The key difference between sensorineural and conductive hearing loss is that sensorineural hearing loss occurs due to a problem in the cochlea or the neural pathway to the auditory cortex, while conductive hearing loss occurs due to an impeded sound conduction through the external ear, middle ear, or both.
The nature of a person’s hearing loss is determined by the specific area of the auditory system that has been affected. There are three basic types of hearing loss: sensorineural hearing loss, conductive hearing loss, and mixed hearing loss.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Sensorineural Hearing Loss
3. What is Conductive Hearing Loss
4. Similarities – Sensorineural and Conductive Hearing Loss
5. Sensorineural vs Conductive Hearing Loss in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Sensorineural vs Conductive Hearing Loss
What is Sensorineural Hearing Loss?
Sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL, normally occurs after inner ear damage. In addition, problems with the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain may also cause SNHL. In this condition, soft sounds may be hard to hear. Moreover, even louder sounds can be unclear or can sound muffled. The other symptoms of this condition may include trouble hearing sounds when there is background noise, difficulty in understanding children’s and females’ voices, dizziness, muffled sounds and voices, being able to hear voices but not being able to comprehend or understand them, and tinnitus. SNHL is a very common type of permanent hearing loss. This type of hearing can be caused by illness, drugs that are toxic to hearing, family background or genetics, aging, a blow to the head, an anatomical problem in the way the inner ear is formed, and listening to loud noises or explosions frequently.
Sensorineural hearing loss can be diagnosed through physical examination, Weber’s test, Rinne test, and audiogram. Most of the time, SNHL cannot be corrected through medicine or surgery. However, hearing aids and cochlear implants may help the hearing in sensorineural hearing loss.
What is Conductive Hearing Loss?
Conductive hearing loss occurs when sounds cannot get through the outer, middle ear, or both. It can be hard to hear soft sounds in this condition. Louder sounds may also be muffled in conductive hearing loss. The additional symptoms of this condition may include sudden hearing loss, hearing loss steadily getting worsen, pain in both ears, pressure in one or both ears, dizziness, a strange or unpleasant smell coming from the ear, and liquid drainage from the ear. Conductive hearing loss is caused by fluid in the middle ear due to colds or allergies, ear infections, poor Eustachian tube function, a hole in the eardrum, benign tumors, ear wax or cerumen stuck in the ear canal, infection in the ear canal, an object stuck in the outer ear and a problem in the formation of the outer or middle ear.
Moreover, conductive hearing loss is diagnosed through CT scans, MRI scans, or other imaging tests, tympanometry, acoustic reflex, audiometric tests, and static acoustic measures. Conductive hearing loss is treated through assistive hearing devices, medicines (antibiotics), or surgery.
What are the Similarities Between Sensorineural and Conductive Hearing Loss?
- Sensorineural and conductive hearing loss are two different types of hearing loss.
- Both conditions may have similar symptoms, like soft sounds being hard to hear, even louder sounds being unclear, and muffled sounds.
- Both conditions can be diagnosed through physical examination or auditory tests.
- These conditions can be treated using assistive hearing devices.
What is the Difference Between Sensorineural and Conductive Hearing Loss?
Sensorineural hearing loss is a result of a problem in the cochlea or the neural pathway to the auditory cortex, while conductive hearing loss is a result of an impeded sound conduction through the external ear, middle ear, or both. Thus, this is the key difference between sensorineural and conductive hearing loss. Furthermore, sensorineural hearing loss leads to permanent hearing loss, while conductive hearing loss does not lead to permanent hearing loss.
The below infographic presents the differences between sensorineural and conductive hearing loss in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Sensorineural vs Conductive Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can be permanent or temporary. Sensorineural and conductive hearing loss are two different types of hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss occurs due to a problem in the cochlea or the neural pathway to the auditory cortex, while conductive hearing loss occurs due to an impeded sound conduction through the external ear, middle ear, or both. So, this summarizes the difference between sensorineural and conductive hearing loss.
Reference:
1. “Sensorineural Hearing Loss.” American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
2. “Conductive Hearing Loss” Statpearls – NCBI Bookshelf.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Person Wearing Hearing Aid, accessory, adult, aging, audiology” (CC0) via Wallpaper Flare
2. “Anatomy of the Human Ear” By Lars Chittka; Axel Brockmann – Perception Space—The Final Frontier, A PLoS Biology Vol. 3, No. 4, e137 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030137 (Fig. 1A/Large version), vectorized by Inductiveload (CC BY 2.5) via Commons Wikimedia