How to treat sensorineural deafness

  All lesions affecting the cochlea, auditory nerve and the center are considered sensorineural deafness. It is also referred to as cochlear deafness, neurological deafness, or central deafness according to the location of the lesion.  The treatment of sensorineural deafness is an important issue that is often mentioned by deaf patients and parents of deaf children, and it depends on different conditions, periods and causes.  Because the causes of sensorineural deafness are many and the mechanisms and pathological changes are not the same, there is no simple and effective drug and treatment method that can be applied to all cases. At present, it is advisable to use vasodilators, drugs that reduce blood viscosity, B vitamins, energy preparations and, if necessary, steroid hormones for a certain period of time, while excluding or treating etiologic diseases. Such vasodilators as poppy bases, heparin, 654-2, hydroergot alkaloids, dibazol, chuanxiongzine, and geranium flavonoid are taken orally or injected. Vitamin B1, B6, B12, adenosine triphosphate, coenzyme A, cytochrome C, low molecular dextrose, sodium bicarbonate, hyperbaric oxygen and other treatments. Those who are ineffective in medication can be fitted with hearing aids.  Hearing aids The most effective and successful way to treat deaf people with sensorineural deafness and deaf children is to wear hearing aids. Hearing aids are the most effective and successful way for deaf people and deaf children to develop and use their hearing and speech, so that they can be deaf but not dumb and get out of the silent world.  It is mainly composed of miniature sound transmitter, amplifier and earphone, earmould, power supply and so on. There are many types of hearing aids, including air-conduction and bone-conduction, cassette and ear-level (including spectacle, behind-the-ear and in-the-ear), monaural and binaural hearing aids for individual users, which can only be properly selected after detailed examination by otologists or audiologists. Generally speaking, people with an average hearing loss of 35-85dB in speech frequencies can use them, and those with roughly the same degree of loss in both ears can use binaural hearing aids or rotate the monaural hearing aids in both ears. If the difference in hearing loss between the two ears is large, but not more than 50 dB, it is appropriate to use the hearing aid for the poorer ear; if the hearing loss in one ear is more than 50 dB, the hearing aid should be used for the better ear. In addition, the characteristics of the hearing impairment should be considered. For example, hearing aids should be used for ears with high speech recognition, flat hearing curve, large bone and air conduction gap or wide dynamic hearing range. Both air- and bone-conduction hearing aids can be used for sensorineural deafness. Only bone-conduction hearing aids should be used for patients with narrow external auditory canal or inflammation, etc. Patients with sensorineural deafness are more likely to use air-conduction hearing aids. Hearing aids with automatic gain control or automatic vibration control device should be used for those with resonance.  Surgical treatment There are two concepts of surgical treatment, one is the surgical placement of cochlear implant: it is suitable for middle-aged and young people who are extremely deaf bilaterally and have no active lesions in the ear, and it is proved by X-ray tomography or CT examination that the inner ear structure is normal, the cochlea electrogram is unresponsive, and the brainstem response can be induced by electrical stimulation of the drum head or round window. In addition, if a hematoma or a temporal bone fracture compresses the auditory nerve and causes sensorineural deafness, surgery is also required to completely remove the lesion so that the auditory nerve is not compressed. Hearing nerve anastomosis can be performed to restore hearing.  Auditory language training is still a measure to maximize the use of residual hearing and other sensory organs to train vocal or speech abilities. The two complement each other and should not be neglected. Training should begin at preschool age. It is advisable to use various methods (sound toys, musical instruments) to awaken young children’s sense of hearing early. Develop the ability to recognize sounds in a rough way. Use methods such as blowing windmills and musical instruments to increase lung capacity, lengthen breathing, make tongue movement flexible, then use a loud and clear voice, face the deaf child for a long time and patiently teach him/her to pronounce speech word by word and sound by sound next to the ear, correct mouth shape with the help of a mirror, touch the cheeks of parents or teachers, throat abdomen, etc. to experience the relationship between vocal strength, height and weakness.