Sensorineural hearing loss

Sensorineural hearing loss .. Causes, symptoms and how to diagnose

Sensorineural hearing loss is one of the most important types of hearing loss and occurs as a result of weakness or atrophy in the cells of the inner ear or the auditory nerve. It is also one of the most common types, accounting for more than 90% of hearing impairment cases.  

The inner ear consists of the cochlea, which contains the neurons responsible for receiving sound and transmitting it to the auditory nerve and from it to the brain. When at least 50% of these cells are atrophied - due to many reasons - hearing loss or impairment occurs.  

Although sensorineural hearing loss is not dangerous to human health, it hinders him from communicating with others and gradually loses the patient's ability to interpret speech with the development of the degree of weakness.

The 5 most important symptoms that occur with sensorineural hearing loss

Sensorineural hearing loss may occur in one ear only or in both ears, and symptoms vary depending on the nature of the disease and whether it occurred suddenly or gradually.

The most important 5 symptoms that indicate sensorineural hearing loss:

1. Difficulty picking up sounds and interpreting speech in noise.
2. Balance disturbance and feeling dizzy.
3. Poor ability of the patient to distinguish sounds with high frequencies.
4.  
5. Hear abnormal sounds.

Why does sensorineural hearing loss occur? Here are the most important and most famous reasons

There are many causes of sensorineural hearing loss, the most common of which are:

Hearing loss due to birth defects

Birth defects cause sensorineural hearing loss in 0.3% of newborns, and it is one of the most common birth defects in children. Birth defects may be caused by several factors, including:

• The gene that causes hearing loss is inherited and there are more than 100 genes responsible for sensorineural hearing loss.
• Lack of oxygen for the baby during birth.
• Infection of the mother with a viral infection during pregnancy.

Loud noises and sounds

Exposure to very loud sounds suddenly or chronically - such as working in factories - causes atrophy of nerve cells in the cochlea and weakening of the hearing nerve, and this leads to various degrees of sensorineural hearing loss.

Sensorineural hearing loss due to age

The chances of developing sensorineural hearing loss increase in the elderly, especially after over 65 years, and the incidence rate reaches 3%.

What is the difference between sensorineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss?

There is a big difference between sensorineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss, and this appears in the symptoms and causes.

Conductive hearing loss occurs as a result of a disorder in the middle ear that impairs its ability to transmit sounds to the inner ear. The most important reasons are:

• Cold in the middle ear.
• ear infection.
• perforation of the eardrum;
• Benign tumors of the ear.
• Ear full of wax.

One of the most important features of conductive hearing loss is that most of the causes can be treated, unlike cases of neural hearing impairment, but some may develop mixed hearing loss, and in this case it is difficult to treat and the patient is forced to use a stethoscope.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss often occurs in one ear and is considered an emergency situation that requires going to the doctor immediately, and its causes include:

• Viral infection.
• head injury
• immune diseases;
• Meniere's disease.
• Take some medicine.
• Circulatory disorders.

Rapid diagnosis and early treatment within only 48 hours of injury gives great results and saves the auditory nerve from chronic atrophy, and the patient may recover completely after a treatment period of up to two weeks only.

Methods for diagnosing sensorineural hearing impairment

The specialist doctor can perform several tests to diagnose the nature and degree of hearing loss, such as:

• Endoscopic examination of the ears to exclude causes of conductive hearing loss such as wax or perforation of the eardrum.
• Audiometry and speech interpretation The doctor evaluates the degree and type of hearing impairment and the extent to which speech interpretation is affected by noise.
• The ear pressure device and through it the doctor excludes infections of the middle ear or the stiffness of the bones in it.

Can sensorineural hearing loss be treated?

In fact, most cases of sensorineural hearing loss cannot be treated definitively except in cases of sudden hearing loss that may appear in response to some medications such as cortisone. As for the rest of the cases, there are only two types of rehabilitation methods:

• Medical stethoscopes.
• Cochlear implants.

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