I just had my forth doctor's visit today. I took another audiogram to compare results with my last visit which was 4 weeks ago. To my surprise my hearing is still recovering, at a slower pace than my previous test, which was expected from the last conversation I had with my doctor on my last visit.
My word recognition is at ~80% and my hearing is at 50dB which is pretty darn good. I'm at a level that I can start wearing a hearing aid which was always my goal. On the down side the hearing aid will only help me when I'm in loud environments, which I would consider 5% of my time. The investment is really not worth it for such a small amount of time.
This is what my doctor said about considering a hearing aid: Since your hearing has recovered so much and can hear normal conversation frequencies, in a relatively quiet environment (office, house, car conversation) then there is not really a need for a hearing aid. Ultimately its going to be up to me and what I want to do and how much I can afford.
Honestly at this point in my recovery, I dont really see the need of a hearing aid since I have been able to adapt very well.
I will continue to monitor my hearing with some additional audiogram in 6 months time. I'm intrigued to see if my hearing continues to improve, even if its still at a relatively slow pace.
Roberto, I am so very happy for you & you have no idea how much hope this gives me. We are at about the same levels & to think improving still occurs so many weeks out is very comforting. I agree it's not a full recovery, but the fact that I can hear conversations, phone calls, etc shows progression when I didn't think that was ever possible. I am going to an ENT at Duke & he told me yesterday that his patients do continue to progress well after the "medication" phase. It is clear in your case, he is right! I had my 2nd injection yesterday & my hearing test had improved a small amount across the board & my word recog is still at 100%. I am not sure about hearing aids as of right now. This is my 3rd week into this so I'm going to give it a bit more time before I decide. Loud places are like sensory overload for me at the moment so I am just going to have to give that some time to see how I adjust. I still have 1 more test next week so we'll see how that goes. Again, I am so happy for you & your positive outlook is so reassuring so don't lose that. How is your tinnitus now? Keep healing! Sari
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