Question: Hello, about three weeks ago I had a shotgun go off indoors without hearing protection. That night my right ear was ringing and felt stuffy. My right ear was facing the closest wall and seemed to absorb much more of"" the blast. The following day, the ringing was about 95% gone. Now, I have no ringing. It's been three weeks, and my right ear just barely feels like it has a slight bit of pressure. When I compare ears (plugging one and listening through the other), my left ear seems to hear a slightly more "normal" pitch, everything feels normal. My right ear however, seems to just barely have a slightly "dimmed" pitch. What's weird is, I've taken over 20 hearing tests and I either score perfect or with good hearing. This is what I don't understand. If my cochlea were damaged wouldn't it mean I couldn't hear certain frequencies? There are times where my right ear feels more normal than others, and where it feels more dim than others. For instance, when I breathe, it seems like my left ear is just a tad stronger than my right. Or when I brush my teeth, the noise from brushing in my head seems stronger on my left side. I have no pictures for this, as it is an ear problem. I'm just extremely worried. It's kept me up at night and I've started to get depressed regularly. I have hope that maybe the damaged part of my ear isn't my cochlea. Any truthful explanations would be of great aid. - Thank you

Sadly, I haven't had an audiometry test done. I'm aware of what NIHL means, is it possible that my cochlea didn't suffer any damage? I know how cochlea cells work, but are they only for frequencies? Or loudness as well? I recently had a cold this weekend and am hoping that perhaps it has influenced my hearing a bit, possibly by temporary ETD. One other question I have is: Can ETD affect just one ear?