▪ Bulletin Board Every year, March 3 is National Ear Day, and Chen Chongxue, director of the Department of Otolaryngology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Tsinghua University, said that more and more young people are coming to the clinic with sudden deafness caused by excessive stress, staying up late, and straining to run around. “Previously, sudden deafness occurred mostly in people over 50 years old, but now the youngest patient I see for sudden deafness is 13 years old.” Chen Chongxue said that deafness in the elderly is caused by vascular atherosclerosis and small blood clots, while sudden deafness in young people is due to vasoconstriction spasms resulting in insufficient blood supply to the cochlea. The chance of sudden deafness is higher in poor health “people who stay up late will consume a lot of oxygen, the body will release vasoconstrictors, vasoconstrictors will raise blood pressure, resulting in insufficient blood supply to the cochlea, hearing hair cell function will therefore be low, especially if the hearing hair cells are not well oxygenated, hearing will immediately decline.” Chen Chongxue said the incidence of sudden deafness is higher in people with poor physical fitness. ”Sudden deafness has no aura and has nothing to do with viral infection, nothing to do with endolymphatic edema, rupture of the vagus membrane, etc., but with the brittle function of blood vessels.” Chen Chongxue said that unlike other deafness, sudden deafness is a form of neurological deafness. “While colds and long airplane rides can cause blockage of the eustachian tube, resulting in middle ear problems, sudden deafness is a problem in the inner ear, caused by intracranial nerve spasms.” Chen Chongxue said. The best time for treatment is within one week of deafness Based on the patient’s main report and audiometric examination, the doctor will determine whether it is inductive or conductive deafness, or neurological deafness. “If the occurrence of tinnitus and hearing loss occurs in a very short period of time, it is mostly vasospasm. Sudden deafness in young people in general gets better quickly if it is rescued and treated promptly. The best time for effective treatment is within a week of the onset of sudden deafness. Regardless of which type of deafness, treatment after one month of deafness has little chance of basic cure.” Chen Chongxue said, but the reality is that few people seek medical attention within a week of the onset of deafness. “Patients with sudden deafness, if they come to the hospital on the second or third day of deafness, they can basically return to normal through medication and infusion for three to five days after the diagnosis is confirmed by examination. However, if you don’t change your previous lifestyle, overwork or stress, it is likely that you will have a relapse again.”