Muffled hearing can happen for a wide variety of reasons. For the majority of individuals, it’s a temporary situation. In other instances, muffled hearing can be a harbinger of more serious hearing-related issues. In part, that’s because, aside from sudden hearing loss, hearing loss is usually not a condition that develops suddenly. Symptoms develop slowly and over time.
In many cases, one of the first noticeable symptoms is a sense that sounds feel muffled, distorted, or quieter. Muffled hearing, however, isn’t necessarily an indication that you are developing permanent hearing loss. Every year millions of individuals experience muffled hearing.
Maybe you’re wondering if you should be worried about your muffled hearing. The answer depends on several factors. Finding the proper treatment for your muffled hearing depends on recognizing the underlying cause. Prompt solutions can in some cases help get your hearing back to normal, or, at least minimize possible harm. Contacting us for a consultation can help you begin this process, often leading to successful treatments, so you can keep enjoying the sounds of your day-to-day life.
Muffled Hearing – what exactly is it?
Muffled hearing happens when sound is not able to travel through your outer, middle, and inner ear in the way that it normally does. A very noticeable decline in sound fidelity is the result. In the majority of cases, those with muffled hearing can still hear some or even most things, but things sound quieter or jumbled. This may particularly affect your ability to discern and understand voices and spoken language.
In many cases, and depending on the root cause, muffled hearing can be associated with a sense of fullness or stuffiness in your ears. Sometimes, when you’re on a plane or suffering from a cold you might experience this feeling. Muffled hearing isn’t always accompanied by this feeling, however.
What causes muffled hearing?
Muffled hearing can be caused by a wide variety of problems. Determining the root cause of your muffled hearing can be essential in developing a successful treatment plan. Some of the most common causes of muffled hearing include the following:
- Age-associated hearing loss: Most individuals will experience decreasing hearing as they get older. Needless to say, when you’re 80 all of your senses will be less acute than when you were 18. This natural diminishing in your hearing ability can cause muffled hearing over time.
- Sensorineural hearing loss: In some cases, muffled hearing can be the result of noise-related hearing loss. This type of hearing loss is, unfortunately, usually irreversible. Muffled hearing is frequently one of the earliest noticeable symptoms; but damage to your stereocilia has likely already happened by the time you notice the distorted sounds. You should seek out treatment promptly to avoid your hearing growing considerably worse quickly.
- Infection: In some cases, problems such as infections (including sinus infections or ear infections) can cause swelling in the ear canal (this is particularly true with ear infections). This will diminish your hearing ability by causing the ear canal to swell shut. Muffled hearing symptoms caused by infections will usually go away once the root illness has been treated.
- Meniere’s Disease: Meniere’s Disease is a chronic balance and hearing issue. Dizziness, balance problems, tinnitus, and muffled ears will develop over time because of this disease. There is no cure for Meniere’s Disease, but symptoms can be treated.
- Travel: Altitude changes, like when you’re on a plane, can cause a feeling of muffled ears. In most instances, this feeling will go away rapidly and your hearing will go back to normal.
- Earwax buildup: Normally, earwax is a good thing. The health of your ear canal relies on the generation of earwax. But muffled hearing (and in some instances even hearing loss) can be the result of excess earwax. Try a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide in your ear to loosen the wax up. Never try to free stuck earwax by using a cotton swab which will only pack the wax further up into the ear canal. We can help if the problem continues.
The precise symptoms of muffled hearing will differ depending on the underlying cause.
Can muffled hearing be cured?
Some types of muffled hearing can’t be cured. The base cause of your muffled hearing will establish the treatment strategy. We might use some special tools to help clean out your ear canal if, for instance, earwax accumulation is at the root of your muffled hearing. Muffled hearing caused by an ear infection will usually clear up once the infection has been addressed, so antibiotics are frequently prescribed.
Symptom management is usually the strategy when you have sensorineural hearing loss as opposed to a cure. That’s because sensorineural hearing loss can not be reversed. But it is possible to control symptoms. This may take several forms, but the most prevalent is using a pair of hearing aids so that you can bring clarity to what you hear.
Hearing aids can help you stay connected to loved ones and go about your daily activities without a substantially noticeable impact, especially when this process is initiated promptly.
Avoiding muffled hearing
Some forms of muffled hearing are hard to avoid, no matter what. Infections, for example, can’t always be avoided.
Having your hearing tested, however, can help identify any causes of muffled hearing and can help avoid any long-term hearing loss that may be developing. Contact us for an appointment right away.
