Danny's Story
This is my younger brother Danny. When he was a year and a half old, Danny had his first set of tubes, which are put into the ears of people who have repeat ear infections. After his fifth set in 3 years, my parents went to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist to do further testing, because he was beginning to complain that he couldn't hear very well out of his left ear. When Danny was four, his ENT diagnosed him with Otosclerosis. At that point, after several auditory tests, they determined he had about 25% left of his hearing in his left ear, and about 55% in his right ear. To avoid more permanent damage, a Stapedectomy was done, which is basically reconstructive surgery of the inner ear. The picture above was about 4 hours after his first surgery on his left ear, when he was in recovery and still loopy from the anesthesia. The picture below is a Christmas picture about a year after his second surgery on his right ear. After recent auditory tests, Danny's hearing has been restored to 80% in his left ear, and 95% in his right ear.
What is Otosclerosis?
Otosclerosis is an abnormal bone growth in the middle ear that causes hearing loss. The cause is unknown, but researchers think that genetics may be a factor. This abnormal bone growth causes the innermost bone of the ear, the stapes, to adhere to the opening of the inner ear, preventing the stapes from vibrating properly and disrupting the transmission of sound to the inner ear.
Symptoms
· Hearing loss may occur slowly at first but progresses rapidly as a person ages.
· Ringing in the ears, also called tinnitus, may occur.
· Patients may hear better in noisy environments rather than quiet ones.
· If untreated, patients could develop complete deafness or nerve damage.
· Ringing in the ears, also called tinnitus, may occur.
· Patients may hear better in noisy environments rather than quiet ones.
· If untreated, patients could develop complete deafness or nerve damage.
Treatments
- The most common treatment of otosclerosis is a Stapedectomy, a surgical procedure in which the stapes is removed and replaced with a prosthesis, which is a plastic tube surrounded by a stainless steel wire. It is performed to improve the movement of sound to the inner ear. This improves hearing in more than 95% of cases.
- Medications such as oral fluoride, calcium, or vitamin D may help to control the hearing loss, but the benefits have not yet been proved.
- A hearing aid may be used to treat the hearing loss. This will not cure or prevent hearing loss from getting worse, but may help relieve some of the symptoms.