The day that changed model and actress Jessica-Jane Clement’s life started ordinarily enough.
The Real Hustle and I’m A Celebrity star — who has been voted one of the world’s most desirable women — was at home in London with her then boyfriend.
Aged just 20 at the time, she was in perfect health. Jess was sitting on the sofa when she suddenly heard a ringing in her right ear. A few hours later when the ringing wore off, she realised her hearing in that ear had gone.‘It was so quick,’ recalls Jess, now 27, who recently married hairdresser Lee Stafford.
‘When I spoke to my mum on the phone a few hours later, I thought it was broken because I couldn’t hear what she was saying. ‘Then the penny dropped that I could not hear.
‘I didn’t know what to do, so my boyfriend called the hospital and they said, “oh give it six weeks, her hearing should come back by then”. The impression I got was it was just one of those things, and would resolve itself.’
However, her symptoms worsened.Later that evening she felt giddy and was sick. ‘The next morning I felt like I’d been on a really heavy night out — the whole room felt as if it was spiralling,’ says Jess. This continued for two weeks — but embarrassed by the rebuff from the hospital, Jess didn’t seek medical advice, deciding instead to stay with her mother in Sheffield.
‘I felt so rotten that I went up on the train in my pyjamas with a coat over me,’ says Jess. ‘I looked pale and thin due to the nausea and couldn’t stand upright for long without feeling sick. ‘Mum took one look at me and said: “I’m taking you to hospital.” ’ There, hearing tests revealed Jess had only 10 per cent hearing in her right ear, and her hearing loss was irreversible.
‘I was panicking, thinking “how can I do my job as an actress if I can’t hear?” I felt as if my life as I knew it was over.’
For two years after she lost her hearing, Jessica battled depression.
Sudden loss of hearing can be caused by a blow to the head or a disease such as measles, but in the vast majority of cases the reason is never known. A common theory is that the hearing loss itself is caused by a lack of blood flow — this can be temporary or permanent. It may also be due to a viral infection — some people report a ‘flu-like’ illness in the preceding days.
‘Other theories gaining more recent popularity are that it may be an immune-related problem (the body’s immune system attacks the inner ear) or possibly due to a rupture of the membranes that surround the inner ear,’ says Rohit Pratap, a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at West Hertfordshire Hospitals and Spire Hospital, Bushey, Hertfordshire.
Whatever the cause, it is a generally poorly-known fact that sudden hearing loss is a medical emergency. The earlier that treatment can be started, the better. Steroids, given orally, intravenously or into the ear, can improve the chance of the hearing getting better if given early enough — generally within 72 hours.
‘The problem is the condition can be difficult to diagnose without specialist advice and equipment,’ says Mr Pratap, ‘because there are no “external signs” of disease such as inflammation of the ear, unlike standard ear infections.
‘Instead, the patient needs to have a detailed audiogram performed by a specialist, where sound is played at various frequencies into a patient’s headphones.’A low-tech option for GPs is to use a tuning fork placed in the middle of the forehead. The patient is asked in which ear the sound is louder — if hearing is normal, the sound will be heard equally between the two.
However, many GPs or non-specialist doctors may not perform this test, or refer a patient on for specialist help. ‘They may think they have a bit of wax or a cold,’ says Mr Pratap.
‘However, I would advise anyone who has sudden profound hearing loss (for example, not being able to hear conversational level voices on the telephone) which persists for several hours, or if they have associated symptoms of dizziness, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) or pressure in the ears, to see their GP or go to A&E immediately.
‘I actually think the number who have sudden hearing loss could be far higher than reported, because it can get missed initially. ’
‘Some people may have flu-like symptoms before they get the hearing loss associated with this, but some don’t — they just suddenly lose their hearing and may also feel giddy,’ says Mr Pratap. In around 65 per cent of cases where the cause is unknown, hearing will return within two weeks. In another 15 per cent, the hearing will improve a little in the same time, while in 20 per cent, the hearing is gone for good.
