Hi there,

I have just passed my one year anniversary of finishing radiotherapy (my last treatment was on 05/24/19). During treatment and for a little while after my right ear became blocked and I lost most of my hearing. I was told this was normal and after a while it cleared up. Unfortunately it came back in January this year and since then i haven’t been able to hear properly, sometimes I have Tinnitus and occasionally can feel/faintly hear my pulse rate there. I have been to the GP, had it syringed and also done a course of antibiotic drops. I am now waiting for an appointment with the ENT specialist.

Has anyone else experienced a loss of hearing? Is it something which could be permanent? It’s not painful but very irritating and can make me feel unbalanced at times.

Thanks in advance.
Juliet

Platinum-based chemo like Cisplatin may adversely affect the hearing. My husband’s hearing slowly deteriorated so that a year after his chemo treatment, he was advised to get hearing aids. His MO used to ask every time we saw her if John had ringing in the ears or is he was having problems with his hearing. That did not happen while he was getting chemo but he slowly lost his hearing after the chemo was over.

Your situation may be similar but my husband didn’t have the same symptoms that you are having. It’s best to see the ENT and get your hearing checked. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply, sorry i’m so late responding. I am waiting for the appointment with ENT and also waiting to hear back from my oncologist.
It sometimes feels as if there is liquid trapped inside which is frustrating but hopefully it will be sorted. Fingers crossed i won’t have to get a hearing aid 😬
Thanks again,
Juliet

I underwent 33 rounds of radiation and only 2 doses of Cisplatin chemotherapy. During treatment I had occasional ringing of the ears, but nothing persistent and informed my treatment team of it. Two months after treatment, I began having headaches and earaches for about a week before they subsided. I'm not sure if it is from treatment or from taking gabapentin, which I had recently started around the same time. Ever since then I have lost much of the hearing in my left ear. I'll be visiting my surgeon/ENT soon for my 3 month PET scan, and will bring it up and try to find out if this hearing loss is temporary or permanent

I lost my hearing in my left ear too, well not all of it, but my hearing was very compromised, especially at business meetings. I too had two doses of cisplatin. I bought a pair of hearing aids this past January 2020, which was 10 months post rads. They really helped, although now that it's been 15 months post rads, my hearing does seem to be improving quite a bit with no device. It's just taken a loooooooong time. I am not a naturally patient person, so the recovery time from radiation is challenging to say the least. Wish you the best! It DOES get better.