Conductive hearing loss

Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound waves are prevented from reaching the inner ear because of disease in the external or middle ear.  This type of hearing loss is partial and never total, because some sound does manage to reach the inner ear and those suffering from this type of hearing disorder are never totally deaf.  Abnormalities or damage to the external or middle ear impede transmission of sound impulses to the inner ear.  The most common types of conductive hearing loss in children are due to collection of fluid in the middle ear (Middle ear effusion) as a result of inflammation.  Such hearing losses in children usually go unnoticed unless it is gross. Chronic otitis media resulting in damage to the ear drum and/or middle ear ossicles result in significant conductive hearing loss. Fixation  of the Stapes bone in the middle ear caused by a disease known as Otosclerosis results in delayed  conductive hearing loss in both ears generally.  Genetic disorders, exposure to viral infections or teratogenic drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy may cause deformities of the ear canal or the conducting structures of the middle ear leading to a conductive hearing impairment in the new born.