There are two types of temporary hearing loss- conductive or sensory.
A temporary conductive hearing loss is usually caused when earwax totally blocks the ear canal, but it can be caused by anything that completely blocks the ear canal – earwax, debris, skin, foreign objects, and occasionally water.
A temporary conductive hearing loss can also be caused when the movement of the eardrum is restricted by pressure or fluid in the middle ear.
Temporary conductive hearing loss due to ear wax can usually be alleviated by micro-suction. Hearing Auckland’s Ear Nurse and Ear Hygienist are fully trained in this procedure.  We recommend that if you wear hearing aids you have your ears cleaned regularly.  This can help prevent temporary hearing loss and expensive repairs otherwise caused by wax blocking the hearing aids and ruining the hearing aid speaker.
A temporary sensory hearing loss is typically due to excessive noise exposure and should be considered as a warning sign that noise is damaging your hearing.  Excessive noise exposure reduces the inner ear’s response to sound.  Hearing loss is initially temporary, but if the noise was very intense- from a blast for example, the inner ear can sustain permanent damage in an instant. Repeat doses of excessive noise exposure will lead to gradually increasing permanent hearing loss.  Your ears don’t get toughened by loud sounds, they get destroyed and you get deafened.