Hearing loss

Category: Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat · All head & senses symptoms

What it can feel like

Hearing loss means sounds seem muffled, distant or unclear — asking people to repeat themselves, turning the television up, struggling in background noise. It may affect one ear or both, arrive gradually over years or suddenly over hours, and the pattern separates simple wax from emergencies.

Possible causes

A symptom can have many causes, and most are not serious. The lists below group conditions this symptom can be associated with — common causes first. They are possibilities to discuss with a clinician, not a diagnosis.

Common causes

Gradual hearing loss can be associated with ageing of the inner ear, wax build-up, repeated noise exposure, fluid behind the eardrum and middle-ear infections.

Other possible causes

Sudden hearing loss in one ear over less than three days can be associated with viral inner-ear inflammation and needs urgent assessment, because early steroid treatment improves recovery. One-sided gradual loss can occasionally come from a growth on the hearing nerve.

Red flags — when to seek help promptly

Sudden hearing loss in one or both ears — assess the same day
Hearing loss with severe dizziness, vomiting or facial weakness
Hearing loss after a head injury, or with discharge or bleeding from the ear
One-sided hearing loss with persistent one-sided tinnitus

What a clinician may do

A clinician will inspect the ear canals and eardrums, remove wax if that is the cause, and arrange a formal hearing test (audiogram). Sudden losses are referred urgently to ENT; one-sided or asymmetric losses may need an MRI scan of the hearing nerve.

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Frequently asked questions

Why is sudden hearing loss an emergency but gradual loss is not?

The inner ear's nerve can sometimes be rescued if treated within days, so sudden loss is triaged like a stroke of the ear. Gradual loss is investigated routinely — usually it is age-related change or wax, both manageable but not time-critical.

How can I tell if it is just wax?

Wax blockage often follows swimming, showering or cotton-bud use and may fluctuate. But wax and inner-ear problems can feel identical — the only reliable way is to look in the ear, which is why assessment precedes syringing or microsuction.

Related symptoms — Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat

Bad breath (halitosis)Bleeding gums Blocked ear feeling Blocked or runny nose Blurred vision Difficulty swallowing

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Please note: This page is educational information about a symptom. A symptom alone cannot diagnose any condition, and the causes listed here are possibilities, not a diagnosis. If you are worried about a symptom — especially one that is new, severe, getting worse or not going away — please see your own clinician, who can examine you and arrange tests. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.