Deafness

Hearing impairment/deafness is one of the most common reasons for consultation with an ear, nose and throat specialist. Hearing impairment can be caused by problems dealing with mechanical conduction of sound from the environment to the inner ear (conductive deafness) or by problems with the inner ear and nerve conduction of sound to the brain (sensorineural deafness).

Common causes of conductive deafness include wax occlusion, ear drum perforation, glue ear, otosclerosis and cholesteatoma.

Common causes of sensorineural deafness include age associated hearing loss (presbyacusis), noise induced hearing loss and sudden sensorineural hearing loss. 

We are able to evaluate the cause, and degree of your hearing loss through clinical examination including otoscopy and audiological testing including pure tune audiometry and tympanometry. 

Occasionally further tests including CT and MRI scanning may be indicated.