Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is hearing loss that results from damage to either the cochlea or the cochlear nerve.
Outcomes for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
The results from steroid treatment are unpredictable. There is no reliable test to determine which patient will achieve success. However, the benefits do outweigh the risk involved. If hearing loss persists, the following are options for improving the hearing:
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are an option if the word discrimination score is 50% or greater. Otherwise, there are strategies to reroute the incoming sound from the relatively deafened side to the hearing side. This can be done with either the CROS hearing aidor BAHA implant.
CROS Hearing Aid
This involves wearing a microphone on the relatively deafened side. This communicated wirelessly to a hearing aid worn on the hearing side. The only downside is that the only hearing ear becomes occluded with a hearing aid.
BAHA Implant
This is a very successful surgical procedure where a titanium pedestal is implanted into the bone above the ear on the deafened side. In three months, the pedestal becomes integrated into the bone. An audio processor is then attached and the vibratory movement of the pedestal is sensed by the opposite inner ear.
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About Dr. Prasad
Dr. Sanjay Prasad MD FACS is a board certified physician and surgeon with over thirty-two years of sub-specialty experience in Otology, Neurotology, advanced head and neck oncologic surgery, and cranial base surgery. He is chief surgeon and founder of the private practice, Metropolitan NeuroEar Group, located in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area.