Hearing Loss In Adults

Symptoms

If you have sudden, severe hearing loss, you will notice immediately that your ability to hear has decreased dramatically or disappeared totally in the affected ear.

If your hearing loss is gradual, your symptoms may be more subtle. You may have difficulty understanding conversations. Family members may complain that you play the radio or TV too loudly. You may ask them to repeat what they say or frequently misunderstand what they are saying.

Some diseases and conditions that cause hearing loss may produce additional symptoms, including:

• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Discharge or bleeding from the ear
• Deep earache, or pain in the ear canal
• Pressure or a "stuffy" feeling inside the ears
• Dizziness or problems with balance or equilibrium
• Nausea
  
  

Prevention

You can help prevent hearing loss:

• Wear protective earplugs or earmuffs if you are often exposed to loud noise at work or during recreational activities.
• Never put cotton swabs or other foreign objects in your ears.
• Wear a seatbelt while driving. Wear a protective helmet while riding a bicycle.
• Know the possible side effects of your medications.

Treatment

Both age-related and noise-related hearing loss tend to be permanent. Your doctor may recommend a hearing aid or an implant to improve your ability to communicate with others. A hearing aid amplifies sounds electronically and is effective for many people with age-related hearing loss. Hearing aids today are very small, so small that other people often do not notice you are wearing them. A cochlear implant translates sounds into electrical signals that can be carried to the brain.

Certain other forms of hearing loss may be treated medically or surgically:

• Otosclerosis — For mild cases, a hearing aid is usually the first option. In severe cases, one of the small bones is surgically replaced with a tiny prosthesis.
• Acoustic neuroma — Treatment includes surgery or highly focused radiation therapy.
• Ménière's disease — There is no cure. The goal of treatment is to relieve pressure in the ears to reduce symptoms. Some people improve by limiting intake of salt, caffeine or alcohol or quitting smoking. Medications to reduce fluid retention in the ear may help. In some cases, surgery may be considered.
• Traumatic hearing loss — A damaged eardrum can sometimes be repaired surgically.
• Drug-induced hearing loss — Stopping the problem medication may reverse hearing loss or prevent it from getting worse.
• Sudden sensorineural hearing loss — When the cause is unknown, this condition is usually treated with steroids.
• Other — A dense plug of earwax can be dissolved or gently removed by your doctor. Antibiotics can treat hearing loss caused by ear infections.

Source: http://www.sparkpeople.com