On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Health Check Tools
• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Older Adults
• Patient Handouts

Summary

It's frustrating to be unable to hear well enough to enjoy talking with friends or family. Hearing disorders make it hard, but not impossible, to hear. They can often be helped. Deafness can keep you from hearing sound at all.

What causes hearing loss? Some possibilities are

• Heredity
• Diseases such as ear infections and meningitis
• Trauma
• Certain medicines
• Long-term exposure to loud noise
• Aging

There are two main types of hearing loss. One happens when your inner ear or auditory nerve is damaged. This type is usually permanent. The other kind happens when sound waves cannot reach your inner ear. Earwax buildup, fluid, or a punctured eardrum can cause it. Treatment or surgery can often reverse this kind of hearing loss.

Untreated, hearing problems can get worse. If you have trouble hearing, you can get help. Possible treatments include hearing aids, cochlear implants, special training, certain medicines, and surgery.

NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Start Here

• Hearing Loss (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Hearing Loss Signals Need for Diagnosis (Food and Drug Administration)
• Hearing Problems (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Hearing Tests for Adults (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Inquiring Ears Want to Know: A Fact Sheet about Your Hearing Test (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) - PDF

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Steroid Treatments Equally Effective Against Sudden Deafness (National Institutes of Health)

Living With

• Assistive Devices: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Hearing Aids: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• American Sign Language (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
• Communicating Clearly While Wearing a Face Covering (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• Earbuds (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Earwax Blockage (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Occupational Noise Exposure (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
• Speech-to-Speech Relay Service (Federal Communications Commission)
• Telecommunications Relay Service (Federal Communications Commission)
• Why You Shouldn't Use Cotton Swabs to Clean Your Ears (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

Specifics

• Alport Syndrome (National Kidney Foundation)
• Auditory Neuropathy (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
• Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions (American Academy of Audiology)
• Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
• Otosclerosis (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
• Sudden Deafness (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
• Vestibular Schwannoma (Acoustic Neuroma) and Neurofibromatosis (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

Genetics

• Age-related hearing loss: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Alström syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Björnstad syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Branchiootorenal/branchiootic syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Congenital deafness with labyrinthine aplasia, microtia, and microdontia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Craniofacial-deafness-hand syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Deafness-dystonia-optic neuronopathy syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Otopalatodigital syndrome type 1: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Otospondylomegaepiphyseal dysplasia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Pendred syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Perrault syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Sensorineural deafness and male infertility: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Stickler syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Townes-Brocks Syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Vohwinkel syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Waardenburg syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Weissenbacher-Zweymüller syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Health Check Tools

• Do You Need a Hearing Test? (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish

Videos and Tutorials

• Hearing and the cochlea (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• How Loud Is Too Loud? (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
• Travel Inside the Ear (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Quick Statistics (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
• Statistics about Hearing, Balance, Ear Infections and Deafness (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
• Too Loud! For Too Long! (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Deafness (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hearing Disorders (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Presbycusis (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Observed Frequency and Characteristics of Hearing Loss in Osteogenesis Imperfecta.
• Article: Functional Polymorphism of MMP9 and BDNF as Potential Biomarker of Auditory...
• Article: A single-arm, open-label, intervention study to investigate the improvement of glucose...
• Hearing Disorders and Deafness -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• NIDCD Glossary (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

Find an Expert

• Directory of Organizations (Deafness and Communication Disorders) (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
• Find an Audiologist (American Academy of Audiology)
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Older Adults

• Age-Related Hearing Loss (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
• Hearing Loss (National Institute on Aging)
• Hearing Loss and Older Adults (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Acoustic trauma (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Age-related hearing loss (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Audiometry (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Ear examination (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hearing loss (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Occupational hearing loss (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Otosclerosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Sensorineural deafness (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish