Deafness - what is this disease? Symptoms, causes, effects and treatment of deafness

Hearing loss is a serious problem as the perception and understanding of surrounding sounds is reduced. Ailment is common. Deafness is a disease that affects about 5% of the population. His symptoms and treatment are described in the article.

What it is?

Deafness is the lack of hearing, which can be complete or partial (hearing loss). With this pathology, a person may not hear anything at all, or this problem is so strong that he can not perceive speech. Because of this, communication with other people is complicated.

Pathology is one-sided and two-sided. Total deafness is a disease in which a person is not at all able to perceive the surrounding sounds, be it human speech, music, a car signal. Partial disease also reduces the quality of life.

Causes

Why does deafness appear? This may be due to:

1. Ear or head injury. There is a conductive, and then a neurosensory type of deafness. In this case, the hearing can be restored either with the healing of the damage, or after surgery.
2. Excessive noise. Prolonged loud music, industrial noise leads to damage to hair cells, so sensorineural deafness develops.
3. A chronic infection of the ears in which pus, blood, and sulfur are secreted.
4. Foreign object or sulfuric plug in the external auditory meatus. In this case, the therapy is simple.
5. Chronic inflammation of the middle ear. Usually a problem is detected in children.
6. Infectious ailments - mumps, meningitis, measles, toxoplasmosis. In this case, conductive deafness develops from excess fluid. As a result, the permeability of sound is complicated.
7. The use of ototoxic agents for treatment.
8. Senile hearing loss. Hearing loss is explained by age-related features when degeneration of sensory cells occurs, which are not updated.
9. Congenital pathology.
10. Some autoimmune ailments that reduce hearing. For example, systemic lupus erythematosus.
11. Otosclerosis.
12. The presence of tumors.

Whatever the reason, deafness is an ailment that complicates a person’s life. In any case, the help of a specialist is needed, which, taking into account the condition of the patient, will prescribe effective treatment.

Kinds

A congenital and acquired form of hearing loss is distinguished. The first usually develops in the womb under the influence of negative factors:

1. Infections during pregnancy.
2. Smoking, alcohol.
3. Acceptance of drugs toxic to the auditory analyzer during the period of gestation - “Levomycetin”, “Aspirin”, “Gentamicin”.
4. Hemolytic disease of the newborn.
5. Birth injury.

Acquired ailment occurs against the background of normal hearing - the latter decreases with negative factors. Such deafness is a disease that develops as a complication after infections, injuries, circulatory disorders, tumors, and long exposure to noise.

Other varieties

Depending on the damage to the auditory analyzer, the disease can be of the following types:

1. Sensorineural deafness is an ailment caused by a complex of pathologies. With this type of disease, a person can pick up sounds. But they cannot be perceived and recognized by the brain.
2. Conductive deafness is a disease in which a person does not hear, because sounds do not reach the organ that can transmit them to the brain. This is usually an acquired pathology. Congenital cases are rare, they are caused by genetic ailments.
3. Mixed hearing loss is an ailment that combines the 2 above pathologies.

There is perceptual deafness. What it is? This is a disease that appears with vascular disorders. The disease can be of a viral, allergic origin. The disease develops with skull injuries. A rare cause is the rupture of a round window membrane.

Sensoneural deafness is a disease in which hearing loss is reduced. This is observed with a violation of the function of sound perception due to damage to the auditory nerve, pathology of the inner ear.

There is such a thing as moral deafness. This lack of orientation to another, inability and unwillingness to hear him. This type is a manifestation of "deafness to response." It occurs with the loss of moral qualities due to any life circumstances.

There is also the concept of emotional deafness - a condition in which a person does not respond to any emotional impact. It arises in the event that this pressure was carried out continuously.

Degrees

Deafness is a disability, because in this condition it is difficult for a person to interact with the outside world. There are several degrees of ailment:

• The first is the easiest. The auditory threshold caught by the ear is 26–40 dB. Hearing abilities are not greatly reduced. A person is able to hear speech at a distance of 5 meters. But if there are extraneous sounds or noises, then the perception of speech deteriorates.
• The second degree appears with the progression of the disease. The sound threshold is 41-55 dB. Man hear for 2-4 meters. At this stage, he realizes that there are hearing problems.
• The third. In this case, the threshold of sound perception is 56-79 dB. The patient can hear speech within 1-2 meters. With this lesion, full communication is complicated. A person is assigned a disability. In everyday life, he uses a hearing aid.
• Fourth. In this case, the sound threshold rises to 71-90 dB. A person is not able to hear even loud speech, but screams are an exception.

When the auditory threshold is greater than 91 dB, we can talk about complete deafness. The sooner an ailment is detected, the easier it is to cure it.

Symptoms

If you have a hearing loss , the following symptoms are likely to occur:

• pain in the ear;
• discharge from the ear canal;
• sensation of fluid transfusion and other noises;
• runny nose;
• nausea and vomiting;
• dizziness;
• nystagmus;
• heat;
• headache;
• weak facial muscles;
• gait disturbance.

A hearing test is needed with the following symptoms:

1. It’s hard to keep track of the conversation.
2. The interlocutor often repeats the words.
3. There is a feeling that others are talking quietly.
4. In noisy environments, speech is not understood.
5. I have to increase the volume of the TV.
6. There is tinnitus.

The emotional state of a person is tense. He wants to hear what they say, and also annoyed at the interlocutor.

Diagnostics

Thanks to diagnostic measures, the cause of hearing problems is established, the degree of violation. More research can identify, regresses or progresses the disease. The examination is performed by an otolaryngologist. To assess the condition, the method of speech audiometry is used. If hearing loss is detected, the patient is prescribed a referral to an audiologist.

