Hearing loss has a track record for developing slowly. This can make the symptoms difficult to detect. It’s nothing to concern yourself with, you simply need the volume on the TV a little louder, no big deal, right? That’s usually the case, yes, but not always. It turns out hearing loss can also happen abruptly and without much warning.
It can be quite alarming when the state of your health suddenly changes. 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 if all of your hair fell out overnight, you would likely feel compelled to schedule a doctor’s appointment as soon as possible (and rightfully so).
When you suddenly lose your ability to hear, it’s the same thing. There are some really good reasons why acting quickly is a smart plan!
What is sudden hearing loss?
Long-term hearing loss is more common than sudden hearing loss or SSHL for short. But sudden hearing loss is not exactly rare, either. Every year, 1 in 5000 individuals experience SSHL.
Here are some symptoms of sudden hearing loss:
- 30dB or more of hearing loss. That is, the environment sounds 30dB quieter from whatever your previous baseline had been. You’ll certainly notice the difference, but you will need our help to measure it.
- Sudden hearing loss will impact only one ear in 9 of 10 cases. But it is possible for both ears to be affected by SSHL.
- It may seem as if your ear is plugged up. Or, in some instances, a ringing or buzzing in the ear.
- Some people hear a loud “pop” before their hearing starts to fail. But this isn’t always the situation. It’s possible to experience SSHL without hearing this pop.
- Sudden deafness happens very quickly as the name suggests. This usually means that sudden hearing loss develops over a matter of hours or days. In most instances, the individual will wake up and their hearing will suddenly be impaired. Or, perhaps they’re unable to hear what the other person is saying on the other end of a phone call all of a sudden.
If you experience SSHL, you may be wondering: is sudden deafness permanent? Well, around half of everybody who experiences SSHL will recover within two weeks. However, it’s important to note that one key to success is prompt treatment. So you will need to come see us for treatment right away. You should make an appointment within 72 hours of the onset of your symptoms.
The best thing you can do, in most instances, is to treat SSHL as a medical emergency. The longer you delay treatment, the higher your chance of sudden hearing loss becoming permanent.
So… what causes sudden hearing loss?
Some of the leading causes of sudden hearing loss include the following:
- Illnesses: There are a number of health conditions that, for vastly different reasons, can trigger SSHL, such as multiple sclerosis, meningitis, measles, and mumps. This is a good reason to get immunized against diseases that have a vaccine.
- Genetic predisposition: In some instances, an elevated risk of sudden hearing loss can be passed along from parents to children.
- Reaction to pain medication: Your risk of experiencing sudden hearing loss is raised by overuse of opioids.
- Head trauma: A traumatic brain injury can be disruptive to the communication between your brain and your ears.
- Being continuously exposed to loud music or other loud noise: Hearing will decline slowly due to repeated exposure to loud sound for most people. But for some people, that decline in hearing could happen suddenly.
- Autoimmune disease: In some circumstances, your immune system starts to believe that your inner ear is a threat. This kind of autoimmune disease can easily lead to SSHL.
- Problems with your blood flow: Things like blocked cochlear arteries and high platelet counts are included in this category.
- A reaction to drugs: Common drugs like aspirin are included in this list. This list can also include some antibiotics, including streptomycin and gentamicin, and other common medicines including cisplatin and quinine.
Most of the time, we will be better capable of helping you develop an effective treatment if we can figure out what type of sudden hearing loss you’re dealing with. But sometimes it doesn’t work that way. Understanding the exact cause isn’t always necessary for effective treatment because many types of SSHL have similar treatment strategies.
If you experience sudden hearing loss – what’s the best course of action?
So what action should you take if you wake up one day and discover that your hearing is gone? Well, there are some important steps you should take right away. First of all, you should not just wait for it to clear on its own. That’s not a good plan! You should wait no longer than 72 hours to seek treatment. Getting in touch with us for immediate treatment is the smartest plan. We’ll be in the best position to help you determine what’s wrong and how to treat it.
While you’re at our office, you will probably take an audiogram to determine the amount of hearing loss you’re experiencing (this is the examination where we make you wear headphones and raise your hand when you hear a beep, it’s entirely non-invasive). We can make sure you don’t have a blockage or a conductive problem.
For most people, the first round of treatment will likely include steroids. For some people, these steroids may be injected directly into the ear. In other circumstances, oral medication may be enough. Steroids have been known to be very effective in treating SSHL with a wide variety of root causes (or with no known root cause). For SSHL triggered by an autoimmune disease, you may need to take medication that inhibits your immune response.
Have you or somebody you know suddenly lost the ability to hear? Contact us today to schedule a hearing exam.