We usually think of hearing loss as something that develops gradually. This can make the symptoms easy to miss. (After all, you’re simply turning up the volume on your TV once in a while, it’s nothing to worry about, right?) Sometimes that’s true but in some cases, it isn’t. In some situations, hearing loss can occur suddenly without any early symptoms.
It can be truly alarming when the condition of your health abruptly changes. When people’s hair falls out gradually over a very long period of time, for instance, they would most likely just blame it on 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 possible (and rightfully so).
When you suddenly develop hearing loss, it’s the same thing. There are some really good reasons why acting quickly is a smart idea!
What is sudden hearing loss?
Long-term hearing loss is more prevalent than sudden hearing loss or SSHL for short. But sudden hearing loss isn’t really rare, either. Somewhere around 1 in 5000 individuals a year are afflicted by SSHL.
Here are some symptoms of sudden hearing loss:
- In 9 out of 10 cases, sudden hearing loss impacts only one ear. But it is possible for both ears to be affected by SSHL.
- 30dB or more of hearing loss. That is, the environment sounds 30dB quieter from whatever your past baseline had been. You’ll definitely notice the difference, but you will need our assistance to measure it.
- Sudden hearing loss occurs very quickly as the name suggests. Sudden hearing loss happens within a few days or even within a few hours. In fact, most individuals wake up in the morning wondering what’s wrong with their hearing! Or, maybe they’re not able to hear what the other person is saying on the other end of a phone call all of a sudden.
- It may seem like your ear is plugged up. Or there might be a ringing or buzzing in some cases.
- Some individuals notice a loud “pop” before their hearing begins to fail. But that only occurs sometimes. It’s possible to experience SSHL without hearing this pop.
If you experience SSHL, you might be wondering: is sudden deafness permanent? Actually, within a couple of weeks, hearing will return for around 50% of people who experience SSHL. However, it’s important to note that one key to success is rapid treatment. This means you will want to undergo treatment as rapidly as possible. After you first detect 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 risk of sudden hearing loss becoming permanent increases the longer you wait.
So… what causes sudden hearing loss?
Here are some of the biggest causes of sudden hearing loss:
- Autoimmune disease: In some circumstances, your immune system starts to think that your inner ear is a threat. This type of autoimmune disease can easily lead to SSHL.
- A reaction to drugs: Common drugs such as aspirin are included in this list. This list can also include certain antibiotics, like streptomycin and gentamicin, and other common medicines including cisplatin and quinine.
- Head trauma: A traumatic brain injury can do much to disrupt the communication between your ears and your brain.
- Repeated exposure to loud sound, such as music: Hearing will decline progressively due to repeated exposure to loud noise for most people. But there may be some situations where that hearing loss will occur abruptly.
- Genetic predisposition: In some cases, an elevated risk of sudden deafness can be passed along from parents to children.
- Reaction to pain medication: Your risk of developing sudden hearing loss is raised by excessive use of opioids.
- Problems with your blood flow: This may include anything from a high platelet count to a blockage of the cochlear artery.
- Illnesses: There are numerous health conditions that, for greatly different reasons, can cause SSHL, including multiple sclerosis, meningitis, measles, and mumps. So if a disease has a vaccine, it’s a good idea to get immunized.
Most of the time, we will be better capable of helping you formulate an effective treatment if we can ascertain what type of sudden hearing loss you’re dealing with. But this isn’t always the case. Numerous kinds of SSHL are treated similarly, so knowing the accurate cause isn’t always required for effective treatment.
If you experience sudden hearing loss – what’s the best course of action?
So what action should you take if you wake up one day and find that you can’t hear anything? There are some things that you need to do immediately. Don’t just attempt to wait it out. That’s not a good idea! You should wait no longer than 72 hours to find treatment. Calling us for immediate treatment is the smartest plan. We’ll be in the best position to help you identify what’s wrong and how to address it.
We will probably undertake an audiogram in our office to determine your degree of hearing loss (this is the examination where we have you put on headphones and raise your hand when you hear beeping, it’s completely non-invasive). We can make certain you don’t have an obstruction or a conductive problem.
For most patients, the first round of treatment will likely include steroids. For some people, these steroids could be injected directly into the ear. In other situations, pills might be capable of generating the desired effects. Steroids have been known to be quite effective in treating SSHL with a wide variety of root causes (or with no confirmed root cause). For SSHL caused by an autoimmune disease, you may need to take medication that inhibits your immune response.
If you or someone you know has suddenly lost the ability to hear, contact us right away for an assessment..
