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A Simple Guide to Deafness and Related Ear Diseases
A Simple Guide to Deafness and Related Ear Diseases
A Simple Guide to Deafness and Related Ear Diseases
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A Simple Guide to Deafness and Related Ear Diseases

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What is Deafness?

Deafness is the inability to hear.

What are the causes of Deafness?

The causes of Deafness are:

A. Conductive hearing loss

Here sound waves cannot be transmitted from the external environment to the cochlea.
The problem may lie in

1. the external ear canal

a. obstruction caused by wax

b. obstruction caused by foreign body

c. obstruction caused by infection (otitis externa)

d. obstruction caused by ear polyps

2. eardrum

a. perforation caused by trauma

b. perforation caused by infection

c. scarred eardrum from injury or infection

3. middle ear bones

a. dislocation of the bones from injury or infection

b. damage to the bones from injury or infection

c. fixed bones or osteosclerosis (hardening of the bones from aging)

4. middle ear infection

infection of the middle ear occurs with fluid in the middle ear cavity preventing sound from passing through

B. Sensorineural Hearing Loss

a. damage to hearing organ or cochlea which send nerve impulse to the hearing nerve and on to the brain

b. damage to the hearing nerve (auditory nerve)from loud sounds, infection or injury

Common causes of hearing loss are:
1. aging (presbycusis)

2, acute or chronic exposure to loud noise can cause damage to sensory cells of cochlea

3. infection of the inner ear by viruses and bacteria such as mumps, measles or influenza

4. Meniere's disease - a disease with tinnitus, deafness and dizziness

5. Acoustic neuroma - tumor of the vestibular nerve which lies near to the auditory nerve and affects its function

6. Ototoxic drugs which can damage the nerves involved in hearing or sensory cells in the cochlea such as:

a. antibiotics especially gentamycin and vancomycin

b. diuretics such as frusemide

c. chemotherapy drugs

What are the symptoms of Deafness?

1. Deafness is a lack of hearing.

The hearing loss is gradual or sudden and can affect one or both ears.

There is difficulty in holding a normal conversation in a noisy environment.

People may complain the affected person does not respond when called or speak louder than usual

2. tinnitus (ringing in the ear) may be present

3. vertigo (spinning sensation) may be associated with it

4. pain and discharge from ear is associated with ear infections

How is Deafness diagnosed?

Diagnosis:

1. complete history, ENT examination

2. examination of ear canal and eardrum

3. endoscopy examination of nose and nasopharynx

4. neurological examination

5. hearing test (audiogram) can confirm the presence and severity and type of hearing loss

6. Tympanogram may be performed to detect problems of eardrum and middle ear.

7. X-rays, CT scan or MRI may used to exclude acoustic neuroma or brain tumors.

What is the treatment of Deafness?

Treatment

Medical treatment depends on the underlying problem.

1. Removal of wax and foreign body in the ear

Ear polyps can be dissolved away with medicines.

2. Antibiotics oral and topical may be necessary in severe external ear infections.

3. In the case of eardrum perforation, once the underlying infection is cleared and the perforation still do not close after 3 months, then surgical repair of the perforation may be needed.

4. If the cause of deafness is due to medication, then the medication should be stopped or changed.

5. If the cause is prebycusis (due to aging) no medical treatment is needed.

The deaf person is assessed to see whether hearing aids will help.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter 1 Deafness

Chapter 2 Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media

Chapter 3 Ear Drum Perforation

Chapter 4 Ear Infections

Chapter 5 Acoustic Neuroma

Chapter 6 Menieres Disease

Chapter 7 Ear injury

LanguageEnglish
PublisherKenneth Kee
Release dateNov 14, 2012
ISBN9781301051403
A Simple Guide to Deafness and Related Ear Diseases
Author

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

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    Book preview

    A Simple Guide to Deafness and Related Ear Diseases - Kenneth Kee

    A

    Simple

    Guide

    to

    Deafness

    And

    Related Ear Diseases

    by

    Dr Kenneth Kee

    M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

    Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

    Copyright Kenneth Kee 2012 Smashwords Edition

    Published By Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

    Dedication

    This book is dedicated

    to my wife Dorothy

    and my children

    Carolyn, Grace

    and Kelvin

    This book describes the Deafness and Related Ear Diseases such as Chronic Suppurative Otitis media, Ear drum Perforation, Otitis Externa, Acoustic Neuroma, Meniere;s Disease and Ear injuries which are seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

    This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

    If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

    Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Chapter 1

    Deafness

    What is Deafness?

    Deafness is the inability to hear.

    What are the causes of Deafness?

    The causes of Deafness are:

    A. Conductive hearing loss

    Here sound waves cannot be transmitted from the external environment to the cochlea.

    The problem may lie in

    1. the external ear canal

    a. obstruction caused by wax

    b. obstruction caused by foreign body

    c. obstruction caused by infection (otitis externa)

    d. obstruction caused by ear polyps

    2. eardrum

    a. perforation caused by trauma

    b. perforation caused by infection

    c. scarred eardrum from injury or infection

    3. middle ear bones

    a. dislocation of the bones from injury or infection

    b. damage to the

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