Top of Page. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. Protect your hearing from getting worse and learn ways to help you hear better and adapt to your hearing loss. Overwhelmed at which hearing aid to buy?
As a starting point, look for these key features, such as Bluetooth. Hearing loss can be a side effect of ototoxic medication and drugs. Find out which drugs can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss. It's not uncommon for rare diseases and genetic syndromes to cause hearing loss. Fortunately, hearing aids and other treatments often help. The mental impact of living with a chronic condition like tinnitus can take its toll. One of the most proven strategies for coping, experts say, is cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Hearing loss affects millions of Americans. Its impact is often downplayed in our society, but living with hearing loss can be frustrating and affect your quality of life in unexpected ways. Everyday activities—listening to the TV, making phone calls, chatting with friends—suddenly become exhausting as you spend more and more time trying to figure out what people are saying.
Maybe that's why we get so many questions about whether or not there is a cure, or a way to quickly and easily restore or repair hearing levels to normal, especially for sensorineural hearing loss. The reality: Fully fixing or restoring hearing loss is only possible in very limited cases.
Most adults lose their hearing slowly, over time, due to aging and noise exposure. The delicate hair cells in the ear, which detect sound, are permanently degraded or damaged. For these people, there is no cure, but hearing better can be as simple as visiting a hearing care professional and being professionally fit with the right type of hearing aid.
Unfortunately no drugs are available to treat standard hearing loss related to aging or noise exposure. But one day, there might be: Researchers from all over the world have been searching for ways to make curing hearing loss as easy as a trip to the pharmacy.
One of the latest efforts is an ongoing clinical trial of a new injectable drug, dubbed FX, to see if the drug can regrow new hair cells to replace those that have been damaged due to one of the many causes of SNHL. The study, by Frequency Therapeutics, is currently a "phase 2," meaning the drug's safety and proper dosing is still being worked out before a larger trial is conducted.
Another emerging area of research is gene therapy for hearing loss , though it could be many years before human testing begins. These and other developments towards restoring hearing in the scientific community are exciting but still preliminary. For people who experience sudden hearing loss , steroids injected into the ear or taken orally can treat inflammation. This includes an examination of the ear and its anatomy, the auditory system and an overall physical examination.
Most surgeons will not perform a cochlear implant surgery unless the patient has tried hearing aids without success. Because this surgery is invasive, it is reserved for severely hearing-impaired patients. Hearing aids have come a long way in the last ten years and one of the options currently available to those diagnosed with mild to moderately-severe sensorineural hearing loss may be the extended wear Lyric hearing aid, manufactured by Phonak.
The device can be worn up to several months at a time. The water-resistant device, inserted and programed by a certified Lyric provider, can be worn while showering and exercise. A word of caution, though. The Lyric is not suitable for everyone. Those with small ear canals or with severe to profound hearing loss may not benefit from this technology. And while the Lyric is water resistant, it is not waterproof, meaning you can't swim or dive with them in. Additionally, because the entire device is replaced six to eight times a year, the cost of this option is more expensive than traditional hearing aids.
Conductive hearing loss occurs when there is an obstruction or damage to the outer or middle ear that prevents sound from being conducted to the inner ear. Conductive hearing loss may be temporary or permanent, depending on the cause and sometimes, medical or surgical intervention can restore hearing.
While many people have heard of cochlear implants, less well-known are bone-anchored hearing systems. They consist of an implant that's surgically inserted into the bone behind the ear, and a hearing aid that fits tightly over the implant. When sound is detected, vibrations are sent via the bone to the inner ear.
They are suitable for people with conductive hearing loss, such as children with outer or middle ear malformations. They also can be used on kids or adults with single-sided deafness. They require at least one functioning inner ear. If your child or grandchild has ever had an ear infection , then you know how agonizing this condition can be.
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, every child has at least one ear infection by the age of five. Although this condition usually clears on its own without causing permanent damage, some children have chronic episodes that can lead to long-term hearing loss, poor school performance and behavior or speech problems.
In cases like these, the pediatrician may recommend surgery to insert small tubes, known as pressure equalization PE tubes. Also referred to as tympanostomy tubes, myringotomy tubes or ventilation tubes, these tiny cylinders are placed through the eardrum by an ear, nose and throat ENT surgeon in order to allow air into the middle ear.
Hearing Health Foundation. Occupational noise exposure. Evaluation of hearing loss in adults. Morrow ES Jr. Allscripts EPSi.
Mayo Clinic. Accessed Nov. Michaels TC, et al. Hearing loss in adults: Differential diagnosis and treatment. American Family Physician. Hearing loss. Merck Manual Professional Version. Amieva H, et al. Does treating hearing loss in older adults improve cognitive outcomes?
Journal of Clinical Medicine. Hearing loss and older adults. Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Rochester, Minn.
Chandrasekhar SS, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline: Sudden hearing loss update. Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. Related Hearing aid parts Hearing aid styles Hearing aids: How to choose the right one High-frequency hearing loss: Can hearing aids help? Show more related content. News from Mayo Clinic Hearing and, most importantly, understanding Nov.
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