This is the fourth post in a series about my journey navigating sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Here are links to all the posts in this series:

Part I: Beethoven and Hearing Loss
Part II: Hearing Aids and a Therapy Plot Twist
Part III: Performing Music with Hearing Aids
Part IV: Protecting My Good Ear

Summary: A custom ear mold to protect my good ear

It has been 172 days since the sudden onset of severe-to-profound hearing loss in my left ear. I have perceived no recovery of hearing since I lost it — although I haven’t had a formal hearing test in over 5 months. I will get tested in a couple weeks to see precisely where my hearing is at.

As I wrote in Part III of this series, CROS hearing aids have enabled me to continue to perform in the symphony. I also successfully played solo viola for a memorial service while wearing my CROS hearing aids a month ago.

I mostly go without my hearing aids, though, and only put them in them when I am playing viola.

Problem: Protecting My Good Ear

I really want to protect my good ear – especially during symphony performances.

I used to wear musicians earplugs in the orchestra during both rehearsals and concerts. That, of course, is no longer a viable option as I cannot hear myself without my CROS hearing aids.

During one of the two symphony concerts I performed after receiving my CROS hearing aids, I experienced discomfort in my good hearing ear. Sitting near the woodwinds and not too far from the brass, the sound levels at times became uncomfortably high. I struggled to hear myself, and more importantly, I worried about potential damage to my one remaining good ear.

Solution: A Custom Ear Mold

Discussing my predicament with my audiologist, he recommended I get fitted with a custom ear mold.

The process was pretty simple. A thick compound was injected into my ear canal. After a few minutes, it had hardened, and was extracted, showing a 3-D reverse image of my ear canal.

A custom ear mold was constructed, and a month later, it arrived.

I could choose any color I wanted. I went with blue, which surprised the audiologist who couldn’t remember having ever received an order for that color before.

Inserting the ear mold, my good ear is pretty much isolated from outside sound and it feels like I have stepped into a sound-proof room. Plugging my hearing aid receiver into it, all the sound I hear is actually coming from my left ear “microphone.” Practically no sound reaches my good ear naturally from the air.

One week after receiving my ear mold, I was in rehearsal with my fellow musicians. Last weekend, I performed with the symphony.

Success!

I am happy to report that the custom ear mold performed to my satisfaction.

Our program included some pretty bombastic moments (including Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite). At no point did the sound levels reach uncomfortable levels.

During the triumphant end of the piece where all the brass and woodwinds are blasting and the strings vigorously bowing away, the microphone in my left ear got overloaded and the sound projected into my right was distorted with static. But it wasn’t uncomfortably loud — It made me realize the high decibels my unprotected ears might have endured for years during previous concerts.

Conclusion

I continue to adapt and experiment, seeking the right equipment and adjusting sound levels and settings. But I’m satisfied and reasonably confident I may continue playing solo and in musical groups going forward.

I still long for my left-side hearing to return. Navigating noisy settings and situations with multiple simultaneous conversations is exhausting and frustrating. Catching all the dialog in movies without captions is challenging as well.

But I still can do what I love to do, thankfully free from headaches, balance issues, dizziness, nausea, or debilitating tinnitus — all common symptoms with SSNHL.

Please, protect your hearing!

It is easy to take for granted. We will all eventually lose some or most our hearing. Some may lose it gradually, some more dramatically. Why not stave off that inevitable aural decline?

If you are a musician in a group or an orchestra, avail yourself of musicians earplugs! If you attend concerts, especially amplified ones, wear earplugs or ear buds to protect your ears.

You don’t know how precious your hearing is until you lose it!