About a month ago I noticed my daughter seemed to have a hard time hearing me. I've had to repeat myself a lot and she says "what?" or "huh?" when I say things. When I mentioned something to her daycare provider (before and after school - she is also in kindergarten), she began to notice the same thing. I brought her to the doctor today and her ears looked clear of wax and no fluid, but she scored "abnormal" in both ears on the hearing test and the doctor recommended a ENT doctor for further evaluation. Has anyone had experience with sudden hearing issues? She is 5 (almost 6) and scored perfect on her earring test when she was 4.
My husband is worried that it could be a brain tumor (I'm trying not to think the worst possible situation). When he went to an ENT for his hearing loss, the doctor said there is only 2 reasons for sudden hearing loss - infection or something in the brain. This was several years ago and he never went back for the MRI to figure out what his problem is. He believes his hearing loss is from the guns when he was in the military.
Thank you for your answers. I have made an appointment for my DD with an audiologist for Monday. I also made one for my husband on Feb 7th. I hope to have some answers soon.
I just did this quick MayoClinic search for you. This is where I go for any medical questions :)
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hearing-loss/DS00172/DSE...
Hopefully you aren't using q-tips in the ears.
My nephew has 50% hearing loss in one ear, he did not have a tumor. Try not to worry or stress until you have something to stress about! and your SO needs to go in for that MRI. My SO could have just assumed it was the air craft and gun noise from being military, but than they would not have found the large tumor growing in his head. Most often these tumors are Acoustic neuromas which are slow growing and non cancerous, but that need to be removed to avoid damage. My SO's had been growing for what they think was the last 12 years, and so they had to remove the nerve along with the tumor, making him deaf in one ear. Caught earlier they can often be completely removed with no hearing loss and they rarely grow back. Take your child to the ENT, and insist your husband gets that MRI, because if it is a tumor the earlier they catch it the more likely he is to have a positive outcome. Best of luck to you all.
SUDDEN hearing loss;
- damage/injury
- infection
- neurological problem
But there are hundreds of reasons for gradual hearing loss (yeah, most military types lose some to a lot of their hearing. Weapons fire, engines, concussives... none are quiet.)
If your husband also has hearing loss it could be a hereditary issue. I hate to disagree with a Dr. but there are more reasons for hearing loss that the 2 they gave. A friend of mine was diagnosed with hearing loss - don't know the technical term - but it's akin to macular degeneration - it will get worse with time. The Dr. asked if anyone in her family had hearing problems and her father did - got a little worse each year. TRY to be optimistic (I KNOW it's so hard when they are talking about your baby but hopefully it's an infection and an antibiotic will clear it up.
There can be many reasons for hearing loss. It could be that your daughter's hearing has been declining gradually for quite a while and isn't as sudden as you think. when my son was 3, his preschool teacher actually suggested that he may have a learning disability because when they called on him in circle time he would give the same answer as the kid next to him and couldn't give an original answer. We didn't find out that he couldn't hear much of anything for another year. Turns out he compensated by repeating what he could hear, those close to him. I thought he heard just fine and I was very wrong. It seemed sudden to us, but really wasn't. He had been having chronic ear infections, that we also didn't know about, and they had destroyed his hearing. His ped somehow missed the infections also. He got his hearing back after his adenoids were removed. He always fails the standard hearing test because he doesn't remember to raise his hand with the beeps. Took him to an audiologist experienced with kids and he did fine.
My husband lost most of his hearing when he was 5. His kindergarten teacher noticed it. The only thing they could come up with as a cause was a month before it was noticed he had a stomach virus with a very high fever. They think the high fever somehow contributed to the hearing loss. His hearing loss has gotten worse through the years and he wears a hearing aid in each ear.
Your daughter could have experienced loud noise that destroyed the nerves, she could have stuck a q tip up there, it could be an auditory processing issue. I would check with an ENT or audiologist. Honestly, I would never have even thought of a tumor and think it is highly unlikely.
There are many people born with a mild hearing loss and is barely noticable. Sometimes that can turn into a progressive hearing loss. My son is deaf and had a progressive hearing loss. There are many families that have been in similar situations as your in and this has been the case. It was so mild in the beginning that it just wasn't detected on the tests. There is so much depth to hearing loss. I wouldn't sell yourself just yet on a serious health condition attributing to a hearing loss. There could be a genetic line somewhere that has skipped generations.
Your husband should go and get tested. There could be something else that is genetic that causes this. I would absolutely do what the doc suggested and get her to an ENT. They can do a more in depth test and narrow things down. Be patient sometimes it takes time to get to the bottom of things. Good luck!
