Hearing loss or impairment can be temporary or permanent and can affect all age groups. Ageing, ear infections and loud noises all cause hearing loss, and hearing aids or cochlear implants may be needed to restore it.
According to Bupa, hearing loss affects around two out of 10 adults in the UK. Most of these people are over the age of 60 and have lost their hearing gradually but hearing loss can occur at a younger age. In the UK, one in every 840 children is born severely or profoundly deaf each year.
How do you know you have hearing loss?
These are the following symptoms;
- you may be finding it difficult to hear and understand people when you’re in a noisy place
- you may have earache and/or a continual ringing in your ears
If you have any of these symptoms, you should contact your GP and make an appointment immediately.
But what are the causes?
There are many possible causes of hearing loss; so many in fact that they can be divided into two basic types, called conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss is caused by anything that stops sound moving from your outer ear to your inner ear; whereas Sensorineural hearing loss is caused by damage to the pathway between the inner ear and the brain. It affects sound intensity and makes it more difficult for you to recognise complex sounds.
Mixed hearing loss is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.
The following are possible causes of conductive hearing loss.
- Middle ear infections (acute otitis media).
- Collection of fluid in the middle ear – ‘glue ear’ (otitis media with effusion).
- Blockage of the outer ear, usually by wax.
- Otosclerosis, a condition where the ossicles of the middle ear harden and become less able to vibrate.
- Damage to the ossicles, for example by serious infection or head injury.
- Perforated (pierced) eardrum, which can be caused by an untreated ear infection (chronic suppurative otitis media), head injury or a blow to the ear, or from poking something in your ear.
The following are some possible causes of Sensorineural hearing loss.
- Age-related hearing loss (presbyacusis). This is a natural decline in your hearing. Many people get this as they get older because of damage to the hair cells in the cochlea.
- Damage to the hair cells by loud noises (acoustic trauma). This is more likely to happen if you work in a noisy place.
- Certain infections such as measles, mumps or meningitis.
- Ménière’s disease, which causes hearing loss, dizziness and tinnitus (a persistent ringing in the ears).
- Certain medicines, such as some powerful antibiotics, can cause permanent hearing loss. At high doses, aspirin is thought to cause temporary hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Certain cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, can cause hearing loss.
- Acoustic neuroma. This is a benign (non-cancerous) tumour affecting the auditory nerve causing deafness and tinnitus.
- Cholesteatoma (benign skin growth) in the middle ear, causing deafness and vertigo (sensation of movement when you’re standing still).
So how do you treat hearing loss?
Self-help
You can make it easier to hear and understand people by:
- making sure there is light on the face of the person you’re talking to, so you can see their lips moving
- sitting close to the person you’re talking to
- sitting so that your better ear is close to the person you’re talking to
Medicines
If you have a bacterial infection of the middle ear, it can be treated with antibiotics. Always ask your doctor for advice and read the patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine.
Non-surgical treatments
If your outer or middle ears are blocked by ear wax, a nurse will be able to remove the blockage with a syringe.
If there is no cure for your hearing loss, a hearing aid for one or both ears may help. Hearing aids can work for both conductive or sensorineural hearing loss. Many different types of hearing aid are available, and your audiologist will advise you as to which type best suits your needs.
Surgery
Perforated eardrums usually heal by themselves, but if you have a large perforation you may need to have surgery to repair it.
An acoustic neuroma or cholesteatoma can be removed by surgery. Ossicles affected by otosclerosis can be treated with surgery.
When a hearing aid doesn’t give enough sound amplification (eg in profound deafness), a cochlear implant – sometimes known as a bionic ear – may help. This device turns sound into an electrical signal that travels, via electrodes implanted in your cochlea to your auditory nerve, allowing you to hear sound. Cochlear implants work well in most people.
