Sudden Hearing Loss

Sudden hearing loss comes on quickly. It is usually in one ear, and it can be frightening.

Sudden Hearing Loss Defined

Sudden hearing loss occurs rapidly over a period of hours or days or is discovered immediately upon rising in the morning. The medical definition of sudden hearing loss is the loss of 30 decibels over three frequencies for at least 72 hours.

Decibels are a measure of sound, and frequencies are measures of pitch.
So sudden hearing loss is where a significant amount of sound over a range of pitches (from high to low) is not detected. It would be like normal conversation heard as the softest of soft whispers.

While it can be very scary to some, others put it off as a symptom of allergies, excessive ear wax or even a sinus infection. Some people who experience sudden hearing loss report ringing in their ears or even dizziness. Sudden hearing loss is serious and requires immediate attention. Delays in the diagnosis cause a delay in treatment. Delays in treatment can lead to less desirable outcomes.

If you ever experience sudden hearing loss, call you doctor right away.

Causes of Sudden Hearing Loss

There are many different things that can cause sudden hearing loss. However, in more than 80% of cases, the underlying cause of the hearing loss is never identified. Identifiable causes of sudden hearing loss are:

• Infectious disease
• Inner ear problems
• Head injury
• Ototoxic drugs
• Blood circulation problems
• Neurologic diseases
• Autoimmune disorders

Sudden hearing loss is diagnosed by first taking a complete history to help identify one or more of the causes above and by conducting a hearing test. In addition, blood tests, balance tests, and an MRI may be ordered as well. These help the doctor to rule out tumors on the nerve that connect the ear to the brain, infections such as Lyme disease or syphilis, and identify autoimmune disorders that may have been previously undiagnosed.

Sudden Hearing Loss Treatment

How sudden hearing loss is treated depends upon the identification of underlying causes. Here are the most common treatments.

Antivirals or Antibiotics

If a bacterial or viral infection is identified through testing, the appropriate medications will be prescribed to treat the infection. These may be prescribed as a stand-alone treatment or along with steroids.

Steroids

In many cases, steroids are prescribed. This is especially true in cases where no cause is identified. These steroids are not what you hear about weight lifters and athletes taking. These are corticosteroids – a totally different medication with a similar name.

These steroids reduce inflammation and help the body fight infection. Typically, steroids are taken by mouth, but can be injected directly behind the eardrum in a treatment known as intratympanic corticosteroid therapy. However, a study funded by the National Institute of Health in 2011 found that this injected therapy had no better outcome than oral steroids and was certainly less comfortable for the patient. It has fallen out of favor since then.

Other Therapies

There have been inconclusive studies with the use of hypobaric oxygen chambers to treat sudden hearing loss. Several vasodilators have also been studied.

Unfortunately, very few placebo-controlled studies of hearing loss treatment have been performed. The lack of research has limited treatment options for sudden hearing loss.