Update

So about 2 years ago my ears started ringing, and I posted on here. It was very loud in my right ear at first. I was also having sharp pain in my right ear prior to the ringing. My left ear quickly began to right after my right ear. I cannot remember how long, but it was not long at all, maybe a week tops. I went to see an ENT about it in my town, and I was quickly diagnosed with otosclerosis, following a hearing test. I couldn’t believe the results. I was told I would slowly go deaf. I then decided to see another ENT in my hometown to have a second opinion. At first they thought it was fluid in the ear. I was put on steroids to see if that would help. It actually did help a lot with the ringing. My ringing decreased to almost nothing while I was on them. When I went back to the ENT, they said my hearing had slightly improved and they were going to monitor me. I told the new doctor what the previous doctor had diagnosed me with at this point. When I returned for a check up a few months later, I took another hearing test and he diagnosed me with otosclerosis. I almost cried right there in the room. He said I have it because my hearing loss is worse in my right ear than my left. I am still deathly afraid of becoming deaf...even though it is slow. I read a lot of horror stories of people getting the stape surgery and going completely deaf with no chance of recovery. 

In any case. I was speaking with my mother recently, and she has said that she went to the ENT doctor recently. She said she has tinnitus, and that they do not know the cause of it just yet. She said she also has some hearing loss in her right ear. My question, to anyone who may know, is how is it that my mother could have the same symptoms has me, but yet not have otosclerosis? I know that otosclerosis is usually genetic, however, people are diagnosed in their 20’s. My mother is in her 50’s! Is it possible to get otosclerosis later in life? Or maybe there is a diagnosis similar to otosclerosis? 

Any advice would be appreciated. 

1 like, 0 replies