Sunday, 22 January 2012

Sun 22nd Jan

Over the previous three days the hearing in my right ear returned to normal but my left ear was a different matter. Strange random noises started to replace my normal hearing. I became more concerned as the days passed but was reassured by reading about Barotrauma on the Internet, "the source of all knowledge" Unfortunately, the knowledge I was acquiring wasn't applicable to me. Barotrauma is fairly common amongst divers, according to the Internet, and is caused by water pressure damage to the eardrum or middle ear through failure to equalise pressure while diving. The pressure changes most in the first few feet of diving and a dive of 20 feet would easily be sufficient to cause the symptoms I was experiencing, or so I thought. The flight home was uneventful but I did have plenty of opportunity to use headphones and to my growing horror I realised I was completely deaf in my left ear. It's amazing how the brain can compensate for things. I knew the hearing in my left ear was bad but it was only when I put a earphone in just my left ear and nothing in my right did I understand how completely deaf I was. I was starting to panic.

4 comments:

  1. Mark, thank you very much for being so open about this (although it started as a 'slip of the tweet'). I recon
    what you're going through must be _very_ scary and I wish you all the strength you need and hope for a full
    recovery!

    Hope to see you at the DeeExpus gig in The Peel!

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  2. Mark, just to let you know I'm sending lots of positive vibes to you, (whether you believe in that sort of thing or not), and hoping you get your full hearing back soon.

    Love,
    Pippa
    (The Web Portugal)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oof. That's awful. I do hope that your hearing returns (but do take good care of that *other* ear, will you?). Having lived with a slight but irritating tinnitus since my late teens --from the times of "the louder the better"-- i know how it feels to realize that losing my hearing is a one way street. I'm thankful i still have most of my hearing left...

    I suppose, if i had to choose with living with one hand/ear/eye/leg, i'd lose the other ear first but it's not a choise i would like to be presented with.

    Take care & stay alive,
    ~robinL

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  4. As a fellow muso I can only imagine how horrible it would be to lose your hearing, wether partial or total. I doubt that any cheesy line will help you feel better, but you do have my sympathies, man. I hope you pull through.

    - Duke

    ReplyDelete