To determine the type of hearing loss, otoscopy is used, a comparative assessment of bone and air conduction. With conductive hearing loss, tympanometry is used to identify the cause. Using electrocochleography, the activity of the cochlea and the auditory nerve is diagnosed.

Diagnosis in infants is performed using the TEOAE and DPOAE methods. This procedure is simple and quick, it is carried out by a special device. Another method for detecting the auditory threshold is the method of evoked potentials. It determines the state of auditory function.

Treatment

Deafness and hearing loss are illnesses that require treatment. To delay this is not worth it, since chronic pathologies are not easy to treat. Ear functions can be restored only in the initial stages of the disease.

According to research results, timely treatment will significantly improve hearing (80%) or completely cure the patient. This applies to acute and sudden deafness. And if the disease is chronic, then the treatment is not so effective - about 20%.

Deafness, which arose as a result of a hypertensive crisis, circulatory disorders in the auditory analyzer, and atherosclerosis, is almost not cured. In traditional medicine, 2 types of treatment are practiced: conservative and surgical. Each type of therapy has its own characteristics.

Conservative therapy

In acute and sudden illness, treatment should be performed in a hospital. There the patient is examined, the cause and severity of the disease will be established. Then a course of therapy will be prescribed. The following drugs are effective:

1. Broad-acting antibiotics - Amoxiclav, Suprax, Cefixime.
2. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - “Ibuprofen”, “Nurofen”, “Ketonal”.
3. Nootropic drugs - "Piracetam", "Nootropil", "Glycine".
4. Vitamins of group B.
5. Antiallergic drugs - Suprastin, Zirtek.
6. Decongestant medicines - "Furosemide."

The main forms of medicine used include ear drops. In addition to drug treatment, the use of:

1. Physiotherapy - treatment with current, laser radiation, microcurrents, phototherapy, iontophoresis, darsonvalization, UHF.
2. Massage.
3. Blowing ear.
4. Breathing exercises.
5. Oxygenobarotherapy. The body tissues are positively affected by increased atmospheric pressure with oxygen.

Surgical method

There are several types of interventions used to correct hearing loss:

1. Miringoplasty. It is carried out in violation of the eardrum.
2. Prosthetics of the auditory ossicles. This operation is performed in violation of their work.
3. Hearing replacement.
4. Cochlear implantation. During surgery, electrodes are implanted in the ear that act on the auditory nerve and transmit signals to the brain. It cures congenital deafness and hearing loss. The hearing will be restored fully or partially. But this is an expensive treatment.

In case of hearing loss in children, you need to contact several specialists: an audiologist, a speech therapist, a pathologist, and a children's psychologist. In infants, timely diagnosis and treatment will help prevent delays and impaired speech development.

With a congenital illness, treatment can begin with six months. From this age it is allowed to apply:

1. Speech therapy. Specialists teach to pronounce sounds and words correctly.
2. Learning sign language.
3. Cochlear implantation.
4. Medicines
5. Non-drug treatment.
6. Surgery

Total deafness is the ailment in which doctors usually resort to surgical intervention. In any case, the decision is made after the diagnosis.

Alternative treatment

You can improve hearing with folk remedies, which is proved by many people. But before such treatment, it is important to consult an otolaryngologist. Only then will it be possible to successfully solve the problem, using medical treatment and alternative methods in combination.

Judging by the reviews, a product like garlic helps. You can use the following recipes:

1. Drops. It takes a head of garlic, from which juice is made. Then it is mixed with corn oil (3 tbsp. L.). This tool is instilled in 3 drops in a sore ear for 3 weeks. Then a break of a week is required, and then the course is repeated.
2. Compresses It will take 3 cloves, which are crushed and mixed with camphor alcohol (2 tbsp. L.). On the basis of this tool make compresses.

Used in traditional medicine and propolis:

1. For children. To prepare the tincture, you will need vegetable oil (1 tbsp. L.), Which is mixed with alcohol tincture of propolis 30% (2 tbsp. L.). We need cotton turundas that are moistened in solution and kept in the ears for 8 hours. Procedures are done every other day for 2 weeks.
2. For adults. The recipe is similar to the above. The only difference is the number of components and the aging time. Propolis tincture is mixed with vegetable oil in a ratio of 1: 4. Tampons dipped in this tool are placed in the ear canals. Procedures are performed for at least 36 hours.

A bay leaf is used, which improves blood circulation of the brain and hearing organs. This tool is used to treat sensorineural hearing loss. It will take several dried leaves, which are crushed, poured with hot water (1 cup). Insist the drug for 3 hours. Then you need to strain and instill 5 drops 3 times a day in a sore ear. Therapy lasts 2 weeks.

In folk medicine, honey with lemon is used. Once a day, you need to eat ¼ lemon with a peel, coated with honey. In 7 days, the hearing is usually restored.

Effects

The prognosis for hearing impairment is determined by the severity of the pathology, form and age of the person. With mechanical damage, hearing can almost always be restored. In case of genetic failures, conservative treatment will not work: usually, instead of sounds, the patient hears only tinnitus. you need either a hearing aid or surgery.

Prevention

According to doctors, many cases of deafness can be prevented. The following effective measures are referred to prevention:

1. Immunization of children against certain childhood diseases - measles, rubella, meningitis, mumps.
2. Immunization of adolescent girls and women of childbearing period from rubella.
3. Examination of pregnant women for infectious ailments.
4. Checking newborns (early diagnosis of hearing in the presence of a high risk of impaired function).
5. Reducing the impact of loud noise on the organ of hearing.

Thus, with the help of modern prevention and adequate treatment, it will be possible to reduce the risk of pathology or to improve the condition and complete recovery. But any treatment measures should be prescribed by a doctor.