Conditions and diseases

Otosclerosis

Symptoms and causes

What is it?

Otosclerosis is a disease (sometimes familial, sometimes not) in which calcifications occur in the middle or inner ear.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of otosclerosis are:

hearing loss
mild balance problems
tinnitus

Diagnosis and treatment

When the disease only occurs in the middle ear, there is a calcification of the flexible seal around the stirrup (one of the three ossicles) that allows the stirrup to vibrate smoothly. This allows the stirrup to vibrate smoothly, in which case a stapedotomy can be performed.

If the disease is limited to the inner ear (cochlea), a hearing aid may be beneficial.

In some people, the disease occurs in both places. In that case, surgical intervention can partially solve the problem. A distinction is made using tuning fork tests, a hearing test (audiometry) and a CT scan.