Significantly poorer hearing in one ear than the other may be associated with cerumen impaction, secretory otitis media and noise deafness. General treatment, medication and surgery should be chosen according to the cause and degree of the disease.
1. Cerumen impaction: When one ear canal is blocked by cerumen, it can form a closed cavity outside the tympanic membrane, which reduces the efficiency of sound wave conduction, resulting in unilateral hearing loss. Cerumen can be removed by a specialist through professional instruments or flushed out with saline after sufficiently softening the cerumen with 3% sodium bicarbonate ear drops.
2. Secretory otitis media: This disease is mostly caused by infection, allergy and Eustachian tube dysfunction, etc. The above symptoms appear when unilateral negative pressure and fluid accumulation in the middle ear occurs. Symptoms can be improved by actively treating the primary underlying disease, such as applying antibiotics such as amoxicillin, short-term use of glucocorticoids such as prednisone, and nasal spraying of decongestants such as hydroxymetazoline.
If conservative treatment is not effective, surgical treatment such as tympanocentesis or tympanotomy is also feasible. Nasopharyngeal examination should be perfected to be alert to the possibility of nasopharyngeal cancer.
3. Noise deafness: this disease can be caused by noise damage, resulting in the destruction of inner ear hair cells and sensorineural deafness. Short-term mild hearing loss can be treated by eliminating irritating factors and selectively using tube expanders such as betahistine and glucocorticoids such as methylprednisolone. Some people who are not well treated conservatively may wear hearing aids to assist in improving hearing.
When the hearing in one ear is significantly worse than the other, it is necessary to actively seek medical treatment, systematic examination to clarify the diagnosis, and then follow the doctor’s instructions for targeted diagnosis and treatment.