Deafness Treatments

Treatment

Treatment for deafness depends on the type of hearing loss. Options may include:

• Medical treatment—for example, removal of earwax or use of antibiotics to treat an ear infection
• In selected cases of sudden hearing loss, medical treatment with Intratympanic steroids may be effective.
• Hearing aids—small devices that are worn in or behind the ear to help amplify sounds
• Surgery—in some cases, surgery may be recommended to help improve hearing; types of surgery include:
  • Stapedectomy—for treatment of otosclerosis
  • Tympanoplasty —for a perforated eardrum
  • Tympanoplasty tubes—for persistent middle ear infections or fluid
• Cochlear implant —a surgically implanted electronic device that helps provide sound to a person with severe sensorineural hearing loss (although the devices do not completely restore hearing, improvements in implant technology continue to be made)