The complexity of a hearing loss stretches from genetic hearing loss to hearing loss caused by damage. Although you may receive a diagnosis very similar to someone else, the details of your diagnosis, and the fact that everybody is different, means that the way the diagnosis manifests in symptoms and healing/worsening varies drastically. Only by understanding the complex language that specialist doctors use can sufferers be empowered to make the right choices.
If you have been diagnosed with hearing loss, it's important to know that the you can still live a largely normal, high quality of life. In most situations, maintaing your quality of life with hearing loss calls for treatment and, most often, hearing aids. In order to help you determine if hearing aids may be the right choice for you, we're discussing various types of hearing loss, one of which is syndromic hearing loss.
What Is Syndromic Hearing Loss?
Syndromic hearing loss usually relates to a genetically inherited hearing loss condition. In most cases, this hearing loss is a result of another health problem or condition not directly related to the ear. There are likely to be other symptoms throughout the body. These symptoms often point to a condition that, as a by-product, causes hearing loss.
What category does your hearing loss fall under? To learn more, read our blog post that explores The The Three Main Classifications of Hearing Loss.
How Is Syndromic Hearing Loss Diagnosed?
As syndromic hearing loss is hearing loss caused by other conditions, your doctor will need to conduct a holistic assessment of your body in order to diagnosis the cause. In many case, sensorineural hearing loss (hearing loss caused by damage in the ear) is first caused by another condition as well.
First, doctors will check the common conditions associated with syndromic hearing loss. This may include:
- an eye examination
- an integumentary examination (the skin)
- a cardiac assessment
- a renal assessment (the kidneys)
- a dental examination
- a metabolic assessment
- a study of any chromosomal (genetic) abnormalities
- a study of neurological abnormalities or in the skull or face
- skeletal examinations
A possible sufferer of syndromic hearing loss is not likely to go through all of these diagnoses tests. Instead, an obvious symptom is likely to lead the doctor to conduct a related assessment.
Could your hearing loss be genetic? It's possible. Find out more about inherited hearing loss by reading our blog post Understanding Genetic Hearing Loss.
Why Is It Important to Understand Syndromic Hearing Loss?
Most genetically inherited hearing loss diagnoses are usually non-syndromic. This means that, in most cases, hearing loss occurs as a direct result of damage in the ear. While non-syndromic hearing loss is more common, syndromic hearing loss still occurs and often requires slightly different treatment.
Our goal is not to replace the advice of any doctor, but for your convenience and understanding, here several of the most common treatments for syndromic hearing loss:
- Medical therapy
- Assistive devices
- Amplification
For some patients, medical therapy can be used to treat syndromic hearing loss, particularly those experiencing hearing loss due to a middle ear disease, like otitis media (also called a middle ear infection). For those whom medical therapy does not apply, assistive devices, from a closed-captioning on the television to your telephone, can be helpful.
Perhaps most importantly, however, is amplification. Designed to amplify the hearing you have left, hearing aids may be an option for treating syndromic hearing loss as well. To find out if hearing aids would help to improve your hearing, visit your local ear, nose, and throat doctor to get a hearing test. The resulting audiogram will reveal your level of hearing loss and aid in helping you to select the ideal hearing aid.
Where Can You Find Reasonably Priced Hearing Aids?
If you've already visited your local hearing provider, maybe even had a hearing test, you may already know how expensive hearing aids can be: They can cost thousands of dollars. However, if you have a common hearing loss, you don't need those over-the-top hearing aids your audiologist is trying to sell you.
Instead, consider purchasing hearing aids from Advanced Affordable Hearing. Our mission is to help people to hear better at a price you can afford. To keep our prices low, we offer hearing aids pre-programmed to the most common hearing losses. To see if our hearing aids will work for you, contact us today.