A 28-year-old office worker called Hsiao Ching (a pseudomyn), who would always watch soaps wearing headphones and stay up into the night, suddenly experienced a loss of hearing in her left ear and went to see the doctor. The doc diagnosed her condition as sudden deafness. Fortunately, as she had immediately sought medical attention her hearing has now returned to 80 percent of its former level, thanks to a course of steroids and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).
Hsiao Ching, who has a lot of pressure at work, watches soaps and dramas to help her relax. She has always got her headphones on, when she’s commuting or in the evenings after she gets off work, and always has her eyes glued to the screen, engrossed in the plotlines of her favorite TV dramas. Recently, however, when she was watching a program, she couldn’t hear anything in her left ear, and changing her earphones made no difference. She went to the emergency department.
According to Chang Chia-chen, a doctor in the ear, nose and throat department of the Luodong Bo-ai Hospital, sudden hearing loss has many possible causes, including stress, viral infection, auto-immune disorders, medications, trauma, hormones, clogged arteries or tumors, and it is important for the patient to seek medical attention in the immediate aftermath of the onset of symptoms, preferably within 3 days of discovering an irregularity in one’s hearing, and to start receiving treatment within two weeks of the onset. If there is a delay before seeking medical attention, it will have a serious impact on the chances of having a full recovery.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者江志雄
Sudden hearing loss is mostly treated using steroids, supplemented by HBOT. The steroids can be administered orally or through injection, either into the ear or intravenously. If steroids are administered within two weeks of the onset of the symptoms the prognosis is very good; if this treatment is supplemented by HBOT, the hearing of around three-quarters of patients shows a clear improvement.
Chang says that young people under long-term stress and who are often tired and stay up late are particularly vulnerable to sudden hearing loss. Anyone feeling that their hearing has been affected on one side, or if they suddenly start experiencing tinnitus or dizziness, should seek medical attention as soon as possible. If they are diagnosed as having sudden hearing loss, in addition to receiving medical treatment, they should also endeavor to adjust their lifestyle, and to get the proper amount of rest and sleep, to ensure that the symptoms do not return.
(Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
宜蘭縣二十八歲女性上班族小靜（化名），經常帶耳機追劇又有熬夜習慣，左側耳朵突然聽不見緊急就醫，醫師診斷為突發性耳聾，所幸及時求診，接受類固醇與高壓氧治療後，聽力已恢復八成。
小靜因工作壓力大，透過追劇紓壓，每天通勤與下班後時間，幾乎都帶著耳機，雙眼緊盯螢幕，沈迷在連續劇的劇情裡，最近下班追劇時，左耳機沒聲音，連換二副耳機依然聽不見，連忙掛急診。
羅東博愛醫院耳鼻喉科醫師張家宸說，突發性耳聾病因很多，可能與壓力、病毒感染、自體免疫疾病、藥物、外傷、內分泌、血管阻塞、腫瘤有關，病患必須把握黃金治療時間，最好在發現聽力出現異狀三天內就醫，並在兩週內接受積極治療，若延誤就醫，聽力恢復效果將大打折扣。
目前針對突發性耳聾治療方式，以類固醇治療為主，高壓氧治療為輔，類固醇可經由口服、耳內注射針劑、靜脈注射，病發兩週內施以類固醇治療，多有不錯療效，如果再搭配高壓氧治療，約四分之三病人聽力獲得明顯改善。
張家宸說，長期疲累熬夜壓力大的青壯年，是突發性耳聾好發族群，若感到單側聽力變差、突發耳鳴、頭暈，應儘早就醫受檢，一旦是突發性耳聾確診病例，在接受治療之餘，也要一併調整作息，保持適當休息及充足睡眠，才能避免復發。
（自由時報）
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