Pre-Treatment Audiogram
The patient first underwent nasal surgery for chronic rhinitis, followed by ShimSPOT PRP treatment. Sixteen days after the first treatment—and after completing four treatment sessions—the patient reported that hearing had become noticeably clearer than before.
The follow-up audiogram showed an early, modest improvement in the low-frequency range.
Audiogram After Four Treatments
A fifth treatment was administered today. In cases showing an early response like this, several additional sessions may be considered to assess whether the benefits continue to accumulate.
In our clinical experience, subjective hearing improvement may become noticeable within two to three weeks, as it did in this case. Measurable changes on audiometry, however, may develop more gradually and can sometimes continue for six months or longer.
This patient appears to be responding relatively quickly. Since refining our treatment protocol, we have observed that improvements in tinnitus and hearing often begin earlier than with our previous protocol.
Individual responses and the timing of improvement vary. Further follow-up audiograms will be needed to evaluate the durability and extent of this patient’s response.
CHEONG-MIN CLINIC
Seoul, South Korea
Dr. Minbo Shim
WhatsApp: +1 725-265-5450
contact@cmclinics.com
]]>The patient first visited CHEONG-MIN CLINIC approximately one year ago with newly developed hearing difficulty in the right ear. Tinnitus in the same ear had already been present for about a year.
Treatment could have started at that initial assessment, shortly after the hearing difficulty appeared. However, the patient postponed treatment and began injections only one month ago, following a delay of nearly a year.
After the first three injections, follow-up hearing testing showed slight improvement in the low-frequency range. The patient also noticed a small improvement in hearing and reported that tinnitus intensity had decreased from 10 at baseline to 7.
The patient has now received eight injections in total, and improvement is continuing gradually during repeated treatment. The initial measurable hearing changes appeared in the lower frequencies. These are interim observations, and further hearing tests will help document the subsequent course.
I recommend seeking evaluation promptly when new hearing difficulty develops, so that appropriate treatment can begin as early as possible. However, starting treatment late does not necessarily mean that improvement is no longer possible. In my clinical experience, improvement after a delayed start may take more sessions and a longer treatment period, although individual responses vary.
Treatment and follow-up are ongoing.
]]>“I can hear, but I don’t always catch what people are saying the first time.”
That was this patient’s main concern. Both ears had felt clogged for several years, with occasional tinnitus. The right ear was noticeably worse.
The initial audiogram showed a flat hearing level near 30 dB in the right ear and approximately 25 dB in the left. The numbers suggested only mild hearing loss—but the impact on everyday conversation was significant.
We began intratympanic injection treatment and followed both the patient’s symptoms and the hearing test results.
Before Treatment
The patient reported constant ear fullness and difficulty understanding speech clearly.
[Baseline Audiogram]
After the First Treatment
The clogged sensation began to improve after the first treatment.
The patient could feel a difference, although the audiogram had not yet changed significantly.
[Audiogram After the First Treatment]
After Four Treatments
By the fourth treatment, the ear fullness had completely resolved. The follow-up audiogram also showed improvement in the low-frequency range.
Because the patient felt better and the objective hearing results had improved, we decided that no further ear treatment was needed.
[Audiogram After the Fourth Treatment]
We Also Looked Beyond the Ear
The evaluation also revealed significant hypertrophic rhinitis. Nasal inflammation and Eustachian tube dysfunction can contribute to pressure and fullness in the ears, so the nasal condition was treated surgically to complete the care plan.
The important point is simple: a hearing loss that looks “mild” on an audiogram may still cause very real problems in daily life. Persistent ear fullness should not be evaluated by the hearing test alone. The nose and Eustachian tube may be part of the problem as well.
Doctor Shim Clinic
Regenerative ENT Clinic in Seoul
Established as Cheong-Min Clinic
This anonymized case represents one patient’s clinical course. Individual responses and treatment plans may vary.
]]>The patient presented with a one-day history of aural fullness and tinnitus. Cerumen was removed during the initial examination.
For the previous two months, the patient had been working at an out-of-town construction site with frequent exposure to loud machinery noise. The patient had also used earphones for approximately one hour every morning over the past four to five months.
At a routine health examination two years earlier, the patient had been told that there was some high-frequency hearing loss, although it was not severe at the time.
