Woman wakes up unable to hear men's voices - including that of her boyfriend

Woman wakes up unable to hear men's voices - including that of her boyfriend

What if you woke up one morning unable to hear your partner's voice?

That was the frightening experience of one woman in Xiamen, China, when she realised she couldn't hear her boyfriend when he was speaking.

The woman, identified only by her surname, Chen, immediately took herself to the city's Qianpu hospital.

Turns out, Chen could hear women's voices, but not the men.

Chen was diagnosed with a medical condition known as reverse-slope hearing loss, which means she could only hear high frequencies.

According to a Daily Mail report, the female ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist who treated her, Dr Lin Xiaoqing, said: "She was able to hear me when I spoke to her, but when a young male patient walked in, she couldn't hear him at all."

Chen said she had felt nauseous the night before and heard ringing in her ears, and thought a good night's sleep would solve her problem.

Dr Lin added that stress and fatigue could have contributed to the condition after Chen told her that she had been working late recently and not sleeping enough. She also stressed the importance of treating such symptoms quickly.

Fortunately for Chen, Dr Lin said she is expected to make a full recovery.

WHAT IS REVERSE-SLOPE HEARING LOSS?

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According to Audiology Inc, reverse-slope hearing loss (RSHL) is a rare condition, affecting only 3,000 people in the US and Canada.

It's known as 'reverse-slope' because its shape on an audiogram is the reverse of ski-slope (high-frequency) hearing loss. The graph starts in the lower-left-hand corner and slopes upward steeply. 

RSHL is also known as low-frequency hearing loss.

The main contributing cause of RSHL is genetics, but certain diseases affecting the hair cells responsible for sending sound information from the inner ear to the brain have been implicated as well. Examples include sudden hearing loss, Ménière’s disease, and viral infection. 

Another possible source of RSHL is due to a change in pressure of the endolymph, or fluid in the inner ear. 

Because RSHL affects the lower frequencies, patients affected may not be able to hear sounds like rumbling thunder or a refrigerator humming. It also poses a danger as they may not be able to hear the sound of a car coming, for example.

But long-term RSHL can be difficult to treat as hearing aid settings are meant for high-frequency hearing loss - a more common condition. An audiologist would have to build the settings of the hearing aid from the ground up.

candicec@sph.com.sg

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