To be stressed by this

[newdeafness]

For some reason I'm suddenly deaf in one ear, the tv is so muffled in that ear I can hear the sound just about but not the words, i can't tell its words and not just noise. I can't hear the bird song with it and if I have the fan on at night I can't hear it with that ear. I went through the Gp service online to answer the diagnosis questions to get an appointment and it says I need to see them within 24 hours but the surgery is closed.

In the meantime it's stressful as I can only hear if i sleep on one side all night which won't happen, I won't hear the smoke alarm or if anybody were to break in (I know that's unlikely) but it's making me feel vulnerable.

I don't know if the Gp surgery will phone me or what, if I phone I just get a message directing me to the online service I used.

Phone 111

I did, they said contact my Gp.

I know exactly how you feel. I suddenly (and temporarily) went deaf in my left ear some years ago.

It was surprisingly incapacitating, not being able to hear when I lay on my right hand side (my sleeping side) not being able to hear conversations if there was any sort of background noise. Awful business.

I also found other strange side effects, that I could almost 'feel' the size of a room in my deaf ear, something to do with my perception of air pressure.

In my case it was that my eardrum had split away form the side of my ear canal and was stuck against the canal wall. It happened the first time after a short internal flight, and then twice more over the course of a year, same ear, for seemingly no reason.

Each time it took 3-4 weeks to recover. But it hasn't happened for over 10 years now.

Either way, definitely have a doctor check it (if it's to do with the eardrum it's a simple investigation with just an otometer).

Good luck.

Please get it seen to asap. My brother had similar and was fobbed off by a GP and it's now permanent. The specialists said they might have been able to do something if he'd been seen by them earlier. Don't want to alarm you and chances are it's probably absolutely fine, but please do make every effort to get it looked at.

It is probably earwax, very easy for the doc to sort out.

Phone 111 back and ask them what to do in the event your surgery is closed. I mean obviously it may be closed for the weekend now.