The previous evening, the television sound had become markedly distorted and “boomy,” particularly in the right ear. The following morning, however, the patient covered the right ear and realized that hearing in the left ear had significantly deteriorated compared with before. Voices heard over the telephone sounded thin and high-pitched, “like a mosquito.”
Pure-tone audiometry showed high-frequency hearing loss in the right ear and more extensive hearing loss of approximately 60–70 dB across the low- to high-frequency range in the left ear.
The right-sided hearing loss was suspected to represent chronic noise-induced hearing loss. In contrast, the marked left-sided hearing loss was considered likely to be sudden sensorineural hearing loss, with onset the previous day. The nasal examination was unremarkable.
Four Days After Treatment
Four days after undergoing PRP treatment for hearing loss at our clinic using ShimSPOT, the patient showed a slight improvement in hearing.
A second ShimSPOT-assisted PRP treatment was performed on day 4. The patient’s symptoms began to improve after the first treatment and improved substantially following the second procedure. As a result, no further treatment was considered necessary, and the treatment course was concluded after two sessions.
Hearing was reassessed on day 20, and the follow-up audiogram showed further improvement.
Four-Year Follow-Up
The patient returned to our clinic four years after completing only two treatment sessions. At follow-up, low-frequency hearing had fully recovered to the normal range.
The high-frequency hearing loss had already been present long before the onset of sudden hearing loss, and the patient had experienced little inconvenience from it. Further treatment of the high-frequency loss would likely have required additional PRP injections and bone marrow–derived extract injections. However, because the patient had no significant symptoms, treatment was concluded after the two sessions that successfully addressed the acute low-frequency sudden hearing loss.
This case suggests that when an early response to treatment is observed, further hearing improvement may still be seen several years later.
Cheong-Min Clinic( Dr.Shim Clinic )
Seoul, South Korea
For consultation : contact@cmclinics.com
Whatsapp +1-725-265-5450
A 72-year-old female presented with left-sided ear fullness and dizziness that began this morning, accompanied by new-onset left-sided tinnitus.
Bedside vestibular examination was negative:
- Dix-Hallpike test: negative bilaterally
- Roll test: negative bilaterally
- Head shake nystagmus: negative
- Romberg test: negative
Based on the symptoms, left-sided Ménière’s disease was suspected, although sudden sensorineural hearing loss of the left ear also remained a differential diagnosis.
ShimSPOT-guided intratympanic PRP injections were performed at 2-day intervals for two sessions. On the third day after treatment, the patient reported a significant reduction in tinnitus and dizziness. Low-frequency hearing had almost completely recovered, although high-frequency hearing loss persisted.
An additional ShimSPOT-guided intratympanic PRP treatment was performed today.
Cheong-Min Clinic
]]>A patient noticed left-sided hearing loss about one month earlier when putting on earphones while washing dishes. Left-sided tinnitus had already been present for about three months. Treatment was started three days after the patient recognized the left-sided hearing loss.
At another hospital, the patient received intratympanic steroid injections at that time — a total of 8 injections, given every 2 days over approximately 2 weeks. The final injection was given 2 days before visiting our clinic. However, despite this steroid treatment at the other hospital, the patient reported no improvement at all.
I explained that treatment at our clinic should not be combined with treatment at other hospitals, especially hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which I specifically advised against.
Because rhinitis was also observed, rhinitis surgery was performed first. After that, the patient received a total of 10 treatments at our clinic using ShimSPOT-guided PRP and bone marrow extract injections. A follow-up hearing test was performed one month after the 10th treatment, which was approximately three months from the first injection.
Compared with the pre-treatment hearing test, the patient showed significant hearing improvement. This was a case in which intratympanic steroid injections alone had produced no improvement, but ShimSPOT-guided treatment at our clinic resulted in meaningful recovery.
The improvement was especially notable in the high-frequency range:
* 4 kHz: 65 dB → 55 dB
* 6 kHz: 85 dB → 60 dB
* 8 kHz: 90 dB → 70 dB
The patient will be followed for about two more months. If further improvement continues, observation alone will be continued. If the improvement plateaus, additional treatment will be considered. This is because after approximately 10 sessions of PRP and bone marrow extract injections, additional hearing improvement may continue for several months, or even years.
