Hearing Loss

CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC MANUAL

Hearing loss is a condition where a person experiences a partial or complete inability to hear in one or both ears. This loss can be sudden or progressive and can affect both adults and children. Hearing is vital for communication and environmental awareness, and its loss can significantly impact quality of life.

Hearing loss is classified into two main types: conductive hearing loss, which involves problems in sound transmission from the outer or middle ear, and sensorineural hearing loss, which results from damage to the inner ear or the nerve pathways that carry sound to the brain.

Condition	Clinical Symptoms and Signs	Suspected Diagnosis	Confirmatory Diagnosis
Conductive hearing loss (8th cranial nerve)	Difficulty hearing soft sounds, sensation of blocked ears, better hearing in noisy environments	Clinical history, otoscopy, bone and air conduction tests	Audiometry, tympanometry, Rinne and Weber tests
Sensorineural hearing loss (8th cranial nerve)	Difficulty hearing soft and high-pitched sounds, sound distortion, tinnitus, difficulty understanding speech	Clinical history, hearing tests, neurological exam	Audiometry, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head