Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Patients typically express a decreased ability to understand speech. Once the loss has progressed to the 2–4 kHz range, there is increased difficulty understanding consonants. Both ears tend to be affected. The impact of presbycusis on communication depends on both the severity of the condition and the communication partner. [7]
MRI and CT scans can be useful to identify the pathology of many causes of hearing loss. Hearing loss is categorized by severity, type, and configuration. Furthermore, a hearing loss may exist in only one ear (unilateral) or in both ears (bilateral). Hearing loss can be temporary or permanent, sudden or progressive.
Since the inner ear is not directly accessible to instruments, identification is by patient report of the symptoms and audiometric testing. Of those who present to their doctor with sensorineural hearing loss, 90% report having diminished hearing, 57% report having a plugged feeling in ear, and 49% report having ringing in ear ().
If certain problems are found, medical imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), may be performed. Other tests are suitable when tinnitus occurs with the same rhythm as the heartbeat. [3] Rarely, the sound may be heard by someone other than the patient by using a stethoscope, in which case it is known as "objective tinnitus". [3]
Each episode of acoustic trauma results in permanent damage within the inner ear, even though the majority of patients, the symptoms will disappear and an audiogram will show normal hearing within a few hours to a few days. In some cases, the changes seen in the audiogram will only partially improve or remain permanent.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
The shape of the audiogram resulting from pure-tone audiometry gives an indication of the type of hearing loss as well as possible causes. Conductive hearing loss due to disorders of the middle ear shows as a flat increase in thresholds across the frequency range. Sensorineural hearing loss will have a contoured shape depending on the cause.
Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) was first defined by Dr. Brian McCabe in a landmark paper describing an autoimmune loss of hearing. [2] The disease results in progressive sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) that acts bilaterally and asymmetrically, and sometimes affects an individual's vestibular system .