How many times, in front of a person to whom we have repeated the same thing two or three times, we exclaim: “Are you deaf ?!”. We think it happened a little to everyone. Sometimes even when we have dealt with younger children or adults who are just over 30 years old. Assuming the problem wasn’t hearing, but rather a lack of attention to what we were saying. On the other hand, at times, this is not the case and those who may not hear, out of shame, hide behind inattention to hide a problem. If we think of those with hearing-related diseases, even looking at the various advertisements for hearing aids, the elderly often come to mind. This probably greatly inhibits those young people who have a problem but don’t want to recognize it.
Sometimes accompanied by dizziness, other times by instability, this pathology nevertheless has precise symptoms, as we will see shortly. It is not accompanied by pain and affects more often in an age group between 30 and 40 years, compared to a higher one. It is called otosclerosis and it is a progressive loss of hearing, certainly not immediate, but it gets worse with the passage of time, if neglected and not treated.
Vertigo, balance problems and hearing loss could be the symptoms of this painless pathology that creates many problems for over 30s
In addition to deafness, which is the main symptom, another problem that can be traced back to this pathology is the presence of tinnitus. They are commonly referred to as “ringing in the ear” and are very annoying noises that, unfortunately, do not yet have a certain remedy. In fact, despite numerous studies, science has not only not found the solution, but not even what they are caused by. As we said earlier, the symptoms to pay more attention to are dizziness and a sense of instability. It must be said that they are quite rare, but, as they may be signs of other far more serious pathologies, they are often the ones that cause you to worry the most.
Diagnosis and treatment
If we present even one of these problems, we must immediately contact an ENT who, through an audiometric examination, will eventually be able to detect this disease. It is not directly hereditary, but it can also be transmitted over generations. This can mean that if a grandfather was affected, he may not have passed it on to his son, but instead passed it on to his grandson.
Unfortunately, there is no other cure than surgery. Often to replace a small bone in the ear, called a stirrup. The operation is called stapedotomy. This can be bilateral, if it affects both ears and lateral if, but it is rarer, it affects only one. With surgery, hearing is recovered entirely and today it is a rather common operation, albeit always delicate. Hence, dizziness, balance problems and hearing loss could indicate the presence of otosclerosis. A pathology not to be underestimated and not to be ashamed of, even if it affects an age group that has always been considered young and strong.