My Ears

I am doing my best to not freak out about this... but it seems I am suffering from permanent hearing loss. I woke up on Sunday with this "whirrrr" sound in my ears and feelings of dizzyness and nausea. I have had some trouble with my ears in the last few weeks, which I associated with my jaw being locked and thus unable to drain everything properly. The pain went away w/ sinus meds and I thought I was on the mend. Turns out, not so. Yesterday I saw the doctor and they have referred me to an ENT specialist, who evidently has a really nice sound booth which my nurse practitioner could not stop raving about, but gave me the initial diagnosis of hearing loss. I was not too concerned because it seemed so clear to me that there was something in my ear, that the sound was just because I could not get my ears to pop. Then... I looked online at WebMD and this is what I found:

What are the symptoms?
Common symptoms of hearing loss include:

Muffled hearing and a feeling that your ear is plugged.
Trouble understanding what people are saying, especially when other people are talking or when there is background noise, such as a radio.
Listening to the TV or radio at a higher volume than in the past.
Avoiding talking with or being around other people.
Depression. Many adults may become depressed because of how hearing loss affects their social lives.
Other symptoms may include:

A ringing, roaring, hissing, or buzzing in the ear, called tinnitus.
Ear pain, itching, irritation, or fluid leaking from the ear.
A feeling that you or your surroundings are spinning (vertigo).


This pretty much describes me, except that my social life is yet to suffer. Has me feeling pretty flipped out. If this "whirr" and nausea is permanent, as the website implied, I will not be a very happy camper. Doesn't it seem strange that you can just wake up with hearing loss?? Grrr....