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Ear and Hearing Library
Pacific Specialists' Patient Library provides useful medical information on a variety of medical topics, in both html format and downloadable PDF files.
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Tinnitus
The presence of tinnitus is a very common and annoying occurrence. It may be intermittent or constant in character, mild or severe in intensity, and vary from a low roar to a high-pitched type of sound. It may be subjective (audible only to the patient) or objective (audible to others). It may or may not be associated with hearing impairment.
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Meniere's Disease
Ménière's disease is an abnormality of the inner ear causing a host of symptoms, including vertigo or severe dizziness, tinnitus or a roaring sound in the ears, fluctuating hearing loss, and the sensation of pressure or pain in the affected ear. The disorder usually affects only one ear and is a common cause of hearing loss. Named after French physician Prosper Ménière who first described the syndrome in 1861, Ménière's disease is now also referred to as endolymphatic hydrops. Meniere's Disease is a very disturbing illness, presenting patients with hearing loss, pressure in the ear, tinnitus, severe imbalance and vertigo.
Spanish Language version available
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Cholesteatoma
A perforation of the ear drum will generally heal without surgery. In some cases, however, instead of normally healing, the skin of the ear drum can grow through the hole into the middle ear. If infection is present, the skin will continue to grow into the middle ear and will become a tumor of the ear termed a cholesteatoma. Cholesteatomas are NOT a form of cancer. They are benign tumors. As they grow, they can look like an onion peel of white skin formed into a ball.
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Ear Tubes
Ear tubes are small tubes made out of plastic or metal that are placed into the ear drum to ventilate the middle ear.
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Ear Drum Perforations and Hearing
A perforation is a hole in the ear drum. Perforations occur from infections or injuries to the ear. Fortunately, these are generally self-healing. Symptoms of a perforation include drainage from the ear and bloody discharge.
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Otosclerosis
Otosclerosis -- the immobilization of the stapes bone -- occurs slowly. Perception of hearing loss is so slow that many people with otosclerosis only become aware of their hearing loss when friends or relatives call it to their attention. Many individuals with otosclerosis compensate for their hearing loss by inadvertantly learning to read lips.
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Hyperacusis
Hyperacusis is a collapsed tolerance to normal environmental sounds. Ears lose most of their dynamic range.
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Ears and Altitude
Have you ever wondered why your ears "pop" when you fly on an airplane? Or why, when they fail to pop, you get a headache? Have you ever wondered why babies on an airplane fuss and cry so much during descent?
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Implantable Hearing Aids
For those patients that are hearing impaired but not deaf, the most exciting development in listening assistive devices in the past 20 years is the implantable middle ear hearing device. The advantage of these devices is that they work by vibrating the ossicular chain directly. In this manner they are not dependent on just increasing the sound volume to the ear.
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Sudden Deafness
Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL), or sudden deafness, is a rapid loss of hearing. SSHL can happen to a person all at once or over a period of up to 3 days. It should be considered a medical emergency.
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American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, complex language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the first language of many deaf North Americans, and one of several communication options available to deaf people.
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Swimmer's Ear and Ear Wax
Swimmer’s ear is an infection of the outer ear structures. It typically occurs in swimmers, but the since the cause of the infection is water trapped in the ear canal, bathing or showering may also cause this common infection. When water is trapped in the ear canal, bacteria that normally inhabit the skin and ear canal multiply, causing infection and irritation of the ear canal. If the infection progresses it may involve the outer ear.
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Speech and Language
Speech and language are tools that humans use to communicate or share thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Language is the set of rules, shared by the individuals who are communicating, that allows them to exchange those thoughts, ideas, or emotions. Speech is talking, one way that a language can be expressed. Language may also be expressed through writing, signing, or even gestures in the case of people who have neurological disorders and may depend upon eye blinks or mouth movements to communicate.
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Otitis Media
Otitis media means inflammation of the middle ear (the space behind the ear drum). Many different conditions are lumped together under the term otitis media - including infections due to a number of different viruses or bacteria, or the presence of different types of uninfected fluid.
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