Deafness, tinnitus, dizziness. Watch out for acoustic neuroma.

Deafness is the most common symptom in patients with acoustic neuroma, with about 90% of patients presenting with deafness. Deafness in this disease is usually characterized by symptoms that last from several months to several years. In some cases, the hearing loss is not obvious, and the patient can hear the other person’s voice when talking, but cannot understand the other person’s speech (i.e., hears the voice but does not understand the meaning). In addition, some patients have sudden hearing loss. Most patients with acoustic neuroma have tinnitus. Tinnitus often occurs before the hearing loss, or it may start at the same time, and it is one-sided, with varying pitches, and is progressively increasing in intensity. It can be “siren sound, cicada sound, whistle sound”, etc., and can gradually change from intermittent to persistent. Some patients with acoustic neuroma may suffer from vertigo. A feeling of floating and unsteadiness is common. There are also patients who have no or only slight symptoms of balance disorder. It can be seen that the early symptoms of acoustic neuroma are only deafness, tinnitus and vertigo, which are easy to be ignored by patients. Patients with these symptoms should seek medical attention in time to avoid delay in treatment.