Have you ever had your car break down in the middle of the highway? That really stinks! Your car has to be safely pulled off the road. Then you likely open your hood and take a look at the engine. Who knows why?
Humorously, you still do this despite the fact that you have no understanding of engines. Maybe whatever is wrong will be obvious. Eventually, you have to call somebody to tow your car to a mechanic.
And a picture of the issue only becomes apparent when experts diagnose it. Just because the car isn’t starting, doesn’t mean you can tell what’s wrong with it because vehicles are complicated and computerized machines.
With hearing loss, this same type of thing can occur. The cause isn’t always apparent by the symptoms. Sure, noise-related hearing loss is the usual cause. But sometimes, something else like auditory neuropathy is the cause.
What is auditory neuropathy?
When most individuals think about hearing loss, they think of noisy concerts and jet engines, excessive noise that damages your hearing. This type of hearing loss is called sensorineural hearing loss, and it’s a bit more involved than simple noise damage.
But sometimes, long-term hearing loss can be the result of something other than noise damage. A condition known as auditory neuropathy, while less prevalent, can in some cases be the cause. When sound can’t, for whatever reason, be correctly transmitted to your brain even though your ear is receiving that sound just fine.
Auditory neuropathy symptoms
The symptoms of conventional noise related hearing loss can often look a lot like those of auditory neuropathy. You can’t hear very well in loud settings, you keep cranking the volume up on your television and other devices, that sort of thing. This can sometimes make auditory neuropathy hard to diagnose and treat.
However, auditory neuropathy does have some unique properties that make it possible to diagnose. These presentations are rather strong indicators that you aren’t dealing with sensorineural hearing loss, but with auditory neuropathy instead. Of course, nothing can replace getting an accurate diagnosis from us about your hearing loss.
The more unique symptoms of auditory neuropathy include:
- The inability to distinguish words: Sometimes, the volume of a word is normal, but you just can’t distinguish what’s being said. Words are unclear and unclear.
- Sound fades in and out: The volume of sound seems to rise and fall like someone is messing with the volume knob. If you’re encountering these symptoms it may be a case of auditory neuropathy.
- Sounds sound jumbled or confused: Again, this is not a problem with volume. You can hear sounds but you simply can’t make sense of them. This can go beyond the speech and pertain to all types of sounds around you.
Some triggers of auditory neuropathy
The root causes of this condition can, in part, be defined by its symptoms. On an individual level, the reasons why you might develop auditory neuropathy may not be entirely clear. This condition can develop in both children and adults. And there are a couple of well defined possible causes, broadly speaking:
- Damage to the cilia that send signals to the brain: If these tiny hairs in your inner ear become compromised in a specific way, the sound your ear senses can’t really be passed on to your brain, at least, not in its complete form.
- Damage to the nerves: There’s a nerve that carries sound signals from your inner ear to the hearing center of your brain. The sounds that the brain attempts to “interpret” will seem unclear if there is damage to this nerve. When this happens, you might interpret sounds as jumbled, unclear, or too quiet to discern.
Auditory neuropathy risk factors
Some people will develop auditory neuropathy while other people won’t and no one is really certain why. That’s why there isn’t an exact science to combating it. Nevertheless, there are close connections which might reveal that you’re at a higher risk of experiencing this condition.
It should be noted that these risk factors are not guarantees, you could have every single one of these risk factors and not experience auditory neuropathy. But the more risk factors shown, the higher your statistical probability of developing this condition.
Risk factors for children
Factors that can increase the risk of auditory neuropathy for children include the following:
- A lack of oxygen during birth or before labor begins
- An abundance of bilirubin in the blood (bilirubin is a normal byproduct of red blood cell breakdown)
- Liver disorders that result in jaundice (a yellow look to the skin)
- Preterm or premature birth
- Other neurological disorders
- A low birth weight
Risk factors for adults
For adults, risk factors that raise your likelihood of experiencing auditory neuropathy include:
- Various types of immune disorders
- Family history of hearing conditions, including auditory neuropathy
- Mumps and other specific infectious diseases
- Overuse of medications that cause hearing issues
Limiting the risks as much as possible is always a good idea. Scheduling regular screenings with us is a good plan, particularly if you do have risk factors.
How is auditory neuropathy diagnosed?
A normal hearing exam consists of listening to tones with a set of headphones and raising a hand depending on which side you hear the tone on. That test won’t help very much with auditory neuropathy.
Instead, we will generally suggest one of two tests:
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test: The response of your inner ear and cochlea to stimuli will be checked with this diagnostic. We will put a little microphone just inside your ear canal. Then a battery of tones and clicks will be played. Then your inner ear will be measured to see how it responds. If the inner ear is an issue, this data will expose it.
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test: During the course of this diagnostic test, you’ll have specialized electrodes attached to certain spots on your scalp and head. Again, don’t be concerned, there’s nothing painful or uncomfortable about this test. These electrodes place particular focus on measuring how your brainwaves respond to sound stimuli. Whether you’re dealing with sensorineural hearing loss (outer ear) or auditory neuropathy (inner ear) will be established by the quality of your brainwaves.
Once we run the appropriate tests, we will be able to more effectively diagnose and treat your auditory neuropathy.
Is there treatment for auditory neuropathy?
So you can bring your ears to us for treatment in the same way that you bring your car to the mechanic to get it fixed. In general, there’s no “cure” for auditory neuropathy. But this disorder can be treated in several possible ways.
- Hearing aids: In some less severe cases, hearing aids will be able to supply the necessary sound amplification to help you hear better, even if you have auditory neuropathy. For some individuals, hearing aids will work perfectly fine! Having said that, this isn’t generally the case, because, once again, volume is virtually never the problem. Hearing aids are usually used in conjunction with other treatments because of this.
- Cochlear implant: Hearing aids won’t be capable of solving the issue for most people. In these cases, a cochlear implant might be needed. Signals from your inner ear are conveyed directly to your brain with this implant. The internet has plenty of videos of people having success with these amazing devices!
- Frequency modulation: In some cases, it’s possible to hear better by increasing or lowering certain frequencies. That’s what happens with a technology called frequency modulation. Basically, highly customized hearing aids are utilized in this approach.
- Communication skills training: Communication skills training can be combined with any combination of these treatments if necessary. This will help you communicate with the hearing you have and work around your symptoms instead of treating them.
The sooner you receive treatment, the better
As with any hearing disorder, timely treatment can result in better results.
So it’s essential to get your hearing loss treated right away whether it’s the ordinary form or auditory neuropathy. You’ll be able to get back to hearing better and enjoying your life once you make an appointment and get treated. This can be especially critical for children, who experience a great deal of cognitive development and linguistic growth during their early years.
