Hearing loss is the loss of 30 decibels or more of hearing. Hearing loss isn’t common for people with MS, but it can happen. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, about 6 percent of people with MS have hearing loss.
Your inner ear converts sound vibrations on the eardrum into electrical signals, which are carried to the brain via the auditory nerve. Your brain then decodes these signals into the sounds you recognize.
Hearing loss could be a sign of MS. Lesions can form on the auditory nerve. This disturbs the nerve pathways that help your brain transmit and understand sound. Lesions may also form on the brain stem, which is the part of the brain involved in hearing and balance.
Hearing loss can be an early sign of MS. It can also be a sign that you’re having a relapse or flare of symptoms if you have had transient hearing loss in the past.
Most hearing loss is temporary and improves when a relapse has subsided. It’s very rare for MS to cause deafness.
SNHL makes soft sounds hard to hear and loud sounds unclear. It’s the most common type of permanent hearing loss. Damage to the nerve pathways between your inner ear and your brain can cause SNHL.
This type of hearing loss is much more common in people with MS than other forms of hearing loss.
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Sudden hearing loss
Sudden hearing loss is a type of SNHL where you lose 30 decibels or more of hearing over a period of a few hours to 3 days. This makes normal conversations sound like whispers.
Research suggests that 92 percent of people with MS and sudden SNHL are in the early stages of MS. Rapid hearing loss can also be a sign of an MS relapse.
Usually, hearing loss in MS affects one ear only. Less often, people lose hearing in both ears.
It’s also possible to lose hearing in one ear first and then in the other. If this occurs, your healthcare provider may evaluate you for other diseases that could look like MS.
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