SENSORINEURAL DEAFNESS

• Congenital – Some babies are born deaf. This may be due to various reasons including consanguinity, antenatal illness, medication during pregnancy (specially during the first trimester), genetic history of hearing loss etc. All Nursing homes and Hospitals are mandated to do a hearing screening test of the newborn as per the Universal Neonatal Screening Programme. The baby’s hearing is tested using OAE (Otoacoustic transmission). This is done before the baby is discharged from the hospital.

The purpose of this screening is to determine hearing loss early so that appropriate intervention including Cochlear Implantation can be done at the best possible age- usually between one and 4 years of age.

• Trauma is a common cause of Sensorineural hearing loss. This is usually due to head trauma, and there is usually bleeding from the ear following the trauma
• Infections- Most commonly Viral or Bacterial infections can cause a hearing loss. This could be due to an ear infection directly or due to Meningitis etc. Middle ear infections usually lead to a conductive deafness but repeated infections can cause toxins released by the bacteria to seep via membranes into the inner ear and cause a mixed or sensorineural hearing loss.
• Sudden SNHL – on certain occasions there is sudden loss of hearing in one ear which may be either due to Vascular or Viral causes. The cause remains largely Idiopathic – unknown.
• Exposure to loud sound – as our environment has become noisier there is a direct impact on our hearing. Exposure to loud ambient noise including loud speakers during music festivals or ‘DJ’ parties may lead to hearing loss
• Medication- some medicines including Streptomycin, Gentamycin, Anti cancer drugs, Frusemide etc may cause irreversible hearing loss or imbalance as a side effect.