Jack started to develop a fairly significant hearing loss at the end of radiation and chemo and testing confirmed it. He does not have any fluid or signs of infection in his ears so we're being told there's nothing to treat.

He feels like he is always in a tunnel and that his ear are full, even though there is no fluid there. For those of you that had this, is it permanent or does it go away/improve over time?

Jack is only 5 weeks post radiation and finished the 4th cycle of cisplatin last week so we realize he will continue to have side effects for several months. We just want a better idea of how common the hearing loss is and if anyone found anything that helped them.

Regards JoAnne

Ototoxicity, most specifically, high-end hearing loss, is a very common side effect of cisplatin and I am somewhat surprised you were not told about this beforehand. I think this can resolve somewhat but not always and not completely. It is the reason my husband Barry's medical oncologist did not want to give him this drug (he already had high-end hearing loss due to infections as a kid, plus normal aging). This hearing loss was affecting his ornithological work and he wanted to avoid additional damage as much as possible. He was given carboplatin which our MO said is giving her as good results as cis.

Our radiation oncologist also said that he would develop a radiation plan which would avoid radiating my husband's inner ears, so it appears that radiation too can affect hearing.

There is also the possibility -- since your husband says his ears feel "full" -- that he has some inflammation of tissue or the eustachian tube which is exacerbating the feeling of "water in the ears." Would expect this to resolve eventually.

Probably want to have an ENT examine him more thoroughly in a month or so. My husband had a post-treatment hearing test about 2-3 months after end of chemoradiation -- it showed no change from pre-treatment -- and that was about the recommended interval per our ENT.

Gail

Thanks Gail,

I appreciate the information and it is a high frequency hearing loss so now I understand what's going on. They discussed a lot of side effects with us but I don't remember this one.

We have a follow up with the ENT on Friday and I will ask if he sees any fluid or inflammation. The RO didn't find anything but I'll feel better if the ENT checks it out. The RO told me that the radiation could have affected Jack's hearing but felt it was too soon to tell.

It seems we're in a wait and see mode for everything these days. Thanks for your response and I'll follow up with the ENT.

Regards JoAnne

Now wait a minute. I had Cisplatin and radiation and it fried all of my eustacian tubes, hence no drainage until they recovered. It took quite a while and I had pretty bad hearing loss during that time. Eventually it recovered and subsequent hearing tests actually showed an improvement in my midrange hearing sensitivity. Fluid buildup DID show up on my MRI's. It's not something they can palpate.

It isn't treatable - you just have to ride it out.

As Gail stated, the ototoxicity effect of Cisplatin is a a common side effect along with it's nephrotoxicity (the effects are far more severe in children). Only a few people here have had to cease and desist it because of it however. The adverse effects occur fairly quickly during treatment and it is reversible if the treatment is stopped early. Baseline audiology testing should be standard as well as regular testing during and after treatment. It is one of the most effective chemo agents for H&N cancer so the risk/benefit factors must be carefully weighed. Carboplatin has shown itself to be less ototoxic.

High frequency loss would is quite expected both from aging and also fluid buildup. It would be like coming down in an airplane before your ears popped. I had earaches from the pressure as well - it eventually resolved itself as the tissues in my burned out throat healed themselves and proper drainage was once agsain restored..

Ototoxicity can even be caused by some antibiotics and even aspirin: check out this link:

http://www.bcm.edu/oto/grand/62305.htm

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the link, I checked it out and you're right there are lots of issues here. In addition to the cisplatin and radiation Jack was hospitalized for an infection towards the end so he also received a course of antibiotics.

I'm glad to know that your hearing recovered, it's encouraging. We don't mind riding it out as long as we have some idea on what it is. At least the fried eustasian tubes explains why they are not picking anything up on exam. He had a hearing test 2 weeks ago so we have a baseline to compare future evaluations to.

Could be worse...with this kind of luck why aren't more of us playing lotto?
Regards JoAnne

John developed hearing problems after the second cisplatin dose and they continued for the rest of the treatment. Some tinnitus - his his case a combo of buzzing and ringing- as well as general distortion. Not only did he say 'pardon?' a lot any abrupt loudish noise would make him jump a mile.

We were told that the cisplatin and the radiation might negatively affect his hearing but, for the most part ( 6 months post-treatment), his hearing has returned to close to normal although he still has some ringing from time to time.

Mary