Hearing Loss In Teens – Causes, Signs, And Treatment

Is your teen unable to respond to your shouts? Does she have a sensation of full ears? Does she complain of ringing in the ear? If you answered yes, then you should consider reading this post. Your teenage daughter might be suffering from hearing disorder or hearing loss. It is important you seek immediate medical aid for her condition. Read on to learn all about hearing loss and how it affects teens.

Hearing Loss In Teens:

Today, hearing loss is on the rise among teens. It occurs when the inner ear is affected or damaged substantially. Exposure to extremely loud noise for prolonged times can trigger hearing loss. If you don’t treat hearing disorders in time, the condition can worsen and lead to permanent hearing loss. So it is important to have knowledge about hearing loss in teens.

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Causes Of Hearing Loss In Teens:

Hearing loss in the teenagers can occur due to various reasons. Sensorineural hearing impairment occurs due to the damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve (1). Some other causes of hearing loss include:

1. Injuries To Head Or Ears:

Injuries to the ear or skull fractures can lead to hearing loss in the teens.

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2. Infections:

Certain health conditions, like mumps, chickenpox, repeated ear infections, brain tumors, and measles, can prove harmful to the inner ear and result in teen hearing loss.

3. Medications:

Certain medications can result in the hearing loss in the teens, like antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs.

4. Loud Noise:

Exposure to high noise levels for a long time span or a sudden loud noise can result in permanent damage to sensitive cells in the cochlea, the spiral cavity of the inner ear. High sounds can have adverse effects on the inner ear’s efficiency to transmit the sounds and lead to teenage hearing loss.

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Symptoms Of Hearing Loss In Teens:

Here are some prominent signs of hearing loss in teenagers.

1. Loss of hearing sensation in the teen. Initially, your teen will lose sensation to high-pitched sounds and gradually to lower pitched sounds.

2. Temporary or permanent ringing in your teens ears.

3. Difficulty in listening to a conversation, particularly when other individuals speak.

4. A sense of fullness in the ears.

5. Sounds, voices, and other noises are distorted (2)

Treating Hearing Loss In Teens:

Modern medical science boasts of certain treatments that help teens overcome hearing loss. A hearing aid or cochlear implant is highly effective and enables your teen to hear and communicate. It amplifies the sounds electronically and improves her hearing ability. A cochlear implant easily translates various sounds to electrical signals and carries it to the brain. Today, a variety of small hearing aids are easily available. Small hearing aids are hardly visible, and if your teen does not like other girls picking on her, you can order the smaller ones. (3)

Preventing Hearing Loss In Teens:

The prevention of hearing loss in teens is a two-way process. Educate your teen about how to prevent hearing loss. Here we list some basic tips to avoid hearing loss:

1. Ask your teen to wear protective earmuffs or earplugs if she has to contend with a loud environment. Avoid using cotton swabs or other foreign bodies and use proper ear muffs.

2. Ask her to wear protective helmets while riding a bicycle and wear a seatbelt to minimize the risk of head injuries.

3. Educate her about the dangers of continuously listening to loud music.

4. Don’t give her any medications before consulting a doctor first. (4)

We hope you found our post useful. Do you have any experiences to share? Tell us about them below.

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