Why Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss is Sometimes Missed

Many things you know about sensorineural hearing loss may be wrong. Okay, okay – not everything is wrong. But we can clear up at least one false belief. We're accustomed to thinking about conductive hearing loss happening suddenly and sensorineural hearing loss sneaking up on you as time passes. Actually, sudden sensorineural hearing loss often goes undiagnosed.

When You Get sensorineural Hearing Loss, is it Usually Slow Moving?

When we consider sensorineural hearing loss or conductive hearing loss, you could feel a little confused – and we don't blame you (the terms can be quite disorientating). So, here's a basic breakdown of what we mean:

• Sensorineural hearing loss: This type of hearing loss is commonly caused by damage to the nerves or stereocilia in the inner ear. When you think of hearing loss caused by intense sounds, you're thinking of sensorineural hearing loss. In most cases, sensorineural hearing loss is effectively irreversible, although there are treatments that can keep your hearing loss from degenerating further.
• Conductive hearing loss: When the outer ear has blockage it can cause this kind of hearing loss. This might include anything from allergy-based swelling to earwax. Normally, your hearing will return when the primary obstruction is cleared away.

It's common for sensorineural hearing loss to occur slowly over a period of time while conductive hearing loss happens somewhat suddenly. But occasionally it works out differently. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (or SSNHL) is somewhat uncommon, but it does exist. If SSNHL is misdiagnosed as a form of conductive hearing loss it can be especially harmful.

Why is SSNHL Misdiagnosed?

To understand why SSNHL is misdiagnosed fairly often, it might be helpful to have a look at a hypothetical situation. Let's imagine that Steven, a busy project manager in his early forties, woke up one day and couldn't hear anything out of his right ear. The traffic outside seemed a little quieter. As did his crying kitten and crying baby. So he did the smart thing and scheduled a hearing exam. Of course, Steven was in a rush. He had to catch up on some work after getting over a cold. Maybe he wasn't sure to mention that recent illness during his appointment. And maybe he even inadvertently omitted some other relevant information (he was, after all, already thinking about getting back to work). And as a result Steven was prescribed with some antibiotics and told to return if the symptoms did not diminish by the time the pills had run their course. Sudden onset of sensorineural hearing loss is fairly rare (something like 6 in 5000 according to the National Institutes of Health). And so, in most cases, Steven would be just fine. But there could be significant consequences if Steven's SSNHL was misdiagnosed.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss: The Crucial First 72 Hours

There are a variety of events or conditions which could cause SSNHL. Including some of these:

• Inflammation.
• A neurological condition.
• Problems with blood circulation.
• Traumatic brain injury or head trauma of some kind.
• Particular medications.

This list could go on for, well, quite a while. Your hearing specialist will have a far better understanding of what concerns you should be looking out for. But the point is that many of these underlying causes can be treated. There's a chance that you can minimize your long term hearing damage if you treat these hidden causes before the stereocilia or nerves become permanently impacted.

The Hum Test

If you're like Steven and you're going through a bout of sudden hearing loss, you can do a short test to get a general concept of where the issue is coming from. And it's pretty easy: just begin humming. Just hum a few measures of your favorite tune. What do you hear? If your loss of hearing is conductive, your humming should sound similar in both ears. (After all, when you hum, most of what you're hearing is coming from in your own head.) It's worth discussing with your hearing expert if the humming is louder in one ear because it might be sensorineural hearing loss. Ultimately, it's possible that sudden sensorineural hearing loss may be misdiagnosed as conductive hearing loss. So when you go in for your hearing exam, it's a good idea to discuss the possibility because there may be severe repercussions.