We typically think of hearing loss as something that develops slowly. It can be difficult to detect the symptoms due to this. It’s nothing to concern yourself with, you just need the volume on the TV a bit louder, no big deal, right? That’s usually the situation, yes, but not always. In some situations, hearing loss can occur suddenly without any early symptoms.
When our health suddenly changes, it tends to get our attention (one might even describe the emotion as “alarm”). For instance, if your hair falls out a little bit at a time, it’s not a big deal, you’re just going bald! But you would probably want to make an appointment with your doctor if you woke up one morning and all your hair had fallen out.
The same goes for sudden hearing loss. There are some very good reasons why acting fast is a good plan!
Sudden hearing loss – what is it?
Long-term hearing loss is more common than sudden hearing loss or SSHL for short. But it’s not exactly uncommon for individuals to experience sudden hearing loss. Around 1 in 5000 individuals a year suffer from SSHL.
Here are a few symptoms of sudden hearing loss:
- Some people may also experience a feeling of fullness in the ear. Or, in some cases, a ringing or buzzing in the ear.
- Some individuals hear a loud “pop” before their hearing begins to disappear. But that only happens sometimes. It’s possible to experience SSHL without hearing this pop.
- Sudden deafness occurs very quickly as the name suggests. Sudden hearing loss happens within a few days or even within a few hours. In most circumstances, the individual will wake up and their hearing will be suddenly impaired. Or, they may take a phone call and question why they can’t hear anything on the other end.
- Sudden hearing loss will affect only one ear in 9 of 10 cases. Having said that, it is possible for SSHL to impact both ears.
- The loss of 30dB or more when it comes to your hearing. That is, the environment sounds 30dB quieter from whatever your previous 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.
If you experience SSHL, you might be questioning: is sudden deafness permanent? Actually, within a couple of weeks, hearing will come back for about 50% of individuals who experience SSHL. But prompt treatment is a big key to success. This means you will want to get treatment as quickly as you can. After you first detect the symptoms, you should wait no longer than 72 hours.
In most situations, it’s a good plan to treat sudden hearing loss as a medical emergency. Your chances of sudden hearing loss becoming permanent increases the longer you wait.
So… what triggers sudden hearing loss?
Some of the leading causes of sudden hearing loss include the following:
- Autoimmune disease: In some circumstances, your immune system begins to believe that your inner ear is a threat. This kind of autoimmune disease can definitely result in SSHL.
- Head trauma: A traumatic brain injury can do much to disrupt the communication between your brain and your ears.
- Reaction to pain medication: Your risk of experiencing sudden hearing loss is raised by overuse of opioids.
- A reaction to drugs: Common drugs like aspirin are included in this list. Usually, this also includes cisplatin, quinine, or streptomycin and gentamicin (the last two of which are antibiotics.
- Genetic predisposition: In some instances, an elevated risk of sudden deafness can be passed down from parents to children.
- Illnesses: There are a number of health conditions that, for vastly different reasons, can trigger SSHL, such as multiple sclerosis, meningitis, measles, and mumps. So if a disease has a vaccine, it’s a good idea to get immunized.
- Being continuously exposed to loud music or other loud sound: For most people, loud sound will cause a gradual decline in hearing. But for some, that decline in hearing may happen suddenly.
- Problems with your blood flow: Things like blocked cochlear arteries and high platelet counts are included in this category.
For a percentage of patients, knowing what type of sudden hearing loss you have will help us formulate a more effective treatment plan. But this isn’t always the situation. Knowing the exact cause isn’t always necessary for effective treatment because lots of forms of SSHL have similar treatment methods.
If you experience sudden hearing loss – what’s the best course of action?
So, if you wake up one morning and suddenly discover you can’t hear anything, what should you do? Well, there are some essential steps you should take right away. First and foremost, you should not just wait for it to go away. That won’t work very well. You should wait no longer than 72 hours to seek treatment. It’s best to schedule an appointment with us as soon as possible. We’ll be in the best position to help you figure out what’s wrong and how to treat it.
We will probably perform an audiogram in our office to determine your degree of hearing loss (this is the test where we make you put on headphones and raise your hand when you hear a beep, it’s entirely non-invasive). We will also rule out any obstructions or a possible conductive cause for your hearing loss.
For most patients, the first round of treatment will most likely include steroids. An injection of these steroids directly into the ear is in some cases necessary. In other situations, pills may be able to generate the desired results. SSHL of many root causes (or no known cause) can be effectively treated with steroids. For SSHL caused by an autoimmune disease, you might need to take medication that suppresses your immune response.
If you or somebody you know has suddenly lost the ability to hear, contact us right away for an assessment..
