
Q I suddenly can't hear in one ear and tinnitus has started. Is it okay to go to a Korean medicine clinic first?
A No. If sudden unilateral hearing loss and tinnitus occur at the same time, sudden sensorineural hearing loss is highly likely, so you must go to an ENT immediately. Starting treatment within the first 72 hours is decisive for hearing recovery.
Detailed Answer
If one ear suddenly feels blocked or you cannot hear and tinnitus has started, sudden sensorineural hearing loss should be suspected first and foremost. For sudden hearing loss, the chance of hearing recovery increases the sooner high-dose steroid treatment is started at an ENT, ideally within 24 hours and within 72 hours at the latest. In this case, a Korean medicine clinic is not an emergency care facility, so you should first receive an ENT emergency examination. If pulsatile tinnitus is accompanied by headache, visual disturbance, or facial paralysis, you should go to neurology or the emergency room.
Korean Medicine Clinic Perspective
Dongjedang puts patient safety first, and when there are such emergency signs, we immediately guide you to an ENT or emergency room rather than to Korean medicine treatment. After ENT emergency treatment, once hearing has partially recovered, we can move on to a collaborative treatment stage that addresses the residual tinnitus symptoms and the Kidney-Deficiency and rising-heat (sinheo, sangyeol) background with Korean medicine.
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