviation of the headache.

It is not uncommon for headaches to persist even after the initial treatment for sudden hearing loss has concluded. Underlying factors may include a weakened immune system following steroid treatment, misalignment of the neck, or a tendency toward poor circulation in the calves (often called the "second heart")—**a physical predisposition sometimes referred to as an "infarction-prone constitution."**

To alleviate the pain, it is important to be mindful of a **lifestyle that improves overall blood circulation.** Try to incorporate the following points within a comfortable range.

Aim to take a bath in water around 40°C about two hours before bedtime. Bathing until you just begin to perspire warms the body and helps you fall asleep more easily.

Start with light aerobic exercises, such as walking, 3 to 4 times a week for a duration that feels manageable for you.

It is important to cut back on heavily seasoned or greasy foods and focus on a diet that does not place undue strain on your blood pressure or blood sugar levels.

Reviewing habits like bathing, exercise, and diet is extremely important for managing headaches and general physical health following sudden hearing loss. In fact, many patients see improvement through these changes alone.

However, if there is severe poor circulation, physical misalignment, or a significant imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, lifestyle improvements by themselves may not be enough to facilitate a full recovery.

In such cases, please consider it an option to seek a professional assessment of your physical condition and incorporate medical treatments or acupuncture to support your recovery process.

Hospital treatments often focus on symptomatic therapy, aimed at suppressing pain and inflammation or providing current symptom relief. In contrast, acupuncture performs **whole-body treatment to resolve the true cause**, based on the Oriental medicine philosophy of "treating the illness before it manifests," addressing not just current symptoms but the body's overall state.

*Acupuncture is not covered by insurance. Please be aware that treatment methods, efficacy, and fees for sudden hearing loss vary between clinics.

At our clinic, we use medical thermography and cardiovascular ultrasound to check for common causes of sudden hearing loss that steroids may not resolve, such as **infarction-prone constitution**, **neck or body misalignment**, and **autonomic nervous system imbalance**.

**We select effective acupuncture points after hearing tests and full-body examinations**, and we can build a treatment plan tailored to your schedule. If you are struggling with persistent headaches, tinnitus, or ear fullness after sudden hearing loss, please feel free to contact us via our free consultation form.