Low Frequency Hearing Loss - Causes and Treatments

Low frequency hearing loss is a particular type of sensor neural hearing loss which is mainly caused by improper functioning of the Cranial Nerve VIII, the inner ear, or the brain’s central processing centers. In case of hearing loss in the low frequency range, people have difficulty hearing sounds in the frequency range of 125 hertz to 1000 hertz.

There are a number of acquired causes of hearing loss in low frequency range. One major cause of such loss is inflammation of parts of ear, especially the internal ear. Inflammation may be caused by an infection or by non-infectious agents like hardened ear wax or a foreign particle (insect etc.) that accidentally enters the ear.

Diseases like measles, syphilis, and meningitis may be responsible for the inflammation and the resulting hearing loss. A more frequent cause of hearing loss in the low frequency range is Meniere’s Disease in which ringing in the ear occurs, followed by sudden attacks of vertigo that last from a few minutes to a few hours.

Congenital Causes of Low Frequency Hearing Loss
Hearing loss in the low frequency range of sounds may also be caused by born-with causes that include: poor cochlea development, congenital cholesteatoma (a destructive cyst in the middle ear), and delayed familial progressive causes.

Researchers at the University of Michigan, USA, have recently identified a gene called WFS1 that seems responsible for hearing loss in the low frequency range. Children who were born with a mutated copy of this gene were studied by the research team and were found to suffer from low frequency hearing loss gradually. In these children, hearing loss became worse with time. Researchers are now thinking of a connection between inherited WFS1 gene and high frequency hearing loss in later stages of life.

Treatment of Low Frequency Hearing Loss
At the moment, the only applicable treatment methods for hearing loss in low frequency are by using hearing aids or by cochlear implants. Hearing aids amplify sounds in the range of pre-set frequencies. The users of the device can easily then hear sounds in that range.

Cochlear implant, also called a bionic ear, is the surgical emplacement of a small electronic device in the cochlea (auditory branch of the inner ear) to stimulate its auditory nerves. The external components of cochlear implant include three parts: a microphone, a transmitter, and a speech processor. Due to its expensive nature and advanced technique of implantation, cochlear implant is mostly limited to developed countrie

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