How much do you know about the causes of deafness?

The pace of life in contemporary society is too fast, and many people do not pay attention to their physical health. Many problems are becoming more and more serious, especially deafness. As for why deafness occurs, there are many reasons, such as infectious diseases that infect the eardrum and cause hearing loss, or drug poisoning, the cochlea is penetrated by drugs, which is also a reason. In addition, deafness can also occur due to bone hyperplasia, blood vessel blockage and the like.

(1) Infectious disease-induced deafness: Various acute infectious diseases, bacterial or viral infections, such as epidemic encephalitis B, mumps, purulent meningitis, measles, scarlet fever, influenza, herpes zoster oticus, typhoid fever, etc. can damage the inner ear and cause sensorineural deafness of varying degrees.

(2) Drug-induced deafness: It is common in aminoglycoside antibiotics, which can cause sensorineural deafness. Ear drug poisoning is closely related to the body's susceptibility. Drug-induced deafness is bilateral, often accompanied by tinnitus, and vestibular function may also be impaired. Long-term use of such drugs in the middle ear may also penetrate into the inner ear through the cochlear window membrane, so this should be noted.

(3) Presbycusis: It is mostly caused by vascular sclerosis and bone hyperplasia in the elderly, which leads to insufficient blood supply to the spiral organ hair cells and spiral ganglion, degenerative lesions, or decline of the central nervous system, resulting in hearing loss.

(4) Traumatic deafness: Craniocerebral trauma and temporal bone fractures can damage the inner ear structure, leading to inner ear bleeding, or inner ear damage caused by strong concussions, all of which can lead to sensorineural deafness, sometimes accompanied by tinnitus and vertigo. Accidental damage to the inner ear structure during ear surgery can also lead to deafness.

(5) Sudden deafness: It is a type of sensorineural deafness that occurs suddenly and has unknown causes. It is currently believed that acute vascular obstruction and viral infection are common causes of this disease. Deafness can appear in an instant or reach a peak quickly within hours or days. It is mostly unilateral but may also affect both ears, accompanied by tinnitus and sometimes vertigo. Early treatment can achieve better results.

(6) Noise-induced hearing loss: A slowly progressive sensorineural hearing loss caused by long-term exposure to noise levels above 85 dB(A). The degree of deafness is mainly related to the noise intensity and exposure time, and secondly to the noise spectrum and individual differences. Some people have found that noise of 2000Hz to 4000Hz is most likely to cause cochlear deafness.