Have you been struggling to hear everyday noises like the phone or doorbell ringing, or avoiding crowded environments because you need to constantly ask for repetition?
You may be dealing with mixed hearing loss. As the name suggests, this is a mixture of two different types of hearing loss: conductive hearing loss, which occurs in the outer or middle ear, and sensorineural hearing loss, happening in the middle ear.
Conductive and sensorineural hearing loss are caused by different factors, but when brought together, they can cause frustrating hearing loss that begins to challenge your day-to-day life.
No matter your hearing loss concerns, you can feel confident that our team will be ready and willing to help address your hearing challenges with personalized hearing care. For mixed hearing loss, we’ll work with you to develop the best treatment plan for your specific needs.
Millions of people deal with mixed hearing loss each year—you’re not alone.
What Are Common Causes of Mixed Hearing Loss?
Because mixed hearing loss is due to two different kinds of hearing loss, causes include the many different causes of sensorineural and conductive hearing loss.
Common causes of sensorineural hearing loss include:
- Aging
- Loud noise exposure
- Genetic predisposition to develop hearing loss
- Ototoxic medications
- Viral infections
- Head trauma
While common causes of conductive hearing loss include:
- Frequent infections, like swimmer’s ear
- Fluid buildup in the middle ear
- Conflicts in the ear anatomy, like a hole in the eardrum or genetic issues with the development of your ear canal
- A malfunctioning Eustachian tube
- Blockages in the ear, like earwax or foreign objects
If you’re dealing with two or more of the above causes, for example you feel fluid buildup in your ear after a viral infection, you may be dealing with mixed hearing loss. If you only have one cause from either list, chances are that you don’t have mixed hearing loss, but conductive or sensorineural.
What Are the Symptoms of Mixed Hearing Loss?
Symptoms of mixed hearing loss are similar to those of conductive or sensorineural; what helps push diagnosis and treatment is the presence of two or more causes of both types.
If you are unable to hear soft noises or other everyday sounds, find that you stare at people to read their lips and body language to fully understand what they’re saying, have begun avoiding crowded social events, or need to ask for constant repetition from people, you might have mixed hearing loss.
How Do You Treat Mixed Hearing Loss?
The best way to diagnose mixed hearing loss is to get your hearing tested. With a comprehensive hearing assessment, you’ll learn the current range that you can hear at and what you need to do to optimize it.
Treatment varies from patient to patient; typically, treating conductive hearing loss comes first, as it’s often reversible and quickly treatable with surgical intervention, depending on what’s going on.
Sensorineural hearing loss is often irreversible, but it is treatable with hearing aids or cochlear implants, depending on the severity of your hearing loss.
Our team at Hear in Texas would be happy to help you address your mixed hearing loss concerns. Please feel free to request a callback or call us at (830) 360-2000 if you’d like to chat with a member of our team about your questions or concerns.
