Discover the Treatments for Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Much of your ability to hear is governed by miniature nerve endings in your inner ear. If these nerves are damaged, or if damage occurs in other areas of the inner ear, sensorineural hearing loss can result.

In most cases, sensorineural deafness does not result in a complete inability to hear. Actually, in many cases only certain sounds become difficult to hear. Some sounds may seem too loud, while others may seem much less distinctive. Background noise often compounds the issue. Speech can be especially challenging to understand in noisy environments. The individual may have difficulty when attempting to follow a conversation with more than one person speaking and may notice that women’s voices are harder to understand than men’s. Troubles in hearing aren’t the only symptom of sensorineural hearing loss: tinnitus and dizziness can also occur.

There are many different causes of sensorineural hearing loss. Sometimes this form of deafness exists since birth. Genetic problems can result in many forms of congenital sensorineural hearing loss, while in other cases infections passed from mother to infant are the root cause.

As a person matures, sensorineural hearing loss can be caused by a number of different issues. One such cause is acoustic trauma, or contact with an excessively loud noise. Consistent exposure to lower level noise, such as working with noisy equipment or listening to loud music, can also result in inner ear damage.

Sensorineural hearing loss can come on suddenly, such as in the case of viral infections. Viruses such as mumps, measles and meningitis can all lead to this issue. Fluctuating hearing loss that comes and goes combined with vertigo and tinnitus can be a sign of Meniere’s Disease. Corticosteroids may prove helpful in these two cases.

Sensorineural hearing loss can be caused by tumors, as well as sudden changes in air pressure and head trauma. A hereditary disorder known as otosclerosis can cause a bony growth to form around an important bone in the middle ear, leading to this type of hearing loss.

There is no doubt that sensorineural hearing loss can drastically decrease your quality of life, but there are ways to deal with it.