Sensory Hearing Loss

Sensory hearing loss is another type of hearing loss characterized by problems in the inner ear structures, most often the cochlea. At the moment, there is no known cause of sensory hearing loss, though many researchers believe that there are certain conditions that may play a role in its development. Indeed, sensory hearing loss is often associated with viral infections such as influenza and herpes simplex, vascular diseases such as sickle cell anemia and autoimmune diseases such as lupus.

An even more mysterious subtype of sensory hearing loss is sudden sensory hearing loss. This type of hearing loss can actually occur in less than three days, and some patients have lost their hearing in a matter of minutes to hours. Sometimes patients wake up to find they have lost their hearing, while others report that their hearing first goes in and out before the loss occurs. Many patients have reported feeling dizzy or unbalanced at the time of their sudden hearing loss. Many doctors consider the majority of sudden sensory hearing loss cases as a symptom of other conditions; but in many instances, there is no concrete explanation for the sudden onset of the hearing loss.

People with sensory hearing loss have reported the inability to hear the sounds “f”, “s” and “z”; tinnitus and vertigo are also common in people with this type of hearing loss, as is the difficulty of understanding speech in the presence of background noise. Sounds that are heard are dampened, unclear and distorted, while high tones are virtually inaudible. Some babies are born with sensory hearing loss and these babies do not respond to sounds and do not make typical baby noises.

This type of hearing loss can be mild, moderate or severe, and is usually permanent. As of now, there is no surgical procedure that can resolve sensory hearing loss, though depending on the type of hearing loss and the location of the problem, there may be some medications that could be of use. Most often, however, sensory hearing loss is treated with the use of hearing devices, such as hearing aids or cochlear implants (or other types of implants).

Hearing aids really only work for those people with mild to mildly moderate hearing loss; individuals with severe hearing loss will most likely not benefit at all from a hearing aid and will need some kind of implantable hearing device that directly stimulates nerve cells.