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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Sudden Hearing Loss?

I suddenly got attacked with hearing loss in my left ear a week before and got treated by ent doctor with corticosteroid injections in the ear and heavy medication but not improved. His diagnosis is cochlear failure.pl. suggest me what to do .i am in a confusion state.i am 67 year old. Dr.radhakrishna
Mon, 13 Feb 2017
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ENT Specialist 's  Response
Hi,thank you for posting your query on health care magic.
I have gone through your query and can understand your concern.

I would like to share you the information about sudden hearing loss.

Causes of sudden hearing loss might be:Infection - Bacterial or viral,Inflammation,Vascular(reduced blood supply to inner ear) like Hypercoagulable states and Hypercholesterolemia,Tumor like Vestibular schwannoma,iron-deficiency anemia ,Medicine use like aminoglycoside antibiotic,Aspirin,etc and Idiopathic(the cause is unknown).

For the investigation,it would be advisable to have following tests if not done before:
Hearing test called Audiometry, including pure-tone and speech tests and impedance (tympanometry and acoustic reflex) tests, is mandatory.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as 1-2% of patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss have inner ear tumors.
Blood tests like:
Antinuclear antibodies (ANA), rheumatoid factor, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) for autoimmune diseases
International normalized radio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and clotting time for coagulopathy
Complete blood count for infection
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) for thyroid disease
Fasting blood glucose for diabetes mellitus
Cholesterol and triglycerides for hyperlipidemia .

For the treatment approach:
Corticosteroids should be given as initial therapy to patients with the condition. Additional treatment recommendations include the following :
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy within 3 months of diagnosis.
Intratympanic (IT) steroid perfusion for patients with incomplete recovery after failure of initial treatment .
Antivirals, thrombolytics(by altering blood viscosity with the use of low molecular weight dextrans, pentoxifylline, or anticoagulants (eg, heparin, warfarin), better oxygen delivery might be achieved), vasodilators( like Papaverine, histamine, nicotinic acid, niacin, and carbogen-5% carbon dioxide) been used in attempts to improve inner ear blood flow, antioxidants ,etc may be tried after clinical assessment by your doctor.

If still you have incomplete hearing recovery ,then you may find benefit by using amplification(hearing aid) and hearing-assistive technology .

Hope this answers your question.Take care.
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What Causes Sudden Hearing Loss?

Hi,thank you for posting your query on health care magic. I have gone through your query and can understand your concern. I would like to share you the information about sudden hearing loss. Causes of sudden hearing loss might be:Infection - Bacterial or viral,Inflammation,Vascular(reduced blood supply to inner ear) like Hypercoagulable states and Hypercholesterolemia,Tumor like Vestibular schwannoma,iron-deficiency anemia ,Medicine use like aminoglycoside antibiotic,Aspirin,etc and Idiopathic(the cause is unknown). For the investigation,it would be advisable to have following tests if not done before: Hearing test called Audiometry, including pure-tone and speech tests and impedance (tympanometry and acoustic reflex) tests, is mandatory. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as 1-2% of patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss have inner ear tumors. Blood tests like: Antinuclear antibodies (ANA), rheumatoid factor, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) for autoimmune diseases International normalized radio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and clotting time for coagulopathy Complete blood count for infection Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) for thyroid disease Fasting blood glucose for diabetes mellitus Cholesterol and triglycerides for hyperlipidemia . For the treatment approach: Corticosteroids should be given as initial therapy to patients with the condition. Additional treatment recommendations include the following : Hyperbaric oxygen therapy within 3 months of diagnosis. Intratympanic (IT) steroid perfusion for patients with incomplete recovery after failure of initial treatment . Antivirals, thrombolytics(by altering blood viscosity with the use of low molecular weight dextrans, pentoxifylline, or anticoagulants (eg, heparin, warfarin), better oxygen delivery might be achieved), vasodilators( like Papaverine, histamine, nicotinic acid, niacin, and carbogen-5% carbon dioxide) been used in attempts to improve inner ear blood flow, antioxidants ,etc may be tried after clinical assessment by your doctor. If still you have incomplete hearing recovery ,then you may find benefit by using amplification(hearing aid) and hearing-assistive technology . Hope this answers your question.Take care.