- Joined
- Jun 5, 2017
- Messages
- 388
Otosclerosis is, in basic terms, a build up of bone - sclerosing tissue - around the ossicles in the inner ear- most commonly stapedes bone. This can lead to conductive hearing loss (to varying degrees).
In September last year I developed hearing loss after a bad cold (I won't go so far as to say I had the flu but there was fever and a lot of sneezing, coughing and congestion in general) - it lasted approximately 10 days. Over this time, my hearing in one ear got worse and worse with the assumption that it was wax build up- the ear feels blocked. After the cold dissipated and the hearing didn't return, I went to the GP to get my ear cleared out. While there was a lot of wax build up, removal of said wax did not return my hearing to normal.
ENT and audiogram = severe low frequecy hearing loss and mild upper frequency hearing loss.
Head CT- sinuses are clear- no groths (angiomas etc) seen.
Now otosclerosis is basically a diagnosis of exclusion. They look at all the things that they can look at and if it's none of those then it's "otosclerosis". This can't be verified from a structural perspective until an invasive proceedure is performed where they pull back the tympanic membrane (ear drum), scrape away some of your temporal bone (don't need that there do you?)- ferret around a bunch of fairly important nerves to the face etc and then they can see if there is in fact sclerosing activity.
Notwithstanding the fact that the ENT that I saw said in the same sentence that although it's seen in pregnant women, there is no associated links with hormone imbalances, I managed to find some research around estrogen and otic capsule bone formation.
The ultrastructural effect of estrogens on bone cells in thyroparathyroidectomized rats. - PubMed - NCBI
The effect of sex hormones on bone metabolism of the otic capsule--an overview. - PubMed - NCBI
There are more but you get the idea. So, my question to the forum and I shall tag @haidut in on this b/c this is where I'm starting- I'm going to apply estroban all around the ear- starting at 8 drops.
I'm already taking progest-e in second half of my cycle.
What else could i be doing to not only avoid elevated estrogen in this area?
I can only theorise that the cold was such an overt stress to my system that my estrogen spiked?? In rat studies they see bone formation in as little as 8 days!
Further- this looks at OPG expressed in the endolymph to suppress bone formation - what might stop this from normal expression??
Osteoprotegerin in the inner ear may inhibit bone remodeling in the otic capsule. - PubMed - NCBI
So- obviously I'm looking to stop any further boney formation where there shouldn't be done but also looking to improve bone resorption.
I'm currently getting about 1500mg Calcium per day
Thoughts- help - all much appreciated!
In September last year I developed hearing loss after a bad cold (I won't go so far as to say I had the flu but there was fever and a lot of sneezing, coughing and congestion in general) - it lasted approximately 10 days. Over this time, my hearing in one ear got worse and worse with the assumption that it was wax build up- the ear feels blocked. After the cold dissipated and the hearing didn't return, I went to the GP to get my ear cleared out. While there was a lot of wax build up, removal of said wax did not return my hearing to normal.
ENT and audiogram = severe low frequecy hearing loss and mild upper frequency hearing loss.
Head CT- sinuses are clear- no groths (angiomas etc) seen.
Now otosclerosis is basically a diagnosis of exclusion. They look at all the things that they can look at and if it's none of those then it's "otosclerosis". This can't be verified from a structural perspective until an invasive proceedure is performed where they pull back the tympanic membrane (ear drum), scrape away some of your temporal bone (don't need that there do you?)- ferret around a bunch of fairly important nerves to the face etc and then they can see if there is in fact sclerosing activity.
Notwithstanding the fact that the ENT that I saw said in the same sentence that although it's seen in pregnant women, there is no associated links with hormone imbalances, I managed to find some research around estrogen and otic capsule bone formation.
The ultrastructural effect of estrogens on bone cells in thyroparathyroidectomized rats. - PubMed - NCBI
The effect of sex hormones on bone metabolism of the otic capsule--an overview. - PubMed - NCBI
There are more but you get the idea. So, my question to the forum and I shall tag @haidut in on this b/c this is where I'm starting- I'm going to apply estroban all around the ear- starting at 8 drops.
I'm already taking progest-e in second half of my cycle.
What else could i be doing to not only avoid elevated estrogen in this area?
I can only theorise that the cold was such an overt stress to my system that my estrogen spiked?? In rat studies they see bone formation in as little as 8 days!
Further- this looks at OPG expressed in the endolymph to suppress bone formation - what might stop this from normal expression??
Osteoprotegerin in the inner ear may inhibit bone remodeling in the otic capsule. - PubMed - NCBI
So- obviously I'm looking to stop any further boney formation where there shouldn't be done but also looking to improve bone resorption.
I'm currently getting about 1500mg Calcium per day
Thoughts- help - all much appreciated!