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Conductive Hearing Loss Causes, Symptoms, Characteristics & Signs

What Causes Conductive Hearing Loss?

Conductive hearing loss occurs when there’s a lack of vibrations in the middle ear. It affects the middle or the outer ear. When sound waves travel from the outer ear to the ear canal, the vibrations of the tiny bones in the middle ear make it possible for a person to hear. Conductive hearing loss can be significant or minor, depending on the type of damage.

Conductive Hearing Loss and Cause

It’s caused by the inability of sound waves from the outer ear to connect with the tiny bones of the middle ear. Conductive hearing loss is curable and there are several treatments for curing conductive hearing loss.

Characteristics of Conductive Hearing Loss

Affecting people of all age groups, it’s most prevalent in children. It can affect one ear or both the ears. The most common cause of conductive hearing loss is blockages.

Conductive Hearing Loss Signs and Symptoms

There are a number of symptoms but they may not show up at the same time. People with conductive hearing loss will find it difficult to hear other people talking. Some may have a visible infection in the ear, a perforation of the ear drum, built up wax in the ear canal or tumor growth in the area. Another symptom of conductive hearing loss is otosclerosis, which is a growth of the middle ear bone. This abnormal bone growth prevents the ear structures from working properly, eventually causing hearing loss.

Can Conductive Hearing Loss Be Cured?

It may not necessarily be a permanent ailment. If ear wax is built up in the ear, a temporary conductive hearing loss may occur but such a hearing loss can easily be cured.

Conductive Hearing Loss and Treatments

Some of the treatments include surgery, providing hearing aids, clearing the built-up fluids in the ear canal, removing excessive ear wax, medications such as applying ear drops, and oral medicines to clear up the obstruction.

Sometimes, these treatments prove to be futile for treating major conductive hearing loss problems such as profound deafness. In such cases, a cochlear implant is often rendered. In this procedure, an external piece of electrical device helps in converting the sound waves into electrical signals, which travels to the cochlear implant. Cochlear implants are considered to be very effective and they have benefited many people suffering from conductive hearing loss, including children.

Is Conductive Hearing Loss a Disability?

When a severe injury to the ear or head causes a conductive hearing loss, the hearing loss may last longer. In such cases, it’s considered a disability.

Since one of the main reasons for conductive hearing loss is loud noises, people can prevent conductive hearing loss from occurring by wearing ear protectors made of foam when they are near a loud source of noise

For additional information on conductive hearing loss, please refer to the following sites:
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