Sudden deafness with / without tinnitus
Information for patients
Author: Dr. med. Hellmuth Sümmerer
What is sudden deafness?
Acute, total, or partial hearing loss of one, seldom of both ears. This often is combined with tinnitus.
What is idiopathic subjective tinnitus?
You hear noises that do not have an external, objective source and are not prduced by an accoustic source within your body. Tinnitus often occurs as a result of acute hearing loss or acoustic trauma.
Ringing in the ears – don’t take it lightly!
Tinnitus can have a range of causes well-known to your otorhinolaryngologist. He will take your discomfort seriously and examine you closely.
The effectiveness of any therapy for both symptons is higher if diagnosed and treated in the acute phase (4 to 6 weeks) – so see a doctor as soon as possible!
Don’t wait to see a doctor or to go to a hospital. If your symptons lasts longer than 1-2 days, a visit at the doctor’s is indispensable. The earlier treatment is started, the better are the prospects of recovery.
Can tinnitus or acute hearing loss disappear by itself?
You shouldn’t count on that! Expert opinions on the chances of cure or improvement widely differ. The president of the German tinnitus league (DTL), Elke Knör, states that the rate of spontaneous recovery is often overestimated.
Our advice
Acute hearing loss and/or tinnitus – sometimes hardly noticed and often underestimated at the beginning – should not be ignored in any case, but examined as quickly and extensively as possible and, if necessary, treated as soon as possible.
At an acute or subacute stage of the illness, the following treatment options are available:
Medication
Infusions
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
“You have to live with it“, patients are informed by their doctor at times, who maybe thinks that nothing can be done about tinnitus or that there are no more treatment options than medication or infusions.
HBO Therapy should be given a try at least when medication and infusions have not influenced the discomfort sufficiently or at all. HBO offers additional opportunities for treatment in order to avoid a later chronic impairment of your ears. However, the total treatment process should not take too long. Success is best achieved at an early stage.
Treatment options
Unfortunately, there is no method that guaranties completely cure. It is advisable to employ the different treatment options in consecutive steps. The given success rates correspond to the author’s personal experience.
Acute stage (first 3 months)
| Treatment/Method | Success rate |
|---|---|
| Mediaction stimulating the blood circulation (e.g. pills) | 25 % |
| Infusions with blood-thinning and /or blood vessel-widening medication | 40 % |
| Infusions with blood-thinning and /or blood vessel-widening medication, additionally cortisone | 50 % |
| Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) in order to achieve a 4-6 times increase of the oxygen concentration in the whole inner ear | more than 60 % |
| Combination therapy with infusions and HBO at an early stage (ca. 8 days) | 85 % and higher |
Subacute stage (3-12 months)
| Treatment/Method | Success rate |
|---|---|
| Medication (e.g. pills) | 5 % |
| Infusions | 15 % |
| Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) | 25 % |
Chronic stage
| Treatment/Method | Success rate |
|---|---|
| Tinnitus Retraining Therapy | Depending on the patient’s cooperation, up to 70 % |
| Tinnitus Control Instrument (Noiser) only | unknown |
| In-patient rehabilitation | unknown |
Worth knowing about Tinnitus
Hearing protection
is useful in noisy surroundings; if necessary, consultation of otorhinolaryngologist or acoustician for hearing aids.
Acoustic hypersensitivity (Hyperacusis)
often coincides with tinnitus. Sometimes even the ordinary noises of everyday life cause a pain in the affected person’s ears.
Treatment of acute hearing loss/tinnitus – An overview:
- cute hearing loss with or without ringing in the ears
Acoustic trauma within the inner ear
Tinnitus
| What is acute hearing loss? | The sudden, complete or partial hearing loss of one ear, seldom of both ears, is known as acute hearing loss. |
|---|---|
| What is tinnitus? | You hear sounds although an external, objective sound source is absent. Often tinnitus also occurs as a result of acute hearing loss or acoustic trauma. |
| HBO as a treatment of the inner ear: | The oxygen concentration in the nourishing liquid of the sensory cells increases 4-6 times and intensively supplies the complete inner ear including those areas that are insufficiently supplied otherwise. |
| Implementation of HBO: | Early beginning of treatment after – but also during – an unsuccessful infusion therapy. Even at the subacute stage of the illness (from the 4th month onwards), the improvemend still is possible. HBO has a different therapeutic starting point than infusion therapy. |
| Therapeutic prospects: | The earlier HBO is implemented, the better the prospects for curing. |
| Duration of treatment: | 10 – 15 sessions of 1 hour and 45 minutes daily except on sundays. |
| Aim of treatment: | Recovery or improvement of hearing capacity, relief from or diminution of ringing in the ears (tinnitus). |
| Special features: | Parallel infusion therapy under surveillance of the doctor in charge or the Center for HBO possible. Otolaryngologic examination(s) to control the success of treatment. |
