Happens when there is a problem conducting sound anywhere along the route through the outer ear, tympanic membrane (eardrum), middle ear (ossicles) or inner ear. This type of hearing loss may occur in conjunction with sensorineural hearing loss or alone.
Modern techniques make it possible to cure or at least improve the vast majority of cases involving problems with the outer or middle ear. Even if people with conductive hearing loss are not improved medically or surgically, they stand to benefit greatly from a hearing aid, because what they need most is amplification.
Some common causes of conductive hearing loss:
- Infection of the ear canal or middle ear
- Fluid in the middle ear
- Perforation or scarring of the eardrum<
- Wax build-up
- Dislocation of the ossicles (three middle-ear bones)
- Foreign objects in the ear canal
- Otosclerosis
- Unusual growths, tumors