Sensorineural Hearing Loss Symptoms

By admin | Published: August 29, 2011

In any illness or sickness, there are always the underlying symptoms that are visibly felt, seen or observed.  Sensorineural hearing loss illness is not an exemption to this.  There are various symptoms that may be observed in this kind of ailment.  Do you want to know them?  Well, before going to that in detail, let us first know what sensorineural hearing loss is.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss Causes

Sensorineural hearing loss, also termed as nerve or sensorineural deafness, is a kind of hearing loss which is a result of occurring problems in a person’s inner ear or in the nerve, running from one’s inner ear to the brain.  Although basically, it is considered as having no known cause or clinically termed as an idiopathic condition, it Is still believed that what causes sensorineural hearing loss are some risk factors like:

  • age, clinically called as presbycusis

  • heredity, such as having loss of hearing since birth or later years in life

  • Environment and other physical-related situations and circumstances like, traumatic problems, tumors, damage due to severe noise, drug intake, etc.

  • viral infections like influenza, rubeola, rubella, mumps, herpes simplex or CMV

  • vascular diseases like leukemia or sickle cell anemia

  • autoimmune diseases like lupus or temporal arteritis and others.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss Symptoms

Now, since sensorineural hearing loss is a disease, naturally, it come with symptoms.  These symptoms vary from person to person and may not be visible at first.  Yet, they become apparent as the days go by.  Different symptoms occur in different stages of a person’s life and there are those which are common and there are those which are rare.  Here, below are the known symptoms of sensorineural hearing loss, according to categories:

Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Babies

For new born babies, toddlers or young children –

  • Failure to respond to any sound may mean congenital deafness

  • No utterances of any sound from the baby or no babbling at all

  • Sounds, if any, are quiet and soft, distorted or not clear

  • Less to reach high tones, inaudible

  • No sounds for “s, f and z” are heard

  • Speech is hard to understand when there is noise at the background.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Adults

For grown-ups –

  • Tinnitus

  • Vertigo, or what is commonly felt as dizziness or loss of balance

  • Difficulty in hearing even if the sound is already high or loud

  • Slow to respond and understand

Diagnosing Sensorineural Hearing Loss

In order to diagnose sensorineural hearing loss, the doctor needs to conduct an extensive ear examination to the patient noting his medical history and his occurring hearing problems which may also affect other members of the family.  Several series of test will be performed depending on the condition of the patient to determine the extent of the hearing loss or problem.

Treatment for Sensorineural Hearing Loss Problems

Thus, if you or any member of your family has visible systems of this sensorineural hearing loss problem, a thorough examination should be immediately conducted to prevent more damage and in order for an early treatment to be applied.  Usually, the treatment for this kind of hearing loss is the use of hearing aids or what a cochlear implantation.  The wearing of a hearing aid is the most common treatment for sensorineural hearing loss.  This is like a small electronic device which is fitted into the ear.  It consists of a minute microphone for sound pick-up, and amplifier which increases the volume and a tiny speaker which transmits the sounds to the ear.

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Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss

By admin | Published: July 20, 2011

Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is one of the most common problems that people face with growing age. But then in certain circumstances it might become a problem to some young people. Sensorineural hear loss is a problem that is caused by dysfunction of the nerves system. It is one of the most common types of hearing problems and about 90 percent of the people with hearing problems are victim of Sensorineural hearing loss.

Bilateral Sensorineural Condition


Bilateral Sensorineural is a more serious condition of the problem where the person becomes deaf from both the ears. It almost results in complete loss of hearing. It can be because of the disruptions in nerves that connect the cochlea to the brain. The malfunction in the nerves might cause both the ears to stop functioning and it can get very tough on the person.

Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss Causes

The main problem with such type of hearing loss is that it becomes difficult to hear even with the hearing aid in place. The only treatment that works is the implant of the cochlear area with the help of a surgery. There are many causes to the Bilateral Sensorineural hearing loss. One of the reasons for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss is caused by exposure to prolonged loud noise. The loud sound will be going into both ears and after a long period of time, the result will be the cochlea region of both the ears gets affected.

Another major cause can be some kind of head injury or fracture that might cause hearing loss in both the ears. As you can see, your ear is a delicate organ if not taken care properly. Usually people will not really notice the problem until they starts to experience problems in communication with their peers or working friends.

Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss Solution

    The bilateral hearing loss is definitely curable and a good physician might be a lot of help in this situation. Do not feel awkward and bad about yourself, look for your family doctor for advice and guidance to cure your problem. Once you are well, your lifestyle will be normal again.

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    Conductive vs Sensorineural Hearing Loss

    By admin | Published: July 14, 2011

    CONDUCTIVE vs. SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE

    Having problems with hearing?  You probably have but do you know the degree of your problem?  Well, unless and until you can well define your problem, you cannot say you have that problem.  Right?  Now, let us presume you have a hearing impairment.  But how do you classify that impairment?  Let us differentiate the two types of hearing loss for you to be able to identify exactly your problem and for you to know better what you can do about it.

     

    Classifications of Hearing Impairment

    There are two classifications of hearing impairment: conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss.  These two are, most often than not, attributed to deafness by most people.  But there are more things to know about these two types of hearing loss including their differences and their respective treatments.

    Conductive Hearing Loss

    Conductive hearing loss affects only one ear at first.  This is associated with ear pain and hearing a buzzing sound only on that part of the ear.  People who suffer conductive hearing loss can still hear faint sound as they can still be able to pick up.  Their only main problem is that there is something that blocked their ears from capturing sound waves, thus, making it difficult for them to hear properly. This type of hearing loss can be temporary and when treated and cared of immediately and appropriately will subside and the normal hearing condition will be restored back to normal.

