One of the most common causes of mechanical hearing loss is a condition called otosclerosis. CNC Hearing and Balance Center Neurotolgoist Moises Arriaga explains a procedure called Stapedectomy to treat the condition.
Otosclerosis occurs when the final hearing bone, the stapes bone, doesn’t vibrate properly. So remember that sound comes through the eardrum and across the hammer, anvil and stirrup. But if at the bottom of the stirrup bone there is extra calcification, the stirrup bone won’t vibrate properly and that can create a mechanical hearing loss. This condition can be effectively treated with an outpatient operation called stapedectomy.
In that procedure, we make a paper cut in the ear canal to sneak behind the eardrum, prove that it’s the stirrup bone, and then use the laser to vaporize that stirrup bone, which can then be replaced with a tiny artificial hearing bone or a prosthesis that’s the size of a grain of rice. This procedure is over 90% effective at fixing the mechanical hearing loss from otosclerosis.
Like all surgeries, there are alternatives. The alternatives are to just watch the hearing loss and do nothing about it or to use a hearing aid. The hearing aid is a very effective way as well, except you have to wear something. And so we give patients the choice of which they want to do.
Do you have a hearing or balance issue? Call our clinic at 504-934-8320 for an appointment with one of our audiologists or to schedule a free hearing screening. CNC Hearing and Balance Center has locations in Marrero, Uptown New Orleans and Mandeville.
