Hearing loss has a reputation for showing itself slowly. It can be difficult to detect the symptoms due to this. (After all, you’re only turning up the volume on your television once in a while, it’s nothing to be concerned about, 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 truly alarming when the condition of your health suddenly changes. When people’s hair falls out slowly over a really long period of time, for example, they would probably chalk it up to aging and simply assume they’re going bald. But if all of your hair fell out in a single day, you would likely feel obliged to schedule a doctor’s appointment as soon as you can (and rightfully so).
When you suddenly lose your ability to hear, it’s the same thing. There are some very good reasons why acting quickly is a smart plan!
What is sudden hearing loss?
Sudden hearing loss (sometimes called sudden deafness or sudden sensorineural hearing loss, or just SSHL for short) is not usually as prevalent as the longer-term kind of hearing loss most individuals encounter. But it isn’t really uncommon for individuals to experience sudden hearing loss. Every year, 1 in 5000 individuals experience SSHL.
The symptoms of sudden hearing loss usually include the following:
- A loud “popping” noise sometimes occurs just before sudden hearing loss. But that only occurs sometimes. It’s possible to experience SSHL without hearing this pop.
- In 9 out of 10 cases, sudden hearing loss affects only one ear. Having said that, it is possible for SSHL to affect both ears.
- 30dB or greater of hearing loss. That is, the environment sounds 30dB quieter from whatever your earlier baseline had been. You won’t be able to measure this by yourself, it’s something we will diagnose. However, it will be apparent.
- It may seem like your ear is plugged up. Or, in some cases, a ringing or buzzing in the ear.
- Sudden hearing loss occurs very quickly as the name suggests. Sudden hearing loss develops within a few days or even within a few hours. In fact, most people wake up in the morning wondering what’s wrong with their hearing! Or, perhaps they’re unable to hear the other person talking on the other end of a phone call all of a sudden.
If you experience SSHL, you may be wondering: is sudden deafness permanent? Actually, within a couple of weeks, hearing will recover for about 50% of people who experience SSHL. But rapid treatment is a big key to success. So you will need to come see us for treatment as soon as possible. When 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. Your chances of sudden hearing loss becoming irreversible increases the longer you wait.
What’s the cause of sudden hearing loss?
Some of the leading causes of sudden hearing loss include the following:
- Autoimmune disease: In some situations, your immune system starts to think that your inner ear is a threat. Sudden hearing loss can definitely be triggered by this autoimmune disease.
- Repeated exposure to loud sound, such as music: Hearing will decline progressively due to repeated exposure to loud noise for most people. But for some, that decline in hearing could occur suddenly.
- Reaction to pain medication: Your risk of experiencing sudden hearing loss is elevated by overuse of opioids.
- A reaction to drugs: This could include common drugs such as aspirin. Normally, this also includes cisplatin, quinine, or streptomycin and gentamicin (the last two of which are antibiotics.
- Illnesses: There are a number of health conditions that, for vastly different reasons, can cause SSHL, like multiple sclerosis, meningitis, measles, and mumps. This is a great reason to get immunized against diseases for which there is a vaccine.
- Head trauma: The communication between your brain and ears can be interrupted by a traumatic brain injury.
- Genetic predisposition: In some situations, an elevated risk of sudden hearing loss can be passed down from parents to children.
- Problems with your blood flow: This may include anything from a high platelet count to an obstruction of the cochlear artery.
Most of the time, we will be better able to help you formulate an effective treatment if we can figure out what type of sudden hearing loss you’re dealing with. But this isn’t always the case. Understanding the exact cause isn’t always necessary for effective treatment because many forms of SSHL have similar treatment strategies.
What should you do if you experience sudden hearing loss?
So, if you wake up one morning and suddenly discover you can’t hear anything, what should you do? Well, there are some important steps you should take immediately. Above all, you should not just wait for it to go away. That’s a bad idea! Instead, you should find treatment within 72 hours. It’s best to make an appointment with us immediately. We’ll be in the best position to help you figure out what’s wrong and how to treat it.
We will most likely undertake an audiogram in our office to identify your level of hearing loss (this is a totally non-invasive test where you put on some headphones and raise your hand when you hear a tone). We can make certain you don’t have an obstruction or a conductive issue.
The first course of treatment will usually include steroids. For some individuals, these steroids could be injected directly into the ear. For others, pills might be able to generate the desired effects. Steroids have been known to be quite effective in treating SSHL with a large number of root causes (or with no known root cause). You might need to take a medication to suppress your immune response if your SSHL is caused by an autoimmune disease.
If you or someone you know has suddenly lost the ability to hear, contact us right away for an evaluation..