Treatment of Acute Deafness
What can the patient do?
Not much more to see as quickly as possible in case of sudden drop in hearing (compare how you hear an alarm clock or phone in one ear and in the other).
ENT is a pressing need to be addressed without further delay (less than 24 hours if possible) to have the greatest chance of recovery.
Evolution
The evolution of acute deafness is unpredictable, ranging from complete recovery to a total absence of recovery.
Recovery is always better in the low frequencies (lower). Late recovery when there has been a long time since the end of treatment. Some may occur again (relapse), in which case they are called fluctuating deafness.
Treatment of acute deafness
Treatment is empirical due to the large number of causes that can cause disease.
In addition, various working groups used different treatments. The reason we do not know the exact origin of the disease.
Corticosteroids are used to 2 g / kg / day for two weeks, plasma expanders (500 cc every eight hours) and pentoxifylline (a blister every eight hours). Income is generally recommended for patients because treatment can have serious side effects. However, it is not necessary if there is a good home health monitoring.
Other treatments can be effective include the use of hyperbaric oxygen and carbogen, vasodilators, and the blocking of a node connected to the inner ear, the stellate ganglion.
33% of patients can restore hearing, without treatment, within 6 months.
There are some data that worsen the prognosis of patients: initiation of treatment at 2 weeks after the onset of the disease, hearing loss greater than 90 decibels, age over 40 years, presence of vertigo during the disease, conditions that promote the emergence of stroke, hypertension and, ultimately, diabetes.
Forecast
The prognosis is worse in women, not yet having a clear difference between the level of recovery of young and older individuals. They are usually a good prognosis factors of hearing loss predominantly in the low frequencies, and normal hearing in one ear.
By contrast, significant hearing loss (greater than 75 dB) and the association of deafness with vertigo are of poor prognosis.
In conclusion
Although there is no evidence of the effectiveness of proposed treatments, consider acute deafness as a true emergency that requires a fast therapeutic treatment. Even if a recovery, should not neglect the investigation of the cause.