Hello, I am new to this forum. Writing on behalf of my sister. She was first diagnosed with tongue cancer in July�06. At the time had minor surgery followed by ~ 35 IMRT treatments. Her cancer returned in Nov�09. She had a full glossectomy, along with removal of larynx and lymph nodes both sides, end of Dec�09.

The one thing she did not expect is that she has a significant loss of hearing. Six weeks after surgery and she says her hearing is about 60% of what it was. I have read other posts tying hearing loss to Cisplatin, but she has never had any chemo. I believe radiation can cause hearing loss, but she had the radiation 3 1/2 years ago, and no problems with hearing until the surgery last December.

A week after the operation, I asked her surgeon about it and he was puzzled. He said none of the drugs she was given in the hospital (inc. antibiotics) was known to cause hearing loss. She had the surgery at Stanford Medical Center and her surgeon has done hundreds of similar operations.

So the current thinking is that swelling in the neck, which she still has a fair amount of, may be pressing on the Eustachian tubes and causing this. I would like to be able to reassure her, but I can�t find any hard evidence that this is the case.

Does anyone have a similar experience or explanation? Many thanks.

Marc,

I have similar issues with my hearing. My ENT said is most likely caused by swelling of the Eustachian tubes. I am getting a CT scan next month and he wants to take a look at how that looks.

Me mentioned that the pressure does not want to even out and can cause that muffled hearing I have been getting. I took a flight the other day and it took me a while to get my ears back in sync with ground pressure but I was able to get them to come around.

The ENT said that if my problem persists, he can put tubes in the ears to help with the pressure.

I got a hearing test while I was at it and I qualify for a hearing aid on the left side and am close on the right. I think this was from a previous ear infection on the left and difficulty on top of that in both ears after the radiation.

I was treated to the soft palet, so the field of radiation did hit the ears pretty good.

Your sister sounds like a real fighter. Have her come on the boards here any time or keep us up to date on her progress yourself if you can.

Kelly

After radiation I had to get a tube in my left ear. I was already wearing hearing aides prior to the discovery of my cancer. My ent just checked a few weeks ago and said the tube is in the proper place. My hearing has gotten worse since the radiation. I now keep my current hearing aides almost up to the max they can go and still manage to bother people with my "what"?
Good luck to your sister and to the family.

Hi Kelly and wfc, thank you to both of you. I will pass on this information. She has an appt. with the specialists next week, so we'll see what they say.

Thanks again!

my future father in law just ended his 7 weeks of cisplatin and radiation- they did not do the last week of cisplatin because they thought it was causing hearing loss- went to an audiologist who said it was outer ear not inner ear so it is likely temporary...

Hello!
I wanted to give you my experience....
After surgery, I couldn't hear very well out of my right ear, the muffled sound. I was told it was due to the surgery and the ear couldn't drain properly due to the swelling. Before rad txs they said they could place a tube to help the draining in the meantime but I opted out because I was about the start and didn't want the tx to effect the healing of the hole. Both times that I have gotten sick with a cold, my ear would start to cause me the same problem and it would take about a month to get better but never the same. So this last appt I mentioned it again and sure enough, I had fluid behind my eardrum. I got a tube placed and now my hearing is good as new. I got cisplatin with chemo and I don't believe it is the chemo especially since the muffled ear sound was prior to me even starting. Hope that helps!

marc,
andy got cisplatin, but his hearing actually got better with it...go figure!
during radiation, he has lost approx 80% of his hearing. but he had constant swelling of the nasopharynx...which can cause hearing loss. we are on a "wait n see" to see how much comes back after radiation ends. although he will do 1 more week of radiation soon, he got a 4 week break in treatment and it has not improved.

I have more ear aches than I thought possible from these tubes they put in for HBO. Then I couldn't do HBO after either. I wish he would take them back out. Even laying in bed on either side brings on the apin as well as this cold air we have had all winter. I guess it is possible the pain radiates from my jaws as they hurt like all hell too.