{"id":7631,"date":"2023-10-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=7631"},"modified":"2023-10-07T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T12:00:00","slug":"hearing-loss-is-a-side-effect-of-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=7631","title":{"rendered":"Hearing Loss Is a Side Effect of COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00b7April 14, 2023 Candy Gibson, Kim Gibson et al.\u00a0BMJ Case Reports<\/em>; Auditory Neuroscience<\/a> Featured<\/a> Neuroscience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>A link has been discovered between COVID-19 infection and sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). Upto one-third of patients referred to audiologists for SSHL were previously diagnosed with COVID-19. Other studies report an increase in SSHL in those with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A <\/a>University of South Australia nursing lecturer has used her own COVID-19 experience to inform research into a little-known side effect of the virus \u2013 sudden deafness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Gibson, a registered nurse with a clinical background in neonatal intensive care, has documented her experience with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) five weeks after testing positive to COVID-19. She was fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her findings and recommendations are published in the latest edition of the British Medical Journal<\/em> Case Reports<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gibson developed acute hearing loss in one ear, along with vertigo and tinnitus several weeks after experiencing a mild COVID-19 infection in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was referred to an otolaryngologist who confirmed sensorineural hearing loss, a little known and poorly understood side effect of COVID-19 that is not listed as a common symptom on most websites, or by GPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A course of oral prednisolone and betahistine was prescribed, and Gibson\u2019s hearing slowly improved over subsequent months, although she continues to experience intermittent tinnitus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe evidence around the short and long-term impacts of COVID-19 and vaccines is still emerging and the aim of this paper is to highlight the lesser-known side effects of the virus,\u201d Gibson says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe that clinicians should include sudden hearing loss as a potential side effect of COVID-19 when talking to patients. High-dose corticosteroids are a recommended first line of treatment for SSNHL and it is important that GPs promptly refer patients to specialists as soon as symptoms develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHearing loss and associated symptoms can have a significant impact on a person\u2019s quality of life \u2013 they did in my case \u2013 and are closely related with anxiety and depression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gibson said that despite working in health education, she was not aware of COVID-19 causing hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was a shocking experience for me that had a significant impact on my quality of life for several months as I had never had any problems with hearing before; not even an ear infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was unable to drive a car while experiencing severe vertigo. I needed to reduce my workload, negotiate flexible working hours with my employers and take a leave of absence from study. This was all due to a mild COVID-19 infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was worried that the hearing loss would be permanent and that I would need a hearing aid. I now feel very nervous about a second COVID-19 infection. What if I experience this again, or even worse?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, sudden sensorineural hearing loss \u2013 also known as sudden deafness \u2013 occurs when you lose your hearing very quickly, typically only in one ear. It can happen instantly or over a span of several days. People can experience mild hearing impairment or total loss of hearing and it may be temporary or permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous studies have linked SSNHL with COVID-19, as well as a potential side effect of COVID vaccination, but the evidence is still limited, Gibson says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy experience shows that even people who have a minor COVID-19 infection could be at risk of potentially permanent and debilitating long-term effects. High quality, person-centred care is so critical.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study<\/a> of hearing loss during the pandemic showed that approximately one third of patients with SSNHL were positive with COVID-19 when they were referred to an audiologist. Other studies<\/a> reported an increase of SSNHL in 2020 and 2021, including among asymptomatic people<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00b7April 14, 2023 Candy Gibson, Kim Gibson et al.\u00a0BMJ Case Reports; Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience Summary:\u00a0A link has been discovered between COVID-19 infection and sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). Upto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[761,766,206,919,579,607,622],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concerns","category-corticosteroids","category-hearing","category-prednisolone-prednisone","category-tinnitus","category-vaccine-news","category-vertigo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}