For two years after she lost her hearing, Jess battled depression as she struggled to adjust. ‘I cried on Mum’s shoulder a lot,’ she says. ‘Trying to locate my phone or hear who said what in crowded areas was impossible.’ She also gave up work as an actress for a year. ‘I found it difficult to hear what the director was shouting. ‘The more people in a room, the harder it was to hear.
‘Then I found out that the actor Rob Lowe is also partially deaf and I thought: “If he can do it, I can.” ’
When she went back to work, she found things difficult. ‘In one scene I had to lie down on my side — on my good ear — and couldn’t hear a thing,’ Jess recalls. ‘I had to put my head up to hear, so they had to change the lighting.’
It wasn’t just her hearing that went — so too did her balance, and dancing still leaves her giddy.
Yet over the next year, she learned to cope with her single-sided deafness.
‘I learned to do simple things that make a difference, like choosing my place at a dinner table so I could hear everyone, and slowly I got over the embarrassment of talking about it,’ she says.
But she had never tried hearing aids. ‘I didn’t want to have a visible hearing aid as I knew I couldn’t wear it for work.’
However, shortly after she was in I’m A Celebrity in 2011, someone suggested she try a new one that fits inside the ear canal, and therefore cannot be seen.
‘When I had it fitted I was like “oh my God, I can hear everything” — background noise, and people not just those right up close to me. I was on cloud nine.’
While it has made a real difference, she says she’s also benefited from accepting her hearing loss.
‘I’m now happy to speak out about it, because I know it can happen to anyone at any age. It’s not the end of the world.
‘Just because you can’t hear properly doesn’t mean your life is over.’
If you’re concerned that you may be losing your hearing, contact Hidden Hearing on 0800 587 7267 to arrange your free hearing test or you can find your nearest branch by clicking here: http://www.hiddenhearing.org/contact-us/find-your-local-clinic
If you can’t hear danger, you put yourself at risk
Hearing loss can affect your life in many ways. Effects can range from simple misunderstandings to full withdrawal from family and friends and major depression.
Dealing with hearing loss without professional assistance can lead to many major problems in life and have dangerous consequences.
Many aging adults who experience minor hearing loss simply turn up the volume on electronics to make sounds marginally clearer and more distinguishable. Unfortunately, untreated minor hearing loss doesn’t stay minor. Hearing loss is progressive and will get worse unless it’s detected and treated.
When hearing loss gets to the point where the patient is unable to hear conversation, they will often start to withdraw from conversation and social situations. They’ll miss audible cues that would help keep them from harm in their daily lives.
Even severe hearing loss is sometimes not enough to get the patient to seek treatment. These patients are often at the point where they are anxious, upset, and already started the slide into depression. Friends and family may find them unresponsive and difficult to communicate with.
These patients may also unknowingly be living in danger of serious injury or death. With more profound hearing loss, high pitched sounds, such as smoke and fire alarms, are almost impossible to hear. This lack of ability to hear can cause a seriously dangerous situation for patients with hearing loss who continue to live alone.
Those who live alone are at an increased risk because they often cannot hear sounds that would keep them safe. They can miss important sounds like smoke detectors, emergency alarms, the doorbell and telephone. They can miss the sounds that would alert them to danger such as the breaking of glass, or the forcing of a door late at night.
But not all dangers are loud. In fact, some may be soft: The murmuring cry of an infant, a distant fire siren, or a neighbor’s call for help.
We’ve been relying on our sense of hearing for thousands of years to warn us of potential danger, while sleeping and awake, and things are no different today — except that today there ‘s help.
If you can’t hear dangers, you put yourself, your family, and friends at higher risk. That’s why it’s important to have a hearing evaluation annually. Hearing loss happens gradually you may not even notice what you’re missing. The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is getting a free hearing evaluation from an audiologist to determine if you even have a hearing loss. If you do, at Hidden Hearing our friendly staff will guide through the path to better hearing.
