{"id":2576,"date":"2021-06-18T16:45:09","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T20:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/?p=2576"},"modified":"2021-06-18T16:45:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T20:45:11","slug":"sudden-hearing-loss-can-be-scary-but-there-are-treatment-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/sudden-hearing-loss-can-be-scary-but-there-are-treatment-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudden Hearing Loss Can Be Scary, But There Are Treatment Options"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sudden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/hearing-balance\/hearing-loss\/hearing-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing loss<\/a> refers to a loss of hearing that happens for no warning and for no apparent reason within a period of 24 hours or less. Approximately half of people who develop sudden hearing loss regain some or all of their hearing spontaneously within a week or two; however, delaying treatment leads to a lower chance of hearing again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we review how common sudden hearing loss is, what causes it and how it\u2019s treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Common Is Sudden Hearing Loss?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ear-exam-hearing-loss-1280x853.jpg\" alt=\"Close up of a doctor doing a medical exam on his patient\" class=\"wp-image-2578\" width=\"289\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ear-exam-hearing-loss-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ear-exam-hearing-loss-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ear-exam-hearing-loss-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ear-exam-hearing-loss-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It is estimated that sudden hearing loss affects between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nidcd.nih.gov\/health\/sudden-deafness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one and six in every 5,000<\/a> people each year, but it\u2019s likely that this estimate is low due to many people going undiagnosed because they don\u2019t seek treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sudden hearing loss most often affects adults in their late 40s and early 50s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Causes Sudden Hearing Loss?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sudden hearing loss is caused by a problem with the cochlea or the auditory nerve, both located in the inner ear, rather than issues with the outer or middle ear. Causes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Viral infection.<\/li><li>Stroke.<\/li><li>Head trauma.<\/li><li>Ototoxic drugs.<\/li><li>Loss of blood flow to the inner ear (ischemia).<\/li><li>Ruptured membrane in the inner ear.<\/li><li>Autoimmune diseases.<\/li><li>Neurological disorders.<\/li><li>Meniere\u2019s disease.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Viral infections are thought to be the most common cause of sudden hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Is Sudden Hearing Loss Treated?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oral steroids like cortisone are generally the most beneficial treatment for sudden hearing loss, though they are mostly effective for viral hearing loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other treatment options depend on what the cause is. Options include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Antioxidants<\/strong> can help prevent healing of the inner ear.<\/li><li><strong>Antivirals <\/strong>are sometimes used but their efficacy is unclear in some trials.<\/li><li><strong>Blood thinners <\/strong>can help in cases of stroke or ischemia.<\/li><li><strong>Bedrest <\/strong>is the preferred treatment for inner ear membrane rupture, though <strong>surgery <\/strong>may be necessary in some circumstances.<\/li><li><strong>Diuretics and low-sodium diets <\/strong>can help when the cause is Meniere\u2019s disease.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever treatment option your doctor recommends, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/hearing-balance\/hearing-loss\/hearing-tests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the sooner you get help, the better your chance of recovery<\/a>. If you want to be able to enjoy movies at <a href=\"https:\/\/athenscine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cine<\/a> and shows at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.georgiatheatre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Georgia Theatre<\/a> after a sudden loss of hearing, call the experts at ENT of Athens right away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sudden hearing loss refers to a loss of hearing that happens for no warning and for no apparent reason within a period of 24 hours or less. Approximately half of people who develop sudden hearing loss regain some or all of their hearing spontaneously within a week or two; however, delaying treatment leads to a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Sudden hearing loss refers to a loss of hearing that happens for no warning and for no apparent reason within a period of 24 hours or less.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2576"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2580,"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576\/revisions\/2580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entofathens.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}