In cases where rhinitis is present, correcting the nasal condition may also be important for prognosis.
This case demonstrates that even in hearing loss cases lasting several months, and even after failed treatment at another hospital, patients may still benefit from treatment at our clinic.
Earlier this year, while preparing my statistical data for an upcoming medical conference in Las Vegas, something unexpected happened.
I developed sudden sensorineural hearing loss myself.
It happened in March.
For more than 10 years, I have been studying and treating patients with hearing loss and tinnitus using my own LP-PRP intratympanic treatment approach. I have spent years collecting clinical data, refining the technique, and trying to understand how regenerative treatment may help patients with difficult hearing problems.
But this time, I was no longer only the doctor.
I became the patient.
Before the treatment, my hearing was distorted. Even the sound of my cat crying sounded doubled, as if the sound was split into two. As an ENT doctor, I immediately understood what this meant. But understanding the disease medically and experiencing it personally were completely different things.
Because I had already seen many patients over the years and had been reviewing my own long-term treatment data, I knew which treatment I wanted to receive. The challenge was simple but unusual: I needed another doctor to perform my own treatment protocol on me.
So I taught the LP-PRP intratympanic technique to two physician friends. They came to my clinic alternately and performed the treatment for me.
After three treatment sessions, the distorted double sound disappeared. My hearing also returned to the normal range on follow-up audiometry.
When I first developed this treatment more than a decade ago, I never imagined that one day I would need it myself. I never imagined that the treatment I had spent so many years refining for patients might one day help protect my own hearing.
This experience was deeply meaningful to me.
It reminded me that hearing loss is not just a number on an audiogram. It is fear, uncertainty, distortion, and the sudden realization that everyday sounds may no longer feel normal.
It also reminded me why I have continued this work for so many years.
My personal case is only one case. It does not guarantee the same result for every patient, and every case of sudden hearing loss must be evaluated carefully by a qualified physician. The timing of treatment, the severity of hearing loss, the cause, and the patient’s overall condition can all affect the outcome.
But as both a doctor and a patient, this experience gave me a renewed sense of purpose.
Sometimes, a physician’s work comes back to protect the physician himself.
And for me, my long focus on hearing loss and tinnitus helped save my own hearing.
–
Note
This article describes Dr. Shim’s personal experience.
Many people think of rhinitis as simply a nose problem. They assume it causes sneezing, congestion, or a runny nose—but not much more.
In reality, severe nasal inflammation can also affect the ears.
Recently, a patient came to our clinic with a 3-day history of ear fullness and muffled hearing. He felt as though one ear had suddenly become blocked. Interestingly, he did not think his nose was severely congested. However, when we examined him, we found that swollen nasal tissue was already filling most of the nasal cavity.
He had likely adapted to the blockage over time and no longer realized how limited his nasal airflow had become.
When we checked the ear, there was no fluid behind the eardrum. That is an important point, because patients with ear fullness are often told they may have fluid in the ear—but that was not the case here.
So what was happening?
How Nasal Inflammation Can Affect Hearing
The nose and the ear are connected by a small but very important passage called the Eustachian tube. This tube helps maintain proper air pressure in the middle ear.
When severe rhinitis narrows the nasal passage and interferes with normal airflow, Eustachian tube function may also become impaired. If the middle ear is no longer ventilated properly, the air inside it can gradually be absorbed by the surrounding tissue. This creates negative pressure inside the middle ear.
As the pressure drops, the eardrum can be pulled inward.
This can produce symptoms such as:
- ear fullness
- muffled hearing
- pressure in the ear
- sound distortion
- increased sound sensitivity
In some patients, this pressure imbalance may also make the inner ear more vulnerable, especially if there is already another risk factor present.
In This Case, Noise Exposure Was Also Part of the Story
This patient happened to work in a noisy environment.
His hearing test showed a classic 4 kHz notch, which is a well-known pattern seen in noise-induced hearing loss. In addition, he also had hearing loss around 0.5 kHz (500 Hz).
These two findings told us two different things.
The hearing loss at 4 kHz appeared to be older and more chronic. This type of damage is often associated with tinnitus.
The hearing loss around 500 Hz, however, appeared to be much more recent. That newer low-frequency hearing loss matched his main symptom very well: sudden ear fullness and muffled hearing.
