Hearing is a sense of perceiving sound. When you have loss of hearing, your ability to perceive sound is reduced. It may be a scary experience when a person notices sudden loss of hearing. Most of us may have felt temporary hearing loss sometime or the other in our life. Suffering hearing loss can impact daily activity.
Loss of ability to hear can be gradual or sudden, temporary or permanent, one or both sided. There are many causes for sudden temporary deafness. Fortunately, most of temporary hearing disability is reversible when you address the underlying causative factor.
Causes Of Sudden Temporary Hearing Loss
There are many reasons that may be responsible for sudden and temporary hearing loss. Before understanding the causes, let us know the basic of how you are able to hear sound. After entering into the ear canal sound strikes the ear drum. As a result the eardrum vibrates. These vibrations are picked up by the tiny bones in the middle ear and are transferred to the auditory nerve present in the inner ear. It picks up the conducted sound and sends the message to the brain, where it is interpreted.
Any problem in outer and middle ear results in conductive hearing loss, most of which is temporary and can be corrected. Injury to inner ear, auditory nerve can lead to permanent loss of hearing. Below are given some of the causes for sudden temporary hearing loss:
- Loud noise causes hearing loss: One of the major reasons for temporary and sudden loss of hearing is exposure to loud noise. Ear has delicate mechanism to perceive the sound. Noise which is louder than 85 decibels is considered to the harmful for your ear and hearing. Many people after attending a concert of loud music feel sudden hearing loss. Even spending few minutes in this environment can produce deafness temporarily.
- Too much of wax in ear: Secretion of wax in ear canal is a type of auto cleaning measure. However, when there is excessive production of wax in the ear, it may become dry and impacted. This may prevent proper entry of sound in the ear and thus leading to loss of hearing. But after removing the wax from the ear canal, person is able to hear normally.
- Cold and sinusitis: Often cold, cough and upper respiratory tract infection can lead to reduced hearing since the middle ear and the nasal passage and throat are connected.
- Infection in middle ear: Sudden loss of hearing can occur when the middle ear is infected. It can occur due to rupture of ear drum or when the Eustachian tube is blocked.
- Medications: There are certain medications which can cause temporary hearing loss. They are said to be ototoxic to the ears. This type of medicine can cause temporary loss of hearing.
Treatment Options For Temporary Hearing Loss
The primary aim of treatment is to restore hearing loss by addressing the underlying cause. If there is excessive build up of ear wax, which is the cause for diminished hearing, the wax needs to be removed. Your doctor will remove the wax with the help of syringe.
If the condition is caused due to cold and cough, ginger tea is found to be beneficial in relieving the condition. Drink one cup of tea two to three times in a day.
In case of infection of middle ear, antibiotic ear drops and medications will help to clear the blocked passage and restore lost hearing within few days.
Protect your hearing by wearing ear plugs when you listen to loud music concert or stereo in your car.