Hearing loss can be very debilitating. Recent studies have shown that a loss of hearing has a significant effect on a person’s lifestyles and can cause depression, marital conflict and withdrawal. You can protect your hearing by understanding the causes of hearing loss and avoid those things. Here is a quick overview of the different causes of hearing loss:

Allergies, sinus problems, colds, and ear infections can lead to ear problems, more so in young children. They can affect the external ear leading to the eardrum by having an infection and swollen ear. The middle ear space, the area behind the eardrum, is also affected by infection. Fluid is discharged from different areas, including the sinuses and builds up behind the eardrum. When this fluid build up takes place, the Eustachian tube that leads from the middle ear to the throat becomes swollen and blocked. Without being able to eliminate the fluid, there is a buildup of fluid, which presses up against the eardrum causing pain.

The ear normally heals itself in adults and the fluid drains away. However, in small children often times the ear does not have the right size or it has not yet obtained the proper position for the drainage to take place. If the ear infection resolves, but the fluid does not, the next time the ear infection returns, more fluid is built up. Eventually, more fluid accumulates than the ear can hold, and the eardrum may rupture, allowing drainage out through the ear. Generally by the time the child is eight or nine years old the ear and related structures have fully developed and the ear infections and accumulation of fluid becomes less and less. This does not mean that you wait for the child to reach that age and do not take care of the immediate problems. If ear infections are untreated, the small bones in the middle ear can become damaged, and a permanent hearing loss can result. In the age of modern antibiotics and treatment, permanent long-term damage is rarely a factor. If you have an earache, an ear infection, pain in your ears, please seek medical attention.

Women while pregnant may be exposed to a variety of viruses, which can cause hearing loss, including German measles, cytomegalovirus, and meningitis. If this occurs during the first trimester, it is of serious concern. It is during this time that the fetus is developing hearing and the virus may affect that development. If you have been exposed to any of the above diseases during the first three months of pregnancy of if you suspect your baby has a hearing impairment, please have your baby’s hearing evaluated. A baby’s hearing can be tested at any age, so there is no reason to wait.

Other childhood diseases can cause hearing loss in infants and older children. Common childhood diseases, such as mumps, measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, meningitis, and extended high fevers are all possible causes of hearing loss. Having these diseases does not guarantee hearing loss, but they should be followed up with a hearing test.

You can plan ahead. If you are thinking about having children, consult with your doctor before becoming pregnant and find out what you can do to avoid contagion from the diseases. If you are exposed let your doctor know. In the case of hearing loss in children, the best advise is to not expose them to the diseases listed above. If exposed, consult your pediatrician.

Exposure to loud sounds can cause hearing loss. Steady and loud music, loud machines, jet noises, etc. cause hearing loss after a prolonged noise exposure. With repeated or continuous exposure, permanent hearing loss may result. This means 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, day in and day out, over two years, and up to 30 years before a significant hearing loss is present. During this time the hearing loss slowly gets progressively worse.

Very loud abrupt sounds, such as gunfire, explosions, firecrackers, can cause immediate hearing loss which tend to be more severe and more permanent.

To prevent hearing loss in these cases, always use ear protection. If a sound causes your ears to ring or feel full, then do not expose yourself again unless properly protected with ear protection.

There are a number of medications that can cause hearing loss. The use of aspirin over a long period of time is the most common. When large daily doses are taken for arthritis, as an example, tinnitus may occur followed by loss of hearing. There are a variety of different types of medications now available, which does not have these side effects. So if you develop ringing in the ears, inform your physician and he can change your medication and avoid hearing loss.

Other antibiotics, such as gentamicin, can cause both hearing loss and balance problems. If during treatment with antibiotics, your ears begin to ring or you become lightheaded or dizzy when turning your head, please inform your physician. Again, a change in medication can often be effective.

Treatments for cancer have been known to cause hearing loss and balance problems. The solution is more difficult. You cannot simply stop taking the medications. However, there may be variations in medication for the type of cancer that is being treated. If you experience ringing in the ears, dizziness or a feeling of fullness in your ears, advise your doctor.

Radiation treatment is not as well known, but it is known to cause hearing loss up to three to six months after radiation has been performed. The belief is that radiation affects the lining of the blood vessels so that they no longer function appropriately.

An abrupt head trauma can cause an immediate concussion and loss of hearing. For instance, if your head is hit against a hard object such as a concrete curb, a baseball bat, or baseball you may experience a hearing loss. Usually the head trauma causes a fracture of the temporal bone and the fluid within the inner ear leaks out. The resultant hearing loss may not be permanent but improve with time. Quite often the hearing loss is accompanied by other symptoms such as discharge from the ear, and balance problems.

It is natural to experience some minor hearing loss through aging. When aging is combined with hereditary difficulties, the hearing loss will be greater. If your parents had a hearing loss, then you stand a good chance of having a significant hearing loss as well. If you are older, have hereditary hearing loss, and have noise exposure, then your hearing loss will be even greater. Aging by itself, rarely is the cause of a significant hearing loss. It is usually aging combined with other factors that causes the problem.

Now that you know some of the causes of hearing loss, it is your job to avoid as many of them as possible and maintain good hearing.

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