Sensorineural loss is the most common type and is caused by a decrease in the ability of the nerve endings in the inner ear to transmit electrical signals to the brain. The most common cause of a conductive hearing loss in a normal appearing ear is fixation of the stapes bone. The stapes is the third bone in the middle ear chain. With vibration, the stapes moves in and out of the oval window like a piston inside a cylinder. This transmits sound to the inner ear.
Treatment can be either surgical or non-surgical.
Non-surgical treatment consists of doing nothing in some cases or using a hearing aid to overcome the hearing loss. The advantage of a hearing aid over surgical treatment is that it is risk-free. Its disadvantages are its inconvenience, and the more artificial quality of the amplified sound. Surgical treatment, on the other hand, holds the possibility of more or less normal hearing without need for a hearing aid. However, undergoing stapes surgery entails certain risks, including loss of hearing in the operated ear in approximately one percent of cases.