Dr. Michael Fucci, Board Certified Otolaryngology - Neurotology, of Valley ENT, discusses Hearing Loss from Young Children to the Elderly.
The most common cause of temporary hearing loss in young children is a build-up of fluid behind the eardrum. This stops the eardrum from vibrating and detecting noise. In older people, the most common cause tends to be earwax filling the ear canal or becoming impacted (often from the overuse of Q-tips). Over the counter earwax remedies rarely, if ever work well. Age-related hearing loss (Presbycusis) is common over age 65 and usually begins with the cells that detect sounds at the high end of the scale. Hearing loss can also develop over time from repeated exposure to very loud noises. This type of noise-induced hearing loss is now being seen in much younger people and is thought to be caused by the increasing use of headphones.
