Hearing loss

Hearing loss comes at any age.

There are three types of hearing loss:

Signs and symptoms of a ruptured eardrum may include:

● Conductive, which involves the outer or middle ear.
● Sensorineural, which involves the inner ear.
● Mixed, which is a mix of the two.

Causes

● Ageing
● Being around loud noises
● Trauma
● Wax in the ear
● Chronic ear infections
● Genetic
● Ototoxic medications
● Nutritional deficiencies

Symptoms of hearing loss may include:

● Muffling of speech and other sounds.
● Trouble understanding words, especially when in a crowd or a noisy place.
● Trouble hearing the letters of the alphabet that aren't vowels.
● Often asking others to speak more slowly, clearly and loudly.
● Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio.
● Staying clear of some social settings.
● Being bothered by background noise.
● Ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus.

Evaluation

Tests to diagnose hearing loss may include:

● Physical exam
● Screening tests
● Tuning fork tests
● Audiometer tests

Treatment

Treatment depends on the cause of the hearing loss and how bad it is. Options include:

● Removing blockage - in vase of ear wax , any local site infection causing blockage
● Intra tympanmic injections
● Surgery. Some types of hearing loss can be treated with surgery. For repeated infections that cause fluid in the ear, a care provider might put in small tubes that help ears drain.
● Hearing aids. If hearing loss is from damage to the inner ear, a hearing aid can be helpful.
● Cochlear implants. When a regular hearing aid isn't likely to help much, a cochlear implant might be an option.

Treatmentx`

Tympanic membrane may self heal if not associated with any persistant infection.

If eardrum doesn’t heal, surgical treatment might be advised – tympanoplasty , mastoidectomy with or without oscciculoplasty depending on nature and extent of infection spread.