Hearing loss has a reputation for showing itself gradually. This can make the symptoms easy to miss. It’s nothing to concern yourself with, you just need the volume on the TV a bit louder, no big deal, right? In some cases that’s true but often, it isn’t. It turns out hearing loss can also happen suddenly and without much warning.
It can be rather alarming when the state of your health abruptly changes. When people’s hair falls out slowly over a very long period of time, for instance, they would probably just blame it on aging and simply assume they’re balding. But if all of your hair fell out overnight, you would likely feel compelled to make a doctor’s appointment as soon as you can (and rightfully so).
The same applies to sudden hearing loss. There are some really good reasons why acting fast is a smart plan!
Sudden hearing loss – what is it?
Sudden hearing loss (sometimes known as sudden deafness or sudden sensorineural hearing loss, or simply SSHL for short) is not generally as common as the longer-term type of hearing loss most individuals experience. But sudden hearing loss is not really rare, either. Every year, 1 in 5000 people experience SSHL.
Here are a few symptoms of sudden hearing loss:
- The loss of 30dB or more with regards to your hearing. That is, the world sounds 30dB quieter from whatever your past baseline had been. You won’t be able to measure this on your own, it’s something we will diagnose. However, it will be noticeable.
- As the name implies, sudden deafness usually occurs rapidly. Sudden hearing loss develops within a few days or even within a few hours. As a matter of fact, most people wake up in the morning wondering what’s wrong with their hearing! Or, maybe they’re not able to hear what the other person is saying on the other end of a phone call suddenly.
- It might seem as if your ear is plugged up. Or there might be a ringing or buzzing in some instances.
- Some individuals notice a loud “pop” before their hearing begins to fail. But that only happens sometimes. It’s possible to experience SSHL without hearing this pop.
- In 9 out of 10 instances, sudden hearing loss affects only one ear. But it is possible for both ears to be affected by SSHL.
If you experience SSHL, you might be wondering: is sudden deafness permanent? Well, roughly half of everybody who experiences SSHL will get better within a couple of weeks. However, it’s relevant to note that one key to success is prompt treatment. So you will need to come see us for treatment as soon as possible. After you first notice the symptoms, you should wait no longer than 72 hours.
The best thing to do, in most cases, is to treat SSHL as a medical emergency. The longer you delay treatment, the higher your risk of sudden hearing loss becoming permanent.
So… what triggers sudden hearing loss?
Some of the leading causes of sudden hearing loss include the following:
- Head trauma: A traumatic brain injury can do much to disrupt the communication between your brain and your ears.
- A reaction to drugs: Common medications such as aspirin are included in this list. Normally, this also includes cisplatin, quinine, or streptomycin and gentamicin (the last two of which are antibiotics.
- Genetic predisposition: Genetic predisposition can in some cases be responsible for sudden hearing loss.
- Autoimmune disease: Your immune system can, in some situations, start to view your inner ear as a threat. This type of autoimmune disease can easily lead to SSHL.
- Illnesses: Diseases including mumps, measles, meningitis, and multiple sclerosis have all been known to cause SSHL, for wildly different reasons. So if a disease has a vaccine, it’s a good idea to get immunized.
- Problems with your blood flow: This might include anything from a high platelet count to an obstruction of the cochlear artery.
- Reaction to pain medication: Overuse of opioid-related drugs and pain medication can raise your risk of developing sudden hearing loss.
- Being repeatedly exposed to loud music or other loud sound: For most people, loud sound will cause a slow decline in hearing. But for some people, that decline in hearing may happen suddenly.
Most of the time, we will be better capable of helping you develop an effective treatment if we can ascertain what type of sudden hearing loss you have. But this isn’t always the situation. Many kinds of SSHL are managed similarly, so knowing the precise cause isn’t always necessary for effective treatment.
If you experience sudden hearing loss – what’s the best course of action?
So, if you wake up one morning and suddenly find you can’t hear anything, what should you do? Well, there are a couple of essential steps you should take right away. First and foremost, you shouldn’t just wait for it to go away. That won’t work very well. Instead, you should get treatment within 72 hours. It’s best to make an appointment with us immediately. We’ll be in the best position to help you determine what’s wrong and how to deal with it.
While at our office, you will probably undergo an audiogram to determine the level of hearing loss you’re experiencing (this is a completely non-invasive test where you put on some headphones and raise your hand when you hear a beep). We can make certain you don’t have an obstruction or a conductive problem.
For most people, the first course of treatment will very likely include steroids. For some individuals, these steroids could be injected directly into the ear. For others, pills may be capable of generating the desired results. SSHL of numerous root causes (or no known cause) can be effectively treated with steroids. For SSHL due to an autoimmune disease, you might need to take medication that suppresses your immune response.
Have you or somebody you know suddenly lost the ability to hear? Contact us today to schedule a hearing evaluation.
