Be wary of the “tenderness” of middle-aged women

The soft voice of a young girl with bright eyes and white teeth is the desire of most young men with a longing for love; in middle age, the trials and tribulations of life often make people stronger, even if the female voice is more firm and less soft. If a middle-aged woman still has a “soft voice” as before, she should be alert to a disease: otosclerosis. Otosclerosis is an inner ear disease that affects the hearing of the population, with an incidence rate of up to 0.5% in Caucasians and a low incidence rate in the yellow race. Due to the increasing improvement in the standard of living of our people and the increasing level of treatment for this disease, the discovery of otosclerosis is gradually increasing. Patients are mainly young adults, with a prevalence of 20-40 years old and a male to female ratio of about 1:2.5. The incidence of otosclerosis is high in women, and pregnancy, childbirth and menopause can accelerate the progression of the disease. The cause of otosclerosis is still inconclusive and is related to genetics, race, metabolic disorders and endocrine disorders. There are more direct descendants of otosclerosis patients with the same disease, and about 54% have a family history. Many scholars believe that otosclerosis is an autosomal dominant disease. Patients with otosclerosis have a progressive hearing loss in both ears without any causative factors, and the hearing loss is mild at first, slow to develop, and gradually worsens. Patients often have low-pitched tinnitus, usually “booming” or “buzzing”, mostly persistent or intermittent, which can cause irritability and is more painful than deafness. Many patients have better hearing in noisy environment than in quiet environment, which is clinically referred to as Widnes hearing inversion or mishearing. Patients, especially women, often have enhanced self-hearing, with clear speech and low self-voice, showing a “gentleness” incompatible with their age. In fact, this is not a pleasant “gentleness”, but an “otosclerosis” that is damaging the hearing. Therefore, when a young adult, especially a middle-aged woman, has progressive hearing loss in both ears for no apparent reason, accompanied by tinnitus, and has difficulty communicating with others, but is particularly “gentle” when talking, please be alert and go to a hospital otolaryngology department for a specialist examination to see if she is suffering from otosclerosis. The treatment of this disease is mainly divided into surgical treatment and optional hearing aids, depending on the patient’s age, the development of the disease, the degree of deafness and other specific circumstances. The main surgical procedure is stapedectomy, after which most patients can improve their hearing significantly. For those who are not suitable or unwilling to undergo surgery, appropriate hearing aids can be fitted according to the hearing loss, which can also effectively improve the quality of life.