Ukraine’s first hearing restoration centre for soldiers who have lost or partially damaged their hearing during combat operations has opened in Kyiv. The new centre opened at the Rhino clinic on 25 September. All diagnostic procedures, consultations and operations are provided free of charge thanks to the support of the Pivnik Charitable Foundation.
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According to Dmytro Zin, ENT surgeon and medical director of the Rhino clinic, hearing loss is one of the most common but least noticeable injuries among military personnel.
‘We restore hearing to military personnel. This involves sound conduction disorders and restoration of the integrity of the eardrums. Explosive trauma is one of the most common injuries among the wounded. We call it the invisible trauma of war,’ said Dmytro Zin.
The doctor noted that due to the inconspicuousness of the symptoms, soldiers often do not even realise that they have lost their hearing. If the damage is not treated, it can lead to serious consequences — from communication difficulties to problems with adaptation after returning from the front.
How the centre works
The clinic has already successfully operated on over a hundred military personnel. The centre offers a full range of services, from initial diagnosis to surgical intervention.
“All consultations for military personnel who have suffered blast injuries and have hearing problems are provided completely free of charge. We have an audiologist who determines the degree of hearing loss, and then we plan the surgery. We noticed a high demand for such assistance, so we started a charitable foundation that covers the cost of these operations,” explained Dmytro Zin.
The idea to create the centre came about after the first free operation for a wounded soldier last year. The result was so successful that the team decided to open a separate branch of work.
Currently, there are no more than thirty specialists in Ukraine capable of performing such operations. Thanks to the centre, the number of soldiers who can have their hearing restored will increase significantly. In the future, they plan to perform up to a thousand operations here every year.
Patient history
One of the clinic’s patients is Adam, a military serviceman and UAV operator. He was wounded during an air strike in July.
“After the explosion, I immediately realised that my hearing was very poor. At the hospital, I met a comrade with a similar injury who had already been treated at the Rhino clinic. He was the one who advised me to come here,” Adam said.
To receive treatment, military personnel must obtain a referral, undergo medical examinations, and agree to hospitalisation. The clinic tries to simplify this process as much as possible by offering online consultations even directly from the front lines.
‘I recently consulted a patient right from a dugout,’ says Dmytro Zin. ‘We plan operations so that they are as convenient as possible for the soldiers. It’s a one-day surgery — if everything goes well, the patient goes home the next day with a set of necessary medications and recommendations.’
After the operation, soldiers undergo three follow-up visits: one week, one month and three months after the procedure. At the last stage, doctors assess how successful the hearing restoration has been.
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