The severity of the hearing loss is inversely proportional to the rate of recovery. Degree of hearing loss is variable.
Patients often report that they awaken in the morning and notice a hearing loss.
Investigations A complete physical exam, looking especially at the ears. Perform tuning fork tests to differentiate a conductive from a sensorineural hearing loss. The former documents the degree and pattern of hearing loss and the latter describes the function of the auditory pathways up to the brainstem. If trauma or tumour is suspected, a temporal bone CT or MRI is helpful. If the history has revealed systemic disease, appropriate labwork for that is indicated.