September 22, Monday — Day 1: Sudden onset
Woke up in the morning with a blocked feeling in the right ear; the left ear was normal. I assumed it was just ear congestion or possibly otitis media, something that would resolve on its own, so I didn’t pay much attention.
September 23, Tuesday — Day 2
In addition to the blocked sensation, I noticed an echo when hearing external speech. I started to feel something was wrong, but I still didn’t think it was serious and prioritized work.
September 25, Thursday — Day 4
After watching many videos, I suspected it might be sudden sensorineural hearing loss. I decided to go to the hospital the next day. By this point, I had already missed the commonly mentioned “72-hour golden window.”
September 27, Saturday — Day 6: Hospital diagnosis
In the morning, I visited Nanjing Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine for diagnosis. The doctor considered it to be sudden sensorineural hearing loss. I was confused by the term “considered”—did that mean the diagnosis was uncertain?
The doctor prescribed medication and said the condition was currently characterized by low-frequency hearing loss and was not particularly severe.
I was instructed to take the medication as prescribed, relax, maintain regular sleep, and adopt a healthy lifestyle.
I slept well that day.
September 28, Sunday — Day 6
After waking up, I felt the blocked sensation in the ear had eased slightly, but there was noticeable tinnitus in the right ear, like a passing subway sound. The volume was not very loud.
September 30, Tuesday — Day 9
In the morning, I suddenly felt hearing loss in both ears. After a while, the left ear returned to normal, while the right ear remained unchanged. This frightened me.
There was no obvious improvement in hearing, but the feeling of fullness seemed to have eased slightly. I felt the medication might be working on the right ear, but I was not sure.
October 8, Wednesday
From this day onward, tinnitus became more noticeable. The sound seemed to persist around the 400–500 Hz range.
There was no improvement at all.
October 9, Thursday
I went to Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital in Nanjing for another ear examination. After the check-up, I received intravenous infusion therapy.
October 10
Second infusion. No symptom relief.
October 11
Third infusion. No improvement. Low- and mid-frequency tinnitus was obvious, accompanied by a “whooshing subway train” sound.
October 12
Fourth infusion.
October 13
No infusion due to a busy work schedule.
October 14
Follow-up visit at the hospital. Right ear hearing had nearly returned to normal (within the 25 dB threshold). Medication was continued.
October 23
Significant improvement. The right ear could barely detect any noise, and tinnitus had disappeared. The only remaining difference compared to the left ear was a slight hearing reduction in the 125–500 Hz range, accompanied by mild pitch distortion.
November 21 — Day 29 since onset, Day 24 since first treatment
Low-frequency tinnitus has significantly weakened and is almost unnoticeable. What remains is a very faint noise similar to a radio static signal that cannot find a station.
There is a slight difference in perceived loudness at 125 Hz and 250 Hz between the two ears. Hearing in the right ear is slightly worse than the left in the 125–250 Hz range (or generally below 250 Hz), accompanied by noticeable pitch distortion.
At 500 Hz and above, both ears are almost identical, though still with very subtle tonal differences.
November 12
It has been 51 days since onset and 46 days since initial treatment. The right ear is about 5 dB worse than the left at 125 Hz and about 10 dB worse at 250 Hz. Other frequency ranges are nearly identical.
When making phone calls, there is noticeable diplacusis (double hearing) when using the right ear. In daily life, this effect is not very noticeable compared to before.