Hearing Loss Flashcards
What are the two types of Hearing Loss?
- Conductive
- Sensorineural
What is Conductive Hearing Loss?
- This is a problem with sound from the environment making it to the inner ear
- The sound is not reaching the sensory system
What is Sensorineural Hearing Loss?
- This is a problem with the sensory system
- Vestibulocochlear nerve
What are the three sections of the ear?
- Outer Ear
- Middle Ear
- Inner Ear
How does Hearing Loss Present?
- Can be sudden (over less than 72 hours - requires assessment to establish cause)
- Can be gradual and insidious
What are the symptoms of Hearing Loss?
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ear)
- Vertigo ( sensation that the room is spinning)
- Pain (indicates infection)
- Discharge (outer/ middle ear infection)
- Neurological symptoms
What are people with hearing loss more likely to develop?
- Dementia
What are Weber’s and Rhinne’s Test?
- These are hearing tests which can help you determine between sensorineural and conductive hearing loss
What do you do in the Weber’s test?
- Strike the tuning fork to make it vibrate on your hand or knee
- Place it in the centre of the patient’s forehead
- Ask the patient if they can hear the sound
- Ask the patient which ear is it loudest in
What is a normal Weber’s Result?
- The sound from the tuning fork will be equally loud in both ears
What is the result of the Weber’s test in sensorineural hearing loss?
- The sound will be louder in the normal ear (unaffected ear)
What is the result of the Weber’s test in conductive hearing loss?
- The sound will be louder in the affected ear
- This is due to the affected ear not having the background noise of the environment to drown the sound out
What do you do in Rhinne’s Test?
- Strike the tuning fork to make it vibrate/ hum
- Place the flat end on the mastoid process
- Ask the patient to ask when they can no longer hear the humming sound
- Place the tuning fork directly outside the ear around 1cm away
-Ask the patient to ask when they can no longer hear the humming sound - Repeat the process on the other side
What is a normal Rhinne’s Test?
- The air conduction is louder than bone conduction
What is an abnormal Rhinne’s test?
- When bone conduction is louder than air conduction
- This indicative a conductive hearing loss error
What are the causes of Sensorineural Hearing Loss?
- Sudden Sensorineural hearing loss (over less than 72hours)
- Presbycusis (age-related)
- Noise exposure
- Meniere disease
- Labyrinthitis
- Acoustic Neuroma
- Neurological Conditions (Stroke, MS and brain tumours)
- Infections (Meningitis)
- Medications
What medications cause sensorineural hearing loss?
- Loop diuretics (Furosemide)
- Aminoglycoside Antibiotics (gentamicin)
- Chemotherapy drugs (cisplatin)
What are the causes of conductive hearing loss?
- Ear wax
- Infection
- Fluid in the middle ear
- Eustachian tube dysfunction
- Perforated Tympanic Membrane
- Otosclerosis
- Cholesteatoma
- Exostoses
- Tumours
