Durham, N.C. - Each year, thousands of people experience a sudden and alarming loss of hearing. This mysterious condition is called Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, or SSNHL. It can occur in one or both ears and has no clear warning signs or definitive cause. Jodi Hogan, a clinical audiologist at Duke University Medical Center, says SSNHL should be treated as a medical emergency. "When we get a phone call either from a patient or a referring physician and we hear 'sudden sensorineural hearing loss,' generally we're going to work that patient in that day. If not that day, certainly within a 24-hour period." Hogan says starting a treatment with steroids within a day or two of onset can greatly improve the chances for recovery. "About 60 percent of patients do show some sort of recovery. That may not be back up to normal, but they show some degree of recovery. This is in addition to 35 percent of the population who recover spontaneously." Hogan says new digital hearing aid technology can dramatically improve hearing function in patients who don't regain full hearing. I'm Cabell Smith for MedMinute.

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