
Hearing loss - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
Mar 30, 2023 · In the outer or middle ear, any of these can cause hearing loss. Ruptured eardrum, also known as tympanic membrane perforation. Loud blasts of noise, sudden changes in pressure, poking an eardrum with an object and infection can cause the eardrum to burst.
Hearing loss - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic
Mar 30, 2023 · Tests to diagnose hearing loss may include: Physical exam. A health care provider looks in your ear for possible causes of your hearing loss, such as earwax or an infection. The way your ear is formed might cause hearing problems, as well. Screening tests.
Meniere's disease - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
Jan 3, 2024 · Meniere's disease is an inner ear problem that can cause dizzy spells, also called vertigo, and hearing loss. Most of the time, Meniere's disease affects only one ear. Meniere's disease can happen at any age.
How you hear - Mayo Clinic
Feb 25, 2025 · Sound vibrations from the bones of the middle ear transfer to the fluids of the cochlea. Tiny sensors lining the cochlea, called hair cells, turn the vibrations into electrical impulses. The impulses go along the auditory nerve to the brain. This is where damage and hearing loss due to age, loud noises or medicine begin.
Ear infection (middle ear) - Symptoms & causes - Mayo Clinic
Apr 8, 2025 · Mild hearing loss is common with an ear infection. But hearing usually gets better after the infection clears. Ear infections that happen again and again or constant fluid in the middle ear can cause worse hearing loss.
Acoustic neuroma - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
Jun 20, 2023 · Pressure from an acoustic neuroma can cause hearing loss, ringing in the ear and problems with balance. Another name for an acoustic neuroma is vestibular schwannoma. An acoustic neuroma develops from the Schwann cells covering the vestibular nerve.
Tinnitus - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
Nov 30, 2022 · Hearing loss. There are tiny, delicate hair cells in your inner ear (cochlea) that move when your ear receives sound waves. This movement triggers electrical signals along the nerve from your ear to your brain (auditory nerve). Your brain interprets these signals as sound.
Balance problems - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
Jun 18, 2020 · You might experience dizziness or loss of balance, but the most common symptoms are hearing loss and ringing in your ear. Acoustic neuroma is a rare condition. Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
Cochlear implants - Mayo Clinic
Apr 26, 2024 · Cochlear implants can improve hearing in people with severe hearing loss when hearing aids no longer help. Cochlear implants can help them talk and listen and improve the quality of their lives. Cochlear implants may be put in one ear, called unilateral.
Ruptured eardrum (perforated eardrum) - Symptoms & causes
Jan 18, 2022 · A ruptured eardrum (tympanic membrane perforation) is a hole or tear in the thin tissue that separates the ear canal from the middle ear (eardrum). A ruptured eardrum can result in hearing loss. It can also make the middle ear vulnerable to infections.