HEARING LOSS

What is the Condition about:

Hearing loss is a condition that affects an individual's ability to hear sounds, speech, and other environmental cues. Hearing loss can occur due to a variety of reasons, including exposure to loud noise, aging, genetics, and certain medical conditions.

How I investigate the Condition:

To diagnose hearing loss, I perform a series of hearing tests, including pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and impedance audiometry. These tests help in determining the type and severity of hearing loss and identifying the underlying cause of the condition.

What treatment options are available:

The treatment options for hearing loss depend on the cause and severity of the condition. Hearing aids are the most common treatment option for mild to moderate hearing loss.

For severe to profound hearing loss, cochlear implants may be recommended. Other treatment options may include middle ear implants, bone conduction devices, and auditory brainstem implants.

What is Hearing Loss?

Hearing loss is the reduction in the ability to hear sound and can occur suddenly or gradually. Sudden hearing loss is immediately noticeable and requires urgent medical treatment. With gradual hearing loss, it can be harder to notice the reduction in hearing as it happens slowly over time. It may start to become apparent when you have difficulty hearing people in noisy environments or family members comment on the TV being too loud. Often people can still hear others talking, but it isn’t so clear anymore…they just can’t quite understand parts of what is being said. It may feel like a blockage or ringing in the ears.

Children with hearing loss may fail to meet speech and language milestones or have problems with articulation. They may start watching a speaker’s face very carefully or ask people to repeat things a lot. Hearing

loss can also manifest as problems at school. They may start slipping

academically, not respond when spoken to, be disruptive in class because they cannot hear what is going on around them or be thought to have a learning disorder or ADHD.

Hearing loss can be:

Sensorineural, which is permanent hearing loss caused when the inner ear (cochlea) or the auditory (cochlear) nerve is damaged or malformed.

Conductive, meaning sound can’t travel through the outer or middle ear to the cochlea.

If not addressed in children, hearing loss can lead to speech and language delay. It is linked with depression and dementia in adults.

What causes Hearing Loss?

Hearing loss can be present at birth (congenital) or develop later in life (acquired).

Congenital hearing loss

Congenital hearing loss can be hereditary (genetic) or caused by infections during pregnancy, including infection with cytomegalovirus or rubella. Hearing loss is also more common in babies who are premature or very small when they are born.

Acquired hearing loss

Acquired hearing loss can occur at any age, from very early childhood to old age. There are many reasons for it including:

Glue ear

Middle ear disease (see cholesteatoma and ear drum perforation/retraction)

Ageing

Noise exposure

Some medicines

Infections such as meningitis

Ear tumours

Depending on the cause, hearing loss can be temporary or as a result of damage to the structure of the ear that can lead to permanent hearing loss.

Wax build-up or fluid in the ears following a cold can cause a temporary loss in hearing that usually resolves by itself. However, structural problems or infections in the middle or inner ear can cause more long-term hearing loss and need to be treated as soon as possible.