Have you ever been in the middle of the road and your car breaks down? That really stinks! You have to pull your car safely to the side of the road. Then you likely open your hood and have a look at the engine. Who knows why?
What’s strange is that you do this even if you have no idea how engines work. Maybe whatever is wrong will be obvious. Ultimately, you have to call someone to tow your car to a mechanic.
And it’s only when the professionals check out things that you get an understanding of the issue. Just because the car is not moving, doesn’t mean you can know what’s wrong with it because cars are complex and computerized machines.
The same thing can occur sometimes with hearing loss. The symptom itself doesn’t necessarily reveal what the underlying cause is. Sure, noise-related hearing loss is the common cause. But sometimes, something else like auditory neuropathy is the cause.
Auditory neuropathy, what is it?
When most individuals consider hearing loss, they think of noisy concerts and jet engines, excessive noise that damages your hearing. This kind of hearing loss, known as sensorineural hearing loss is somewhat more complicated than that, but you get the point.
But in some cases, this sort of long-term, noise related damage is not the cause of hearing loss. A condition called auditory neuropathy, while less prevalent, can sometimes be the cause. When sound can’t, for whatever reason, be correctly carried to your brain even though your ear is collecting that sound perfectly fine.
Auditory neuropathy symptoms
The symptoms of conventional noise related hearing loss can sometimes look very much like those of auditory neuropathy. You can’t hear very well in noisy situations, you keep turning up the volume on your television and other devices, that kind of thing. This can frequently make auditory neuropathy hard to diagnose and manage.
However, auditory neuropathy does have a few unique properties that make it possible to diagnose. These presentations are pretty strong indicators that you aren’t experiencing sensorineural hearing loss, but auditory neuropathy instead. Of course, nothing can replace getting an accurate diagnosis from us about your hearing loss.
Here are a few of the more unique symptoms of auditory neuropathy:
- An inability to distinguish words: Sometimes, you can’t make out what a person is saying even though the volume is normal. The words sound garbled or distorted.
- Sound fades in and out: The volume of sound seems to go up and down like somebody is messing with the volume knob. This could be an indication that you’re dealing with auditory neuropathy.
- Sounds sound jumbled or confused: Again, this is not a problem with volume. The volume of what you’re hearing is just fine, the problem is that the sounds seem jumbled and you can’t understand them. This can go beyond the speech and apply to all types of sounds around you.
Some triggers of auditory neuropathy
The underlying causes of this disorder can, in part, be explained by the symptoms. On an individual level, the reasons why you might develop auditory neuropathy might not be entirely clear. This condition can develop in both children and adults. And, broadly 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 center of your brain. If this nerve gets damaged, your brain doesn’t receive the full signal, and as a result, the sounds it “interprets” will sound off. Sounds may seem garbled or too quiet to hear when this occurs.
- Damage to the cilia that transmit signals to the brain: If these tiny hairs in 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 quite certain why some individuals will experience auditory neuropathy while others might not. That’s why there’s no exact science to preventing it. However, there are close associations which may reveal that you’re at a higher risk of experiencing this disorder.
It should be noted that these risk factors are not guarantees, you could have all of these risk factors and still not experience auditory neuropathy. But you’re more statistically likely to develop auditory neuropathy the more risk factors you have.
Risk factors for children
Factors that can raise the risk of auditory neuropathy for children include the following:
- Other neurological disorders
- An abundance of bilirubin in the blood (bilirubin is a normal byproduct of red blood cell breakdown)
- Liver conditions that result in jaundice (a yellow look to the skin)
- Preterm or premature birth
- A lack of oxygen during birth or before labor begins
- A low birth weight
Adult risk factors
Here are some auditory neuropathy risk factors for adults:
- Various kinds of immune disorders
- Overuse of medications that cause hearing problems
- Family history of hearing disorders, including auditory neuropathy
- Mumps and other specific infectious diseases
In general, it’s a smart idea to minimize these risks as much as possible. If risk factors are there, it may be a good idea to schedule regular screenings with us.
How is auditory neuropathy diagnosed?
During a standard hearing assessment, you’ll likely be given a pair of headphones and be asked to raise your hand when you hear a tone. When you’re dealing with auditory neuropathy, that test will be of extremely limited use.
Rather, we will typically suggest one of two tests:
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test: During this diagnostic test, you’ll have specialized electrodes attached to specific places on your head and scalp. This test isn’t painful or unpleasant in any way so don’t be concerned. These electrodes place specific focus on measuring how your brainwaves respond to sound stimuli. The quality of your brainwave reactions will help us identify whether your hearing problems reside in your outer ear (as with sensorineural hearing loss) or further in (as with auditory neuropathy).
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test: This diagnostic is designed to measure how well your inner ear and cochlea respond to sound stimuli. We will put a little microphone just inside your ear canal. Then, we will play a series of tones and clicks. Then your inner ear will be measured to see how it reacts. If the inner ear is an issue, this data will reveal it.
Diagnosing your auditory neuropathy will be much more successful once we run the applicable tests.
Is there treatment for auditory neuropathy?
So, just like 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 several ways to manage this disorder.
- Hearing aids: Even if you have auditory neuropathy, in milder cases, hearing aids can amplify sound enough to enable you to hear better. For some individuals, hearing aids will work just fine! But because volume isn’t usually the issue, this isn’t typically the case. Hearing aids are usually used in conjunction with other treatments because of this.
- Cochlear implant: Hearing aids won’t be capable of solving the problem for most individuals. It might be necessary to opt for cochlear implants in these cases. Signals from your inner ear are conveyed directly to your brain with this implant. The internet has lots of videos of people having success with these amazing devices!
- Frequency modulation: In some cases, it’s possible to hear better by boosting or lowering specific frequencies. That’s what happens with a technology known as frequency modulation. 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 necessary. This will help you communicate with the hearing you have and work around your symptoms instead of treating them.
It’s best to get treatment as soon as you can
As with any hearing disorder, prompt treatment can lead to better results.
So it’s essential to get your hearing loss treated as soon as possible whether it’s the common form or auditory neuropathy. You’ll be able to go back to hearing better and enjoying your life once you make an appointment and get treated. Children, who experience a lot of cognitive growth and development, particularly need to have their hearing treated as soon as possible.
