Have you ever had your car break down in the middle of the road? That really stinks! Your car has to be safely pulled to the side of the road. Then you probably open your hood and have a look at the engine. Who knows why?
What’s funny is that you do this even if you have no clue how engines work. Maybe you think there’ll be a convenient handle you can turn or something. Ultimately, you have to call somebody to tow your car to a garage.
And it’s only when the experts check out things that you get a picture of the problem. That’s because cars are complicated, there are so many moving pieces and computerized software that the symptoms (a car that won’t start) are not enough to tell you what’s wrong.
With hearing loss, this same kind of thing can occur. The cause isn’t always obvious by the symptoms. There’s the common culprit (noise-related hearing loss), sure. But in some cases, it’s something else, something such as auditory neuropathy.
What is auditory neuropathy?
When most people consider hearing loss, they think of loud concerts and jet engines, excessive noise that damages your ability to hear. This type of hearing loss, called sensorineural hearing loss is somewhat more complex than that, but you get the idea.
But sometimes, this kind of long-term, noise related damage isn’t the cause of hearing loss. While it’s less prevalent, hearing loss can sometimes be caused by a condition known as auditory neuropathy. This is a hearing disorder in which your ear and inner ear collect sounds just fine, but for some reason, can’t fully convey those sounds to your brain.
Symptoms of auditory neuropathy
The symptoms of conventional noise related hearing loss can often look very much like those of auditory neuropathy. You can’t hear very well in loud situations, you keep cranking the volume up on your television and other devices, that sort of thing. That’s why diagnosing auditory neuropathy can be so challenging.
Auditory neuropathy, however, has some distinctive symptoms that make spotting it easier. When hearing loss symptoms present like this, you can be pretty sure that it’s not standard noise related hearing loss. Though, as always, you’ll be better informed by an official diagnosis from us.
The more distinctive symptoms of auditory neuropathy include:
- Sound fades in and out: The volume of sound seems to go up and down like someone is messing with the volume knob. If you’re experiencing these symptoms it could be a case of auditory neuropathy.
- Sounds sound jumbled or confused: This is, once again, not an issue with volume. You can hear sounds but you simply can’t understand them. This can go beyond the speech and pertain to all kinds of sounds around you.
- An inability to distinguish words: Sometimes, you can’t make out what somebody is saying even though the volume is normal. The words sound mumbled or distorted.
Some triggers of auditory neuropathy
The underlying causes of this disorder can, in part, be defined by the symptoms. It may not be entirely clear why you have developed auditory neuropathy on a personal level. This condition can develop in both adults and children. And, generally speaking, there are a couple of well defined possible causes:
- Nerve damage: There’s a nerve that carries sound signals from your inner ear to the hearing portion of your brain. The sounds that the brain tries to “interpret” will sound confused if there is damage to this nerve. Sounds might seem jumbled or too quiet to hear when this happens.
- Damage to the cilia that transmit signals to the brain: If these fragile hairs inside of your inner ear become compromised in a particular way, the sound your ear senses can’t really be passed on to your brain, at least, not in its full form.
Risk factors of auditory neuropathy
No one is really certain why some individuals will develop auditory neuropathy while others may not. Because of this, there isn’t a tried and true way to counter auditory neuropathy. But you may be at a higher risk of developing auditory neuropathy if you show certain close connections.
It should be mentioned that these risk factors are not guarantees, you could have every single one of these risk factors and still not develop auditory neuropathy. But you’re more statistically likely to develop auditory neuropathy the more risk factors you have.
Risk factors for children
Here are a few risk factors that will increase the likelihood of auditory neuropathy in children:
- An abundance of bilirubin in the blood (bilirubin is a normal byproduct of red blood cell breakdown)
- A lack of oxygen during birth or before labor begins
- Other neurological disorders
- A low birth weight
- Preterm or premature birth
- Liver conditions that lead to jaundice (a yellow appearance to the skin)
Risk factors for adults
Here are some auditory neuropathy risk factors for adults:
- Auditory neuropathy and other hearing disorders that are passed on genetically
- Some medications (especially improper use of medications that can cause hearing issues)
- Specific infectious diseases, like mumps
- Various types of immune disorders
Limiting the risks as much as possible is always a smart plan. Scheduling regular screenings with us is a smart idea, especially if you do have risk factors.
Diagnosing auditory neuropathy
During a normal hearing test, you’ll most likely be given a pair of headphones and be told to raise your hand when you hear a tone. That test won’t help very much with auditory neuropathy.
Instead, we will generally recommend one of two tests:
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test: Specialized electrodes will be attached to certain places on your scalp and head with this test. This test isn’t painful or unpleasant in any way so don’t worry. These electrodes place specific emphasis on measuring how your brainwaves react 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.
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test: This diagnostic is designed to measure how well your inner ear and cochlea react to sound stimuli. A little microphone is put just inside your ear canal. Then, we will play a series of clicks and tones. Then your inner ear will be measured to see how it responds. The data will help identify whether the inner ear is the problem.
Diagnosing your auditory neuropathy will be much more successful once we do the appropriate tests.
Does auditory neuropathy have any treatments?
So you can bring your ears to us for treatment in the same way that you take your car to the mechanic to have it fixed. In general, there’s no “cure” for auditory neuropathy. But there are several ways to manage this disorder.
- Hearing aids: Even if you have auditory neuropathy, in milder cases, hearing aids can boost sound enough to allow you to hear better. For some individuals, hearing aids will work just fine! But because volume usually isn’t the problem, this isn’t normally the case. Due to this, hearing aids are often combined with other therapy and treatment options.
- Cochlear implant: For some individuals, hearing aids won’t be able to solve the problems. It might be necessary to go with cochlear implants in these instances. This implant, basically, takes the signals from your inner ear and conveys them directly to your brain. The internet has plenty of videos of individuals having success with these remarkable devices!
- Frequency modulation: In some cases, amplification or reduction of certain frequencies can help you hear better. With a technology known as frequency modulation, that’s precisely what occurs. Basically, highly customized hearing aids are utilized in this strategy.
- Communication skills training: In some situations, any and all of these treatments may be combined with communication skills training. This will allow you to work with whatever level of hearing you have to communicate better.
It’s best to get treatment as soon as possible
As with any hearing disorder, prompt treatment can produce better outcomes.
So it’s important to get your hearing loss treated right away whether it’s the common form or auditory neuropathy. The sooner you make an appointment, the more quickly you’ll be able to hear better, and get back to your daily life! Children, who experience a lot of cognitive growth and development, particularly need to have their hearing treated as soon as possible.
