Have you ever been in the middle of the roadway and your car breaks down? It’s not a fun situation. Your car has to be safely pulled to the side of the road. Then you most likely pop 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 clue how engines work. Perhaps you think there’ll be a convenient knob you can turn or something. Ultimately, you have to call somebody to tow your car to a garage.
And it’s only when the professionals get a look at things that you get an understanding of the problem. That’s because cars are complex, there are so many moving parts and computerized software that the symptoms (your car that won’t start) aren’t enough to inform you as to what’s wrong.
With hearing loss, this same kind of thing can occur. The symptom itself doesn’t necessarily reveal what the cause is. Sure, noise-related hearing loss is the usual culprit. But sometimes, it’s something else, something such as auditory neuropathy.
What is auditory neuropathy?
Most people think of extremely loud noise such as a rock concert or a jet engine when they think of hearing loss. This type of hearing loss is known as sensorineural hearing loss, and it’s a bit more involved than simple noise damage.
But in some cases, this type of long-term, noise induced damage is not the cause of hearing loss. While it’s less common, hearing loss can sometimes be caused by a condition called auditory neuropathy. When sound can’t, for some reason, be correctly transmitted to your brain even though your ear is receiving that sound just fine.
Symptoms of auditory neuropathy
The symptoms of traditional noise related hearing loss can often look a lot like those of auditory neuropathy. 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 distinctive symptoms that make recognizing it easier. These presentations are rather strong indicators that you aren’t dealing with sensorineural hearing loss, but with auditory neuropathy instead. Though, naturally, you’ll be better served by an official diagnosis from us.
The more distinctive symptoms of auditory neuropathy include:
- The inability to make out words: Sometimes, the volume of a word is normal, but you just can’t distinguish what’s being said. The words sound mumbled or distorted.
- 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 pertain to all kinds of sounds, not just speech.
- Sound fades in and out: Maybe it feels like somebody is playing with the volume knob in your head! This could be a sign that you’re experiencing auditory neuropathy.
Some triggers of auditory neuropathy
These symptoms can be articulated, in part, by the root causes behind this specific condition. It may not be very clear why you have developed auditory neuropathy on an individual level. This condition can develop in both adults and children. And, generally speaking, there are a couple of well defined possible causes:
- Nerve damage: The hearing center of your brain gets sound from a particular nerve in your ear. If this nerve gets damaged, your brain can’t get the complete signal, and as a result, the sounds it “interprets” will sound off. When this occurs, you may interpret sounds as jumbled, indecipherable, or too quiet to discern.
- The cilia that transmit signals to the brain can be compromised: Sound can’t be passed to your brain in full form once these little fragile hairs have been compromised in a particular way.
Auditory neuropathy risk factors
Some individuals will develop auditory neuropathy while others won’t and no one is really certain why. As a result, there isn’t a definitive way to prevent auditory neuropathy. But you may be at a higher risk of developing auditory neuropathy if you show particular close associations.
It should be noted that these risk factors aren’t guarantees, you could have all of these risk factors and not develop auditory neuropathy. But you’re more statistically likely to experience auditory neuropathy the more risk factors you have.
Risk factors for children
Here are some risk factors that will raise the likelihood of auditory neuropathy in children:
- An abundance of bilirubin in the blood (bilirubin is a normal byproduct of red blood cell breakdown)
- Preterm or premature birth
- Other neurological disorders
- A low birth weight
- Liver conditions that lead to jaundice (a yellow look to the skin)
- A lack of oxygen before labor begins or during birth
Risk factors for adults
For adults, risk factors that increase your likelihood of developing auditory neuropathy include:
- Overuse of medications that cause hearing problems
- Auditory neuropathy and other hearing conditions that are passed on genetically
- Various kinds of immune diseases
- 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 might be a good plan to schedule regular screenings with us.
How is auditory neuropathy diagnosed?
A normal hearing test consists of listening to tones with a set of headphones and raising a hand depending on what side you hear the tone on. When you have auditory neuropathy, that test will be of very minimal use.
Instead, we will typically recommend one of two tests:
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test: The reaction of your inner ear and cochlea to stimuli will be checked with this diagnostic. We will put a small microphone just inside your ear canal. Then a series of tones and clicks will be played. The diagnostic device will then evaluate how well your inner ear reacts to those tones and clicks. If the inner ear is an issue, this data will reveal it.
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test: Specialized electrodes will be connected to certain spots on your scalp and head with this test. Again, don’t be concerned, there’s nothing painful or uncomfortable about this test. These electrodes measure your brainwaves, with particular attention to how those brainwaves respond to sound. Whether you’re dealing with sensorineural hearing loss (outer ear) or auditory neuropathy (inner ear) will be determined by the quality of your brainwaves.
Diagnosing your auditory neuropathy will be much more successful once we run the appropriate tests.
Is there treatment for auditory neuropathy?
So, just like you bring your car to the mechanic to get 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: In some moderate cases, hearing aids will be able to supply the necessary sound amplification to help you hear better, even if you have auditory neuropathy. Hearing aids will be an adequate option for some individuals. But because volume isn’t usually the problem, this isn’t normally the situation. Hearing aids are often used in combination with other treatments because of this.
- Cochlear implant: For some individuals, hearing aids won’t be able to solve the issues. In these instances, a cochlear implant may be needed. 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, amplification or reduction of certain frequencies can help you hear better. That’s what happens with a technology known as frequency modulation. This strategy frequently uses devices that are, basically, highly customized hearing aids.
- Communication skills training: In some situations, any and all of these treatments may be combined with communication skills exercises. 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 disorder, timely treatment can produce better outcomes.
So if you suspect you have auditory neuropathy, or even just normal hearing loss, it’s essential to get treatment as quickly as you can. The sooner you make an appointment, the more quickly you’ll be able to hear better, and get back to your everyday life! Children, who experience a great deal of cognitive growth and development, especially need to have their hearing treated as soon as possible.