Hearing loss

Symptoms

Most common symptoms of hearing loss:

• Reduced hearing
• Difficulty understanding due to background noise (“hearing but not understanding”)
• Tinnitus

In the event of sudden severe hearing loss you should contact your ENT physician immediately.

Types of hearing loss

There is a difference between hearing loss due to middle ear problems (conduction), inner ear problems (perception) or a combination of both.

• Middle ear problems are often alleviated with a middle ear operation or tympanoplasty.
• Inner ear or combined types of hearing loss are often alleviated with a hearing aid or acoustic implant. The most common type of inner ear hearing loss is aged related hearing loss (presbycusis).
• A cochlear implant is an appropriate treatment for deafness. Our implants are always based on optimum, internationally accepted techniques, together with due regard for future new therapies.

Risk factors and heredity

• Noise related damage (ear protection! Talk to your ENT physician about it).
• Certain medications (e.g. some forms of chemotherapy) can cause hearing loss and tinnitus.
• Some types of hearing loss are hereditary.

Treatment

A number of potential treatments for this disorder are listed below. Following your diagnosis the doctor, together with you and the other doctors from the team, will choose the best solution for you. Your treatment may consequently vary from the therapy(ies) proposed below.