Mr Osama Dessouky MSc MD FRCS (ORL-HNS) ENT Consultant 2020-03-03 Person 5 5 0

I was referred to Mr Dessouky back in October 2019 following a sudden rise in tinnitus levels (with a November appointment scheduled). As a professional musician, this greatly concerned me. I then attended a loud concert in early November, without wearing protective earplugs. This resulted in a great deal of acoustic trauma manifesting in what seemed to be major hearing loss issues and hyperacusis. I saw a private ENT a week after this incident who concluded that I would need hearing aids, trying to sell me a pair, and not seeing a chance of recovery without using such aids. My experience with Mr Dessouky later that month couldn't have been more different. He was very sympathetic about my situation, as I was particularly worried that I would be unable to continue working as a musician, and he understood how anxiety provoking it was. He put me very much at ease, and stated that this would hopefully be a transient phase, having recovered well from previous acoustic trauma in 2013 (sustained through a soundcheck at a concert I was playing at). His combination of being very knowledgeable and empathetic gave me much hope, and he referred me for a MRI scan as well as an appointment with an audiologist. My hearing and hyperacusis recovered well, although I experienced a setback last month from attending a loud concert with earplugs, which led to the same issues arising although to a lesser degree. I was due for a review with Mr Dessouky, so saw him again, being able to have a hearing test the day before at the Musicians' Hearing Service in Camden (highly recommended for any musicians and singers considering the amount of subsidised services that they offer). The hearing test showed that I had not experienced any damage to my hearing from this more recent incident, which was a relief. Upon seeing Mr Dessouky the following day, he was also pleased to see this, and did much to reassure me that my ears are fine, stating that what I'm experiencing with hyperacusis and tinnitus is a psychological issue. He has referred me for TRT and gave me some great advice, such as not to have another hearing test for a year. I see that other reviews mention how much Mr Dessouky went out of his way for them, and this was also my experience. To give an example of this, the private ENT still hadn't gotten back to me with my hearing test results when I first saw Mr Dessouky. He gave me his NHS email address and asked me to forward them ASAP so that he could review them for me. Two days later, I finally received the results and emailed them in the afternoon - later that evening, Mr Dessouky responded with an email that really inspired me to be more positive about recovering from the acoustic trauma. I really couldn't have hoped for a better ENT to be assigned to me! He is such a huge asset to the NHS and if I could rate him higher than 10 out of 10, I would. If you are lucky to have him as your ENT, you can be rest assured that you are in very safe hands.