About Harriet Jacobster, Au.D. Expertise I can answer questions regarding non-medical treatment of hearing loss such as hearing aids and aural rehabilitation. I am also able to answer your questions regarding hearing testing, what types of tests are appropriate, what information a hearing test gives you and what it doesn't give you. As a classically trained musician, I can also answer issues dealing with hearing loss specific to musicians.
Experience I am a Board Certified Doctor of Audiology with over 25 years' of experience working with both children and adults. I have given lectures on Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids to several state chapters of national organizations for the deaf and hard of hearing. I also taught Speech Reading and Aural Rehabilitation both privately and for the Florida Deaf Service Center.
Organizations American Academy of Audiology
American Speech Language Hearing Association
Education/Credentials Au.D. Doctor of Audiology, Nova Southeastern University 2000
Question Hi. Since I moved to the Delaware area from Massachusetts, I have been experiencing severe seasonal allergies (spring and fall - tree pollen, dust, mold) resulting in deafness in my left ear (always the left), along with very loud Tinnitus. The deafness does not occur at any other time in the year and usually lasts for 3 to 5 weeks at a time and there seems to be no way to prevent it. I have been to a board-certified ENT who has observed me on a day when I could hear in the morning and could not by the afternoon, with hearing tests which validate it. He usually prescribes a decongestant, a steroid, and an antibiotic to clear up my ear, which seems to work quicker than not doing anything. This year, my ENT referred me to a board-certified allergy doctor, who has started me on a regime of Veramyst, Singular and Zyrtec-D, but my ear once again has gone deaf (and these medicines are not doing anything for my allergies). Have you heard of anyone who has had a situation like this, and/or how to prevent and treat it? I feel helpless because this interferes with my life every few months and there seems to be nothing I can do, and my doctors are puzzled.
Answer Hi Tom,
I really doubt I could shed any more light than your doctors. The only thing I would ask if if any of them has taken any imaging, e.g., CT or MRI, of the sinuses? You may also want to try a saline nose spray and see if that helps.
Otherwise, I, too, am stumped.
Hope this helps.
Harriet B. Jacobster, AuD
Board Certified in Audiology
