Quick action often determines the outcome when unexpected medical issues strike. The speed of your response can mean the difference between recovery and permanent harm.
Whether it’s a snakebite, a drug overdose, or even sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), knowing what to do immediately can be the difference between full recovery and long-term damage.
Consider these common examples of medical emergencies that require rapid intervention:
- Snakebite: In the event of a venomous snakebite, the immediate priority is to slow the spread of venom. Quick measures, like immobilizing the limb and seeking antivenom treatment, can save a life or prevent permanent tissue damage. Waiting too long can result in irreversible harm.
- Drug Overdose: An opioid overdose can lead to respiratory failure within minutes. Administering naloxone (Narcan) can reverse the overdose, but it must be given quickly to restore normal breathing and prevent brain damage or death. Delaying action even slightly can result in a fatal outcome.
- Severe Allergic Reaction (Anaphylaxis): What starts as itching or swelling can quickly escalate to life-threatening breathing difficulties. Using an EpiPen and seeking medical help immediately can prevent severe complications.
SSNHL is not life-threatening, but it is a serious medical crisis that can negatively impact the rest of your life. Like more well-known emergencies, SSNHL appears suddenly and can result in permanent hearing loss. However, unlike other medical emergencies, relatively few people are aware of SSNHL, and there is currently no universally accepted, clinically-proven treatment.
Steroids are the standard treatment for SSNHL.
Steroids are widely prescribed despite a lack of robust clinical data. Steroids treat inflammation, but there is no scientific justification or clinical evidence suggesting that steroids address the root cause of SSNL. Nevertheless, and absent clear solutions, physicians often turn to treatments like steroids with the hope of positive outcomes. Steroid use in SSNHL mirrors practices in other medical emergencies including traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, where treatments are employed with limited evidence.
Studies have shown that high-dose steroids are no more effective than standard doses; steroid side effects are magnified with dosing levels; many if not most patients do not fully recover their hearing after steroid treatment; some who are untreated recover without treatment.
Soundbites May be Effective.
The biological mechanisms underlying SSNHL are well understood and are consistent with the Soundbites mechanism of action. Further, in addition to preserving auditory function, Soundbites is clinically proven to improve auditory function. Thus, it is reasonable to hypothesize that immediate use of Soundbites after SSNHL may promote recovery of cochlear biological function.
If you or someone close to you experiences SSNHL, you have no time to waste. We will rush a supply of Soundbites so you can conduct your own test, preferably under physician supervision, as an adjunct to steroid treatment and otoacoustic emissions hearing tests to monitor recovery. In this way we hope to gather preliminary anecdotal evidence. Read more.
To be clear, we are offering a no-cost, informal, personal test of a safe micronutrient biomedicine as a potential intervention for SSNHL recovery. It cannot hurt. There is no guarantee it will help. We make no claims or promises.
If you’re a physician who treats patients presenting with SSNHL, we are interested in identifying at least one Principal Investigator to conduct a clinical trial where one patient group would receive standard steroid treatment. A second group would be treated with steroids and Soundbites. A third group would perhaps be treated with Soundbites. Please contact research@soundbites.com or research@keephearing.org.
