A
conductive hearing loss makes it hard for sounds to get to your inner
ear. Audiologists can help if you have this type of hearing loss.
About Conductive Hearing Loss
Your
ear is made up of three parts – the outer, the middle, and the inner
ear. A conductive hearing loss happens when sounds cannot get through
the outer and middle ear. It may be hard to hear soft sounds. Louder
sounds may be muffled.
Medicine or surgery can often fix this type of hearing loss.
Causes of Conductive Hearing Loss:
- Fluid in your middle ear from colds or allergies.
- Ear infection, or otitis media. Otitis is a term used to mean ear infection, and media means middle.
- Poor
Eustachian tube function. The Eustachian tube connects your middle ear
and your nose. Fluid in the middle ear can drain out through this tube.
Fluid can stay in the middle ear if the tube does not work correctly.
- A hole in your eardrum.
- Benign tumors. These tumors are not cancer but can block the outer or middle ear.
- Earwax , or cerumen, stuck in your ear canal.
- Infection in the ear canal, called external otitis. You may hear this called swimmer’s ear.
- An object stuck in your outer ear. An example might be if your child put a pebble in his ear when playing outside.
- A
problem with how the outer or middle ear is formed. Some people are
born without an outer ear. Some may have a deformed ear canal or have a
problem with the bones in their middle ear.
A sensorineural hearing loss happens when there is damage in your inner ear. Audiologists can help if you have this type of hearing loss.
About Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Your ear is made up of three parts— the outer, the middle, and the inner ear.
Sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL, happens after inner ear damage.
Problems with the nerve pathways from your inner ear to your brain can
also cause SNHL. Soft sounds may be hard to hear. Even louder sounds may
be unclear or may sound muffled.
This
is the most common type of permanent hearing loss. Most of the time,
medicine or surgery cannot fix SNHL. Hearing aids may help you hear.
Causes of Sensorineural Hearing Loss:
- Illnesses.
- Drugs that are toxic to hearing.
- Hearing loss that runs in the family.
- Aging.
- A blow to the head.
- A problem in the way the inner ear is formed.
- Listening to loud noises or explosions.
A mixed hearing loss is a problem in your outer or middle ear and in your inner ear. Audiologists can help if you have a mixed hearing loss.
About Mixed Hearing Loss
Sometimes, a conductive hearing loss happens at the same time as a sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL. This means that there may be damage in the outer or middle ear and in the inner ear or nerve pathway to the brain. This is a mixed hearing loss.
Causes of Mixed Hearing Loss:
Anything
that causes a conductive hearing loss or SNHL can lead to a mixed
hearing loss. An example would be if you have a hearing loss because you
work around loud noises and you have fluid in your middle ear. The two
together might make your hearing worse than it would be with only one
problem.
Acoustic Neuroma
An acoustic neuroma (aka vestibular schwannoma) is a benign growth on the hearing nerve. It
can cause a hearing loss affecting the ear that the tumor is growing. These are diagnosed with
MRI imaging after seeing an asymmetrical hearing loss on an audiogram. The causes of these
tumor growths is unknown at this time. Acoustic neuromas are rare and occur in about 10:
100,000 cases of asymmetric hearing loss.
Treatment includes annual audiograms for observation, surgery or gamma knife radiation.
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Cholesteatoma
Cholesteatoma occurs when there is an accumulation of dead skin cells found in the middle ear,
inner ear, and or the mastoid bone. This can cause difficulty hearing and infection. Typically, this
is found in patients who have had a history of recurrent ear infections.
Symptoms:
Decreased hearing, Ear pain, Ear fullness, Chronic ear infections, Problems with balance. Treatment:
Medications (Antibiotics, Ear Drops), Surgical Management (Removal of Cholesteatoma).
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Conductive Hearing Loss
Conductive hearing loss occurs when there is an issue with sound waves reaching the middle and
inner ear space. This can be due to mechanical obstruction like wax, foreign body, infection, or
injury to the eardrum or hearing bones. These issues do not allow for sound waves to properly
stimulate hair cells in the cochlea.
Conductive hearing loss can be treated and the hearing loss is not always permanent.
Treatment: Removal of obstruction. Surgery: (Tube surgery, cholesteatoma removal, prosthetic bone placement).
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Meniere’s Disease
This disease is marked by dizziness, hearing loss, tinnitus, and ear congestion. These symptoms
are not constant but occur during flare ups and may last up to 12 hours. Meniere’s Disease is
caused by an abnormal amount of fluid in the semicircular canals. The cause is unknown. Symptoms: Dizziness, hearing loss, tinnitus, ear fullness. Treatments: Diet changes, medications, injections, surgery.
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Otosclerosis
Otosclerosis is a condition that affects the stapes bone in the inner ear. This bone is important in
conducting sound. With otosclerosis, the bone overgrows, causing it to be less mobile. With less
mobility, the cochlea is less responsive to stimuli, therefore decreasing hearing.
Causes:
Genetic. Treatments:
Observation, Surgery.
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Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)
Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when there is an issue with the cochlea hearing nerve. The
cochlea contains small hair cells that receive and process sound waves. These signals are sent to
the brain for interpretation. If the cochlea is damaged, these signals can’t be interpreted correctly
by the brain. Some conditions that may cause SNHL include aging, prolonged exposure to loud
sounds, congenital deformities, injury, or tumor.
Treatment:
Medication (Steroids if indicated). Surgery: Hearing Device Implants.
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