middle-ear deafness
A doctor uses a model of the ear to explain middle-ear deafness to a patient.
Noun A type of hearing impairment (hearing loss) caused by problems or disorders affecting the structures within the middle ear. This condition, also known as conductive hearing loss, involves a blockage or reduction in the transmission of sound waves from the outer ear to the inner ear.
This is a medical term used to describe a specific category of hearing loss. * The audiologist diagnosed the patient's condition as middle-ear deafness, likely resulting from chronic otitis media. * Unlike sensorineural loss, middle-ear deafness often involves issues with the eardrum or the ossicles (the tiny bones in the ear). * Treatment for middle-ear deafness may include medication, surgery, or hearing aids, depending on the cause.
- Middle-ear deafness is contrasted with , which originates in the inner ear or auditory nerve. The key distinction is that middle-ear deafness is typically a problem.
- In audiology reports, it is often part of a differential diagnosis: "The patient presents with unilateral hearing loss; pure-tone audiometry suggests middle-ear deafness."
- Conductive Hearing Loss: The more common clinical synonym for middle-ear deafness.
- Otosclerosis: A specific disease causing middle-ear deafness due to abnormal bone growth around the stapes bone.
- Tympanoplasty: A surgical procedure often performed to correct issues leading to middle-ear deafness.
- Conductive hearing loss
- Conductive deafness
- Transmission hearing loss
- Sensorineural deafness
- Nerve deafness
- Perceptive hearing loss
- Middle-ear effusion: A buildup of fluid in the middle ear, a common cause of temporary middle-ear deafness, especially in children.
- Ossicular chain discontinuity: A break in the connection of the middle ear bones, a direct cause of middle-ear deafness.
- Air-bone gap: A key audiometric finding indicative of middle-ear deafness, where hearing is better via bone conduction than air conduction.
A doctor uses a model of the ear to explain middle-ear deafness to a patient.
- hearing loss due to problems with the bones of the middle ear