Have you ever had your car break down in the middle of the highway? That really stinks! Your car has to be safely pulled to the side of the road. And then, for whatever reason, you probably pop your hood and have a look at your engine.
Humorously, you still do this even though you have no knowledge of engines. Maybe you think there’ll be a handy knob you can turn or something. Inevitably, a tow truck will need to be called.
And it’s only when the mechanics check out things that you get a picture of the problem. That’s because cars are complicated, there are so many moving parts and computerized software that the symptoms (a car that won’t move) aren’t enough to tell you what’s wrong.
With hearing loss, this same type of thing can occur. The symptom itself doesn’t necessarily indicate what the cause is. There’s the usual culprit (noise-associated hearing loss), sure. But in some cases, it’s something else, something such as auditory neuropathy.
Auditory neuropathy, what is it?
When most individuals consider hearing loss, they think of loud concerts and jet engines, excessive noise that harms your hearing. This kind of hearing loss is known as sensorineural hearing loss, and it’s somewhat more involved than basic noise damage.
But in some cases, this sort of long-term, noise related damage is not the cause of hearing loss. While it’s less prevalent, hearing loss can sometimes be caused by a condition called auditory neuropathy. This is a hearing condition where your ear and inner ear collect sounds just fine, but for some reason, can’t fully transmit those sounds to your brain.
Symptoms of auditory neuropathy
The symptoms related to auditory neuropathy are, at first look, not all that dissimilar from those symptoms associated with traditional hearing loss. Things like cranking up the volume on your devices and not being capable of hearing very well in loud settings. This can frequently make auditory neuropathy hard to diagnose and treat.
Auditory neuropathy, however, has some unique symptoms that make diagnosing it easier. When hearing loss symptoms manifest like this, you can be pretty sure that it’s not typical noise related hearing loss. Of course, nothing can replace getting an accurate diagnosis from us about your hearing loss.
The more unique symptoms of auditory neuropathy include:
- Sound fades in and out: The volume of sound seems to rise and fall like somebody is playing with the volume knob. This could be an indication that you’re experiencing auditory neuropathy.
- Sounds sound jumbled or confused: Once again, this isn’t an issue with volume. The volume of what you’re hearing is completely normal, the problem is that the sounds seem jumbled and you can’t understand them. This can go beyond the spoken word and pertain to all types of sounds around you.
- Trouble understanding speech: In some cases, the volume of a word is just fine, but you just can’t distinguish what’s being said. Words are unclear and muddled sounding.
What triggers auditory neuropathy?
The root causes of this disorder can, in part, be defined by its symptoms. On an individual level, the reasons why you may experience auditory neuropathy may not be completely clear. Both children and adults can experience this disorder. And, generally speaking, there are a couple of well described possible causes:
- Damage to the nerves: There’s a nerve that transmits sound signals from your inner ear to the hearing portion of your brain. The sounds that the brain tries to “interpret” will seem unclear if there is damage to this nerve. Sounds might seem garbled or too quiet to hear when this occurs.
- Damage to the cilia that send signals to the brain: If these delicate hairs in your inner ear become damaged in a particular way, the sound your ear detects can’t really be sent on to your brain, at least, not in its full form.
Auditory neuropathy risk factors
Some individuals will develop auditory neuropathy while others won’t and no one is really certain why. That’s why there’s no exact science to preventing it. Still, there are close connections which may show that you’re at a higher risk of experiencing this disorder.
It should be mentioned that these risk factors aren’t guarantees, you may 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 experiencing this disorder.
Children’s risk factors
Factors that can raise the risk of auditory neuropathy for children include the following:
- Other neurological conditions
- A low birth weight
- Preterm or premature birth
- A lack of oxygen before labor begins or during birth
- Liver conditions that cause jaundice (a yellow appearance to the skin)
- An abundance of bilirubin in the blood (bilirubin is a normal byproduct of red blood cell breakdown)
Adult risk factors
Here are some auditory neuropathy risk factors for adults:
- Various kinds of immune diseases
- Certain infectious diseases, like mumps
- Auditory neuropathy and other hearing disorders that are passed on genetically
- Overuse of medications that cause hearing issues
Minimizing the risks as much as possible is generally a good idea. Scheduling regular screenings with us is a smart idea, especially if you do have risk factors.
How is auditory neuropathy diagnosed?
During a normal hearing assessment, you’ll likely be given a pair of headphones and be asked to raise your hand when you hear a tone. That test won’t help very much with auditory neuropathy.
Instead, we will typically recommend one of two tests:
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test: Specialized electrodes will be attached to certain spots on your scalp and head with this test. Again, don’t be concerned, there’s nothing painful or unpleasant about this test. These electrodes place particular emphasis on tracking how your brainwaves respond to sound stimuli. The quality of your brainwave reactions will help us identify whether your hearing issues reside in your outer ear (as with sensorineural hearing loss) or further in (as with auditory neuropathy).
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test: The response of your inner ear and cochlea to stimuli will be tested with this diagnostic. We will put a small microphone just inside your ear canal. Then a battery of clicks and tones will be played. Then your inner ear will be measured to see how it responds. The data will help determine whether the inner ear is the issue.
Once we run the appropriate tests, we will be able to more successfully diagnose and treat your auditory neuropathy.
Is there treatment for auditory neuropathy?
So, in the same way as you bring your car to the auto technician to have it fixed, you can bring your ears to us for treatment! auditory neuropathy generally has no cure. But there are a few ways to manage this condition.
- Hearing aids: Even if you have auditory neuropathy, in moderate cases, hearing aids can amplify sound enough to allow you to hear better. For some people, hearing aids will work perfectly fine! Having said that, this isn’t generally the case, because, again, volume is almost never the problem. Hearing aids are often used in conjunction with other treatments because of this.
- Cochlear implant: Hearing aids won’t be able to solve the problem for most people. It might be necessary to go with cochlear implants in these cases. This implant, basically, takes the signals from your inner ear and carries them directly to your brain. The internet has plenty of videos of people having success with these remarkable devices!
- Frequency modulation: Sometimes, it’s possible to hear better by increasing or lowering specific frequencies. With a technology known as frequency modulation, that’s exactly what happens. Essentially, highly customized hearing aids are used in this approach.
- Communication skills training: Communication skills exercises can be put together with any combination of these treatments if needed. This will help you communicate using the hearing you have and work around your symptoms instead of treating them.
The sooner you get treatment, the better
As with any hearing condition, timely treatment can result in better outcomes.
So it’s important to get your hearing loss treated right away whether it’s the common 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 extremely crucial for children, who experience a great deal of cognitive development and linguistic expansion during their early years.