This distinction matters. In ear disorders, not all hearing loss is the same. Some findings reflect long-standing damage, while others reflect a new and potentially reversible problem.
Why Timing Matters
The patient’s low-frequency hearing change had started only 3 days earlier.
When sudden hearing changes are treated early, the chance of recovery is much better. If treatment is delayed, especially beyond the first several days to one week, the likelihood of improvement with standard therapy can drop significantly.
That is why we did not want to treat only the symptom.
We wanted to treat the cause as well.
Our Treatment Approach: Address the Cause and the Result
At our clinic, we decided to do two things:
First, we treated the likely underlying contributor—severe nasal obstruction from rhinitis.
Second, we treated the hearing problem directly with steroid therapy, including intratympanic steroid injection through the eardrum into the middle ear.
We also performed a quick office-based nasal procedure to immediately improve airflow on the affected side. This procedure is done under local anesthesia, usually takes about 5 minutes, and most patients are able to return to normal daily activity right away.
The Follow-Up Result: 4 Days Later
Four days after treatment, the follow-up hearing test showed excellent improvement.
The hearing loss around 0.5 kHz had recovered completely to 0 dB, which means that the recent low-frequency hearing problem had returned to normal.
The older 4 kHz loss did not fully recover after one treatment, which was expected. Chronic noise-related hearing loss often does not improve immediately and may require a different long-term strategy, including repeated treatment or regenerative approaches in selected cases.
What This Case Teaches Us
This case highlights an important principle:
Ear symptoms do not always begin in the ear alone.
Sometimes, the deeper problem starts in the nose, in the Eustachian tube, or in the pressure system that connects them. And when hearing loss is present, it is essential to separate:
- what is new
- what is old
- what is reversible
- and what requires longer-term management
At , we do not stop at labeling a patient with “tinnitus” or “hearing loss.” We look for the underlying mechanism, evaluate timing carefully, and design treatment based on what is actually happening.
That is the philosophy behind the Dr. Shim approach:
Find the cause.
Identify what is recent and what is chronic.
Treat with precision.
Dr. Shim
Email : contact@cmclinics.com
2026.03.17.
]]>This invitation reflects growing international recognition of Dr. Shim’s work in hearing regeneration — a field where most patients have been told there are few meaningful options.
Rather than accepting that limitation, Dr. Shim has pursued a regenerative approach focused on recovery and restoration, drawing on over 18 years of clinical experience and more than 500 documented cases.
That body of work is now being introduced to physicians in the United States. For patients, this is an encouraging sign that the treatment philosophy behind CM Clinic is gaining attention well beyond Korea.
CM Clinic will continue working to bring patients more advanced options for tinnitus and hearing loss.
→ See Dr. Shim’s official speaker profile at The Stem Cell Conference
Before treatment
Normal hearing thresholds are around 0 dB, but this patient’s hearing was measured at around 70 dB HL across key frequencies.
This means the patient could hear only when sounds were presented much louder than normal, corresponding to approximately a 70% loss of hearing.
In such cases, standard treatment usually includes:
- Oral steroids
- Intratympanic (middle-ear) steroid injections
- In some cases, additional therapies such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy or stellate ganglion block
Even with these standard approaches, the overall recovery rate is commonly said to be around 30%, and when hearing has dropped this severely, the prognosis is generally considered poor.
When sudden hearing loss comes with rhinitis, there may be good news
If a patient with sudden hearing loss also has rhinitis (nasal inflammation), that can be a positive sign.
The cause of sudden hearing loss can include stress and circulation-related factors, but in patients with inferior turbinate hypertrophy (enlarged nasal turbinates), nasal obstruction itself may contribute.
In other words, reducing turbinate hypertrophy through rhinitis surgery can increase the likelihood of hearing recovery.
Mechanism (how rhinitis can trigger hearing loss)
When swollen turbinates block the nose, nasal airflow decreases, and ventilation of the middle ear through the Eustachian tube becomes impaired. This can lead to negative pressure in the middle ear.
Because the inner ear is adjacent to the middle ear, it can be exposed to ongoing pressure-related stress. At a certain point, this can “break” abruptly—leading to sudden hearing loss.
For this reason, when patients present with hearing loss, we always evaluate for rhinitis. If the turbinates are significantly enlarged, we often reduce them using radiofrequency ablation under local anesthesia.