Becoming an endurance athlete and breaking 47 world records was tough, but facing up to hearing loss was even harder
It was November 1998 when I was on a green patrol in Northern Ireland to Lisburn Barracks. I was waiting for some of the guys to get back and was standing very close to the first of two car bombs that went off inside the barracks themselves. Because of my proximity to the explosion, my hearing was permanently damaged and I was subsequently medically discharged from the army. Just like that, my whole world crumbled before me.
I joined the army when I was only 16-years-old and it became my whole life. I served with The Royal Green Jackets as an Army Physical Training Instructor for most of my career, and would have been happy to continue in this way had it not been for a car bomb exploding next to me one day, leaving me heavily deaf in my left ear, and quite badly damaged in my right. The most painful result of my hearing loss of course was the fact that I was forced to leave the army. I couldn’t even join the Territorial Army and have a little part of my military life back. The army was my whole life and it was all I ever wanted to do from a very young age. Without it I felt totally lost and I do feel that my life was stolen from me somewhat. The explosion left me with major migraines, headaches that would knock me out for days, where I would just want to lock myself away in a dark room. Trying to get my life in order and live like a normal person was made much more of a struggle because I couldn’t hear people talking to me properly or hear what was going on around me. Once I started working again I found my hearing problems really embarrassing at times. In large conferences I would be asked a question and I couldn’t hear it or I’d only hear half a conversation and give a totally wrong answer or opinion. I felt like hearing problems were something that happened to old people, that someone at my age shouldn’t be dealing with having to say ‘excuse me?’ all the time. It also had a big impact on my social life. I remember feeling very isolated at times, the hardest situations being in large groups and social events where I just felt left outside of the loop because I just could not hear what people were saying. I would often avoid meeting up with friends because I felt like a burden but this just left me feeling even more isolated than before. It was a horrible catch 22 situation.I eventually admitted to myself that I had a problem and needed to do something about it- my family had also had enough of me turning up the volume to max on the TV! The first hearing aids I tried were from the NHS. They were huge bulky things that sat on the back of my ear and left me feeling self conscious and even more embarrassed than before. So I eventually stopped wearing them.I felt like I was back to square one again, when I eventually saw an advert for what was said to be ‘hidden’ hearing aids. I thought this sounded too good to be true but that it might finally be the answer. So I set up an appointment with the company, hearing specialists Hidden Hearing, and it went from there. I’m now the proud owner of some discreet hearing aids and my life has improved beyond belief. It was great to finally be able to hear people properly and not worry that I was saying the wrong thing. I can even hear the trees blowing in the wind and birds sing which I could never hear before. And I don’t have to keep asking people to repeat themselves!
With my hearing problems improving I also eventually found the inspiration I needed to give my life drive and meaning again. I had the memory of reading an article in Ultra Fit Magazine about former soldier, Paddy Doyle, who also struggled with life outside of the army but who turned to endurance world record challenges to help him through it. This inspired me to make something of the rest of my life too, so I entered the 2002 London Marathon, broke my first endurance world record and the rest is history.
Since my first race I’ve broken over 40 world endurance records and taken on many of the toughest endurance challenges around the world, from the Marathon des Sables to the 6633 Arctic Ultra. I now own my own gym and boot camp business and I am loving every minute of it!
My passion has always been centred around fitness and helping others to get fit and healthy. It’s a real buzz knowing that it was me that helped them to get there and knowing I’ve given people the confidence to conquer anything they want. I also eventually found my long-term girlfriend, Helen who has been a huge support through everything. I finally feel I am in a happy place in my life and have a lot to be thankful for.
Anybody who might be concerned about their hearing, can avail of a free hearing test at any Hidden Hearing branch nationwide. You can book a hearing test free of charge at any of Hidden Hearing’s 60 clinics nationwide. Freephone 1800 370 000 or visit www.hiddenhearing.org
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