THE MOST FREQUENT HEARING DISORDERS ARE DEAFNESS AND EAR INFECTIONS. MEDICINE CAN HELP YOU FIGHT THEM.
The most common deafness, according to Dr. Emilio García-Ibáñez, director of the Institute of Otology García-Ibáñez in Barcelona, is a disease called otosclerosis, “caused by an osification of the stapes (ossicle of the ear) which, being the point where the sound enters, conditions a progressive deafness without effective medication. The only solution is microsurgery, which consists of removing this ossicle partially or totally and replacing it with a prosthesis that restores mobility and, therefore, hearing.
Another common condition is oozing (otorrhea), which usually occurs when the eardrum is perforated and infected, either because water has entered the ear or because of a cold. On other occasions,” explains the doctor, “they are caused by the so-called cholesteatoma, a benign ear tumor, but it is very aggressive and destroys the bone. When it becomes infected, suppuration may appear and the solution is always surgery.
Likewise, with age, many people suffer hearing problems: “They are usually neurosensorial conditions, the much talked about ‘the nerve dries up’. This same lesion can also be caused by sound trauma, at work, in discotheques, hunting, etc. The solution is the adaptation of ‘sonotone’ hearing aids, although nowadays there are hearing aids that are implanted under the skin and allow the patient to carry out any activity, since they can still hear in the shower, under water, while sleeping, etc. However, they do require a medium surgical intervention with general anesthesia,” says Dr. García-Ibáñez. “When the hearing loss worsens and the patient can no longer hear even with the ‘sonotone’, there is the possibility of a ‘cochlear implant’. Our Institute is a pioneer in Spain in this type of implant, having performed the first one in 1985. The current systems are technologically very advanced and allow hearing recoveries in many cases close to normal. When a child is born deaf, there are tests that can detect it shortly after birth, and the cochlear implant is the only solution for the child to acquire hearing and language”.
Staying in very noisy environments can cause sound trauma to the ear and lead to hearing loss.
The most serious conditions
One of the most serious problems are tumors of the auditory nerve (neurinomas). “Its symptomatology is usually unimportant, as sometimes it is just a tinnitus (ear noise), a discrete hearing loss or a feeling of dizziness. In these cases it is necessary to perform an MRI to identificate this pathology which, in the long term, can be very serious. In most cases, if the patient is not very old, it will be necessary to perform a delicate surgical removal,” explains the doctor. Ear vertigo, or Meniere’s vertigo, is another of the most disabling conditions, since during the crises the patient is incapacitated for any activity, according to Dr. García-Ibáñez. “It is usually accompanied by fluctuating hearing loss and tinnitus, as well as a feeling of fullness or full ear. When medical treatment is not effective, which happens on many occasions, surgery can solve the problem.”
Common problems in children
According to the specialist, in children, “the most frequent pathologies are catarrhal or serous otitis, which can cause pain, hearing loss and, sometimes, suppuration. They are generally cured with medical treatment, although they may also require the removal of the vegetations. Sometimes it is necessary to aspirate the mucus accumulated in the ears with tympanic drains, which are small valves that allow aeration of the ear, so that the mucus does not reappear and hearing improves. If serous otitis is very repeated, it can also cause a cholesteatoma as in adults”.
In summary, do not forget to…
a) Avoid loud noises: listening to loud music or working in noisy places can damage your hearing.
b) Hygiene: the ear is usually cleaned when showering. Afterwards, avoid inserting cotton swabs or other utensils into the ear canal.
c) Check your hearing: see a specialist if you have hearing loss, dizziness, vertigo or suppuration.