This procedure is very simple and usually takes about 5 minutes, and we not uncommonly see additional hearing improvement even from rhinitis treatment alone.
Treatment strategy for this patient
This patient was diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL).
Because prognosis is strongly influenced by how quickly medication is delivered—ideally on the day of onset, and at the latest within one week—we postponed nasal surgery initially and began ear treatment immediately on the same day.
At our clinic, we of course provide standard therapy including steroids, and we additionally use treatments such as PRP (platelet-rich plasma).
Results after treatment
After 1 session
High frequencies improved significantly, and low frequencies improved to around 60 dB HL.
(In audiograms, smaller dB HL values indicate better hearing.)
After 2 sessions
High frequencies had already recovered to near 0 dB HL.
At 2 kHz, the threshold improved markedly—from 40 dB to 20 dB.
Low frequencies improved further to around 50 dB HL.
However, this was already day 6 after onset, nearing the end of the first acute week. At this point, we decided it was no longer appropriate to delay nasal surgery and proceeded with rhinitis surgery. We planned the next ear treatment for the day after surgery.
Rhinitis surgery was performed under local anesthesia using a method that gently reduces the turbinates. It can be done in patients 10 years and older.
Often, rhinitis surgery alone can provide additional hearing benefit.
The day after surgery
We measured hearing again the next day.
The patient reported the ear felt even more “blocked,” but the audiogram showed improvement:
- 0.25 kHz improved by 5 dB
- 1 kHz improved by 5 dB
(On the graph, “moving upward,” meaning smaller dB HL numbers, indicates hearing improvement.)
This temporary “blocked” sensation occurred because, immediately after turbinate reduction, swelling can transiently affect the Eustachian tube. The symptom improved after nasal dressing, and the hearing results matched our expectations: rhinitis surgery alone produced a small additional improvement.
Follow-up plan and outcome
We then performed additional intratympanic injections, followed by oral medication only.
In total, the patient received:
- 2 intratympanic injections
- Rhinitis surgery
- 1 additional intratympanic injection
We repeated the hearing test 8 days later.
For reference, 3 intratympanic injections are commonly considered the minimum recommended number for sudden hearing loss. In acute cases, 3–5 sessions are typical, and in chronic cases, 10 or more sessions may be performed.
As noted earlier, even in the acute stage, with hearing loss this severe, standard steroid-only treatment is often associated with only about a 30% chance of improvement.
So what happened with our treatment?
Hearing improved to within 10 dB across all frequencies.
By most standards, this would be considered normal hearing.
(Traditionally, ≤20 dB HL is considered normal in textbooks.)
The patient also felt that hearing had fully recovered.
Why Dr. Shim is still not “100% satisfied”
Even if the patient is satisfied, I do not automatically consider it a perfect recovery.
Let’s look at the left ear (the unaffected ear).
The left ear shows 0 dB HL at most frequencies—this is essentially a “100-point” ear. Compared with the patient’s own normal ear, the right ear, although clinically normal, is still very slightly less recovered.
Because the patient received both ear and nasal treatment, there is a good chance hearing may continue to improve over time. However, in some cases—especially under significant stress—hearing can worsen again, so ongoing follow-up is necessary.
Even when the patient is satisfied, Dr. Shim continues to monitor, manage, and treat until the physician is satisfied as well.
Cheong-Min Clinic
– located in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
International Consult
E-mail: contact@cmclinics.com (preferred)
Dr. Minbo Shim
Education & Career
- Graduated from the Catholic University College of Medicine
- Board-Certified Otorhinolaryngology Specialist
- Director, Cheong-Min Clinic
- Affiliated Clinical Faculty, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea
Patents - Registered Patent for Hearing Loss and Deafness Treatment (2015)
- Registered Patent for Autologous Tissue Rhinoplasty (2015)
Specialties - Nasal Surgery
- Hearing Loss and Deafness Treatment
Memberships - Korean Society of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
- Korean Society of Aesthetic and Reconstructive Rhinology
- Korean Society for Stem Cell Research
- Korean Society for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
- Korean Society of Otology
- Korean Rhinologic Society
- Korean Society of Clinical Allergy
* Updated on 11th Feb , 2026.
E-mail : contact@cmclinics.com
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