At 02:17 PM 6/30/95 GMT, Jeffrey Sirianni wrote:
>In article <501051821995062801202168 at trader.com>, 5010.5182 at trader.com(SHAWN DEREK TOM) says:
>>>>It has gotten a bit better but I still have about 5db less in my
>>right ear.
>>>>Shawn Tom
>>>>Shawn,
>>The decision concerning whether to opt for surgery is all in your hands.
>I would really weigh the maximal benefit obtainable versus the risk of
>permanent damage to your middle ear system. If you have a complete audiogram
>done (air and bone conduction thresholds), you can see what the maximum
obtainable
>benefit can be. If we are talking about 5-10 dB, I don't know if I would opt
>for surgery, especially if I had not tried other approaches first (ie.
antihistamines).
>I do not want to discount the benefits of the PE tube procedure, since it
has done
>wonders for children with chronic middle ear problems. I guess my advice
is to try
>a pharmacological approach before opting for surgery. At least you can say
you've
>tried a non-invasive appraoch first.
>>Jeff Sirianni @(((<{
i agree completely, and i have one more thought to add. 5dB is not
considered to be a statistically significant measure. in other words, your
hearing can vary within 5 or even 10dB from test to test or even within a
single test (as plotted on an audiogram). there is always the possibility
that you could go back for a re-test and find that there was no difference
at all between your ears at that time.
i don't remember what all you said in your post, shawn, but i would ask you
if you were cognizant of the hearing loss and the possible discrepancy
between ears. in other words, are you really missing your previously good
hearing or is it unnoticeable to you? if the loss is impacting your life and
you really want to regain the remainder of your lost hearing, then i would
do as jeff suggested -- try pharmaceuticals first and then surgery. if you
don't find yourself missing your hearing then i would seriously consider
doing nothing, at least for a while. medications and surgery both have
their risks and it's always possible that you could end up with a greater
problem than the one you started with. and before you make any decision,
please ask your doctor to lay out for you all the possible risks and
benefits of your choices so that you can make the most informed decision.
susan
smorelan at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
"I love to sail forbidden seas,
and land on barbarous coasts."
~Herman Melville, _Moby-Dick_
