Hearing loss can be temporary in some cases. It depends on what's causing the hearing loss. If it's an outer ear or a middle ear problem, it’s more likely to be solved medically. That's anything from earwax to ear infections or bones that aren't aligned.

Often, professionals can either medically or surgically fix alignment issues. There are some neural hearing losses that you have a chance of getting back if you identify the signs soon enough, combined with some medications.

In this article, I’ll be discussing a common challenge with patients I see regularly – unilateral hearing loss or single-sided deafness (hearing loss in one ear).

An Intro to Hearing Loss

Let’s first start with some background information to deepen your understanding.

Hearing loss is anything that measures more than 20 dB threshold. So, if you can hear a sound within the first zero to 20 dB hearing level, you are considered within normal limits in each frequency and the speech range.

Do Clogged Ears Cause Unilateral Hearing Loss?

If your outer ear is full of earwax, that will block the sound from getting in. You'll feel like you're not hearing. Other outer ear infections could potentially do that as well.

Middle ear fluid, if it gathers, can block the transmission of sound from the three bones in your middle ear. This will cause you to feel like your ears are clogged.

However, we should not fear earwax. All ears produce a little bit of wax, and in some people, more than others. If one ear starts to build up or you use a lot of Q-tips, you'll create a small wall of this wax in your ear. If it does clog up or gets a lot in there, you can remove it in a couple of ways:

• Manually removed using specialized instrumentation

• Water irrigation

• Suction

Another cause of blocked ears may sound familiar.

There's a little tube that connects your middle ear to your throat. If that's not working well when you fly on an airplane, your ears will get full of air and not equalize. And you'll also feel like your ears are full, which hinders your hearing.

Can an Ear Infection Occur in One Ear?

Infections come from different sources. If one ear is functioning better than the other, or that tube isn't working well, and you get fluid buildup, one ear can be affected. It depends on what causes it. But that's mainly why the infection may not go to both sides.

Suppose you have an ear infection – we will test your hearing and see how it’s functioning. We want to see if there is any fluid or if it's red, but we probably would refer you to an ear, nose, and throat physician or your medical physician for antibiotics.

There are other ways of doing it, but mostly they'll look to see if they can treat the infection. Once the infection clears, the ear will return to a more normal state.

Ruptured Eardrum and Unilateral Hearing Loss

A significant enough rupture that creates a hole may cause some conductive hearing loss which would need to be remedied. It should be looked at regardless of if you have a ruptured eardrum.

Sometimes it just heals up on its own, but that depends on how it ruptured or why it ruptured.

Other Causes of Unilateral Hearing Loss

There's a small chance of sudden onset sensorineural hearing loss. It's not as common, but you can sit there watching football on the screen, and your ear will suddenly go out.

Sometimes that's accompanied by ringing in your ears. That's the only time that you would maybe want to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor. You usually want to do that within a week because immediate treatment is crucial to a successful outcome, especially if the other ear is fine.

Concerned About Hearing Loss in One Ear?

My advice is to always follow up with a professional. It's vital to address your challenges within the first week because the ability to get better reduces significantly after that.

If you have wax in your ears or it's a gradual buildup, you can go to your primary care doctor or your ear, nose, and throat doctor, or come to us, and we can assess your hearing. If it's wax, we may be able to remove it for you and solve the problem.

We’ll also be able to sort and diagnose what the hearing loss looks like, and then you can take that report with you to the physician.

Partner with Experts in Virginia and Maryland

If unilateral hearing loss goes untreated, you won't have the same direction-finding abilities you do when you have both ears working together.

It becomes challenging to understand speech and language in a noisy setting because your reference points are off base.

That's why you want to take care of it. It's not something you want to let sit.

For more information or to schedule a comprehensive hearing assessment with one of our experts, please click here. We are always standing by to help everyone at all our locations in the Washington, D.C. area.