     

    Sensorineural Hearing Loss

    On the otherhand, sensorineural hearing loss can be a result of conductive hearing loss when not treated and diagnosed right away.  While the condition in conductive hearing loss may only be temporary, it may lead to sensorineural hearing loss at the span of time with the hearing loss recurring as the years progresses without treatment until both ears will lost its ful hearing capabilities and already incurable.  Nothing can be heard anymore and even a slightest or faintest sound is a nil.

    Sensorineural hearing loss can be a lifetime struggle and suffering.  Thus, if a person has been diagnosed of suffering conductive hearing loss, he must be appropriately treated to prevent the problem to develop into a sensorineural hearing loss.

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    Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss

    By admin | Published: July 12, 2011

    UNILATERAL SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS

    As the word implies, Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss is one type of hearing problem which only affects one ear.  It is a single-sided deafness.  It is a hearing impairment with normal or good hearing in one ear while having and impaired hearing or problem of hearing in the other.  Usually, this kind of hearing problem is experienced by a person who felt difficulty in hearing conversations, localizing sounds and understanding speech where there is a noisy background.  However, given a quiet environment, hearing speech seems to be normal.

     

    How Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss happens

    Unilateral hearing loss usually happens with schoolchildren caused by physical trauma, diseases like measles, meningitis, microtia, Meniere’s disease or mumps, and acoustic neuroma.  One is considered to have profound unilateral hearing problem when one of the ears has no functional hearing ability or has a greater hearing loss.  With this type of hearing impairment, the person can only hear in mono.

     

    Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss Problems

    With only one ear functioning, hearing a sound with background noise is too difficult.  In a situation where speech associated with background noise is presented at same level, a person suffering from single-sided deafness or unilateral deafness can hear only about 30 to 35% of the conversation.  This gives the hearing impaired person difficulty in communicating with others.  It is so unfortunate that single-sided deafness affects ones hearing negatively in that it makes hearing more difficult especially in determining the direction, the distance and the movement of the sound source.  It is believed that people who are unilaterally deaf recognized greater difficulty that those with total hearing loss.

     

    Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss Treatment

    With a hearing disadvantage, a person who suffers unilateral deafness usually are irritable, having frequent headaches, stressed, does not want to mingle with people or make themselves socially isolated, appears anxious even in cases where there is only low noise in the background, restless, has difficulty in figuring out from where sounds are coming, experiences differing light dizziness, having evasive behavior that is, having trouble paying attention in what other people are saying, to name some.

    In some instances, this impairment causes social problems that it needs proper care and management. Usually, application of a hearing aid can best manage this problem.  The use of Contralateral Routing of Signals or CROS hearing aid or  Bone Conduction hearing aid can be appropriate in this situation.

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    Hearing Aids For Sensorineural Hearing Loss

    By admin | Published: July 11, 2011

    Hearing Aids For Sensorineural Hearing Loss

    Sensorineural hearing loss needs hearing aids and cochlear implants as treatments.  Most often and usual treatments settles on hearing aids as these are common and less costly than the cochlear implantation.  Now, let us discover the usefulness and importance of hearing aids to sensorineural hearing loss.

    What are Hearing Aids


    Hearing aids are small device which functions electronically which is worn in or behind the ear who is hearing impaired.  Hearing aids make sounds louder to help a person who has problem with hearing listen and understand, communicate and be active in his daily undertakings.  The device is a great help in a quiet environment and in a noisy place.  The hearing aid functions with three basic parts in it: the microphone which serves to pick-up sounds and converts its sound waves to become electrical signals and transmits the same to the amplifier; the amplifier which increases power of signals; and the speaker which receives the signals sent by the amplifier and sends this signal to the ear.

    Sensorineural Hearing Disorders

    As we can understand how the process of sending sounds and signals are done in hearing aids, we can understand that hearing aids are very useful and essential to improve hearing and speech understanding of those who are having sensorineural hearing disorders which may be due to age, certain diseases or injury caused by severe noise.  Hearing aids magnify the sound vibrations which enter in the ear.  Hair cells which are left may detect these large vibrations and convert them as neural signals passed and sent to the brain.

    Hearing Aid Audiologist

    A need for a hearing aid can be determined by an ear specialist or audiologist and an otolaryngologist, both are hearing health professionals who performs tests and evaluation to assess and manage your hearing problem.  They are the one who can best determine for the need of any hearing aid.

    Hearing Aids Types

    Hearing aids have different styles which also differ in size, placement and amplification.  The tree basic styles are: hearing aids placed behind the ear, hearing aids placed in the ear and hearing aids which is placed fittingly in the ear canal.  The first type which is placed behind the ear is used by people of different ages which suffer mild to profound loss of hearing.  The second type fits completely in the ear although it is placed at the inside of the outer ear and is advisable for people who have mild to severe problems in hearing.

    And the last type has two kinds which are both placed in the canal although one is designed to fit into the size and shape of one’s ear canal which is called in-the-canal while the other kind is referred to as completely-in-canal which is almost hidden in the ear canal.  Both are used by people with mild to moderately severe hearing loss.

    Importance of Hearing Aids

    There are a lot more things we need to know about hearing aids.  But the most important information we need to know is that it is the only tool in which people with hearing difficulties are best aided.  So, if one day, due to any reason, you will encounter problems like hearing loss, you know you can be helped in many ways.  Just be friendly with an ear specialist and your problem will be well managed.

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