Sudden Hearing Loss
To wake up one morning and suddenly find that you cannot hear normally or at all is a frightening experience.
Cause:
A sudden loss of hearing, which is often accompanied by a buzzing sound in the same ear, may be a simple problem, such as ear wax blocking the ear canal, fluid in the middle ear or an ear infection, or a more serious injury to the nerves of the inner ear.
This nerve injury may be due to viral infections, Lyme disease, blood flow impairment, trauma (due to pressure change, excessive noise or temporal bone fracture) exposure, autoimmune disease (link), an acoustic neuroma (a small benign tumor which develops from the protective sheath of cells surrounding the acoustic nerves) or some other form of neuropathy (link to migraine variants – headaches and ear pressure).
Sometimes there is also a problem also with the balance system, such as with Meniere’s disease, semicircular canal dehiscence (a weakness of the bone covering the inner ear). With other conditions the cause may be more obvious but overlooked because of other symptoms, such as when the temporal bone is fractured due to a head injury.
Immediate action is important
A sudden hearing loss sometimes recovers spontaneously, but not reliably. It is important that the cause is identified within a few days of the loss.
Often a sudden hearing loss is not accompanied by any pain or other symptom to raise concern. A person just wakes up in the morning with an odd loss of hearing in one ear. A common instinct is to wait to see if it will get better.
In fact, the specialized nerves of the cochlea (inner ear) are damaged and, if treated immediately, have the best chance to recover their function.
Please call for an immediate appointment and explain your condition so that our staff understands the seriousness of your problem.
Diagnosis
- Examination of the ear
- Audiogram
- MRI
- CT scan
- blood work
Treatment
Oral and transtympanic steroids (link- probably under general topics or ear section) can be an important medical interventions, followed by weekly hearing tests, for most forms of sudden hearing loss. Nonetheless, there are other therapies for other causes.
"I had a sudden loss of hearing in my left ear 6 weeks ago. I could not hear anything in that ear. I have diabetes and therefore I had to have steroid injected through my eardrum. I got 4 treatments and now my hearing has returned to normal. The injections did not cause me pain, but I did get dizzy for several minutes. Otherwise I could do everything normally." - Ramon Perez, patient