Hearing loss and deafness
Causes of hearing loss
- External ear
- Impacted cerumen
- Foreign bodies
- External otitis
- Middle ear
- Otitis media
- Serous otitis
- Otosclerosis
- Tympanic membrane trauma
- Cholesteatoma
- Acoustic neuroma
- Inner ear
- Ménière’s disease
- Noise-induced hearing loss
- Presbycusis
- Ototoxicity
Types of hearing loss
- Conductive hearing loss
- Sound transmission to inner ear impaired
- Patients actually hear better in noisy environments
- Patient often speaks softly
- Identify and treat cause
- Suggest hearing aid
- Caused by
- Otitis media with effusion
- Impacted cerumen
- Perforation of TM
- Otosclerosis
- Narrowing of the external auditory canal
- Sound transmission to inner ear impaired
- Sensorineural hearing loss
- Results in ability to hear sound but inability to understand speech
- Can lead to misunderstanding by others
- Hearing aids make sounds louder but not clearer
- Caused by
- Impairment of the inner ear
- Vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII) damage
- Congenital and hereditary factors
- Noise trauma
- Aging (presbycusis)
- Meniere’s disease
- Ototoxic drugs
- Aspirin
- NSAIDs
- Antibiotics
- Loop diuretics
- Chemotherapy drugs
- Results in ability to hear sound but inability to understand speech
- Mixed hearing loss
- Central and functional hearing loss
