{"id":3993,"date":"2022-05-03T11:47:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/hearinglossaudiology\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T14:36:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:36:51","slug":"hearinglossaudiology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/audiology\/hearinglossaudiology\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing Loss (Audiology)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u200b<span>Hearing loss can be temporary or permanent, and most commonly develops gradually with ageing. Hearing loss can also be caused by repeated exposure to loud sounds. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/entadult\/ear\/hearinglosssuddensensorineural\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sudden sensorineural hearing loss<\/a> is an ENT emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The symptoms most complained about by patients are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Difficulty hearing other people clearly and misunderstanding what they say<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Having the television on loudly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Struggle to hear on the phone<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Asking people to repeat themselves<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friends\/family complain that they are not being listened to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>C.M. &amp; F.A. 04-04-25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who can refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Health professionals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sensory Champions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients&nbsp;aged 16 or over, who have left school, who present with hearing loss. &nbsp;<br>Patients who are still at school should be referred via <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/paediatrics\/audiology-paediatric\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paediatric Audiology<\/a> as they may require educational support.<br>If hearing loss is the primary complaint, but bilateral tinnitus also present, the referral should be through the hearing loss pathway with tinnitus mentioned alongside in the referral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who not to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Those under 16 or still at school \u2013 please refer to <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/paediatrics\/audiology-paediatric\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paediatric Audiology<\/a> instead<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Those with occlusive wax \u2013 please follow the Lothian pathway for <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/entadult\/ear\/ear-wax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ear wax management<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reassessment in those with hearing aids:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If a patient already has a hearing aid, they do not need a GP referral to be seen again by the service for any hearing aid or hearing-related issues. They can contact the department directly \u2013 please see the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/audiology\/hearingaid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing aid page<\/a> for details.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients with the following red flags, who should be referred directly to ENT:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recurrent infections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discharging perforations\/ discharging mastoid cavities\/ abnormal appearance of drum<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Polyps, possible foreign bodies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Persistent ear pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pulsatile tinnitus<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sudden hearing loss or sudden deterioration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vertigo\/unsteadiness not consistent with age or existing pathologies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conductive hearing loss.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Please refer using SCI Gateway to: Lauriston \/ St Johns \/ East Lothian Community Hospital-&gt;Audiology-&gt;Hearing loss.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8203;Hearing loss can be temporary or permanent, and most commonly develops gradually with ageing. Hearing loss can also be caused by repeated exposure to loud sounds. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is an ENT emergency. The symptoms most complained about by patients are: C.M. &amp; F.A. 04-04-25<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3716,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"class_list":["post-3993","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-hearing-loss-audiology"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NHS Lothian","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/nhs-lothian\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/audiology\/hearing-loss-audiology\/\" rel=\"tag\">Hearing Loss (Audiology)<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"&#8203;Hearing loss can be temporary or permanent, and most commonly develops gradually with ageing. Hearing loss can also be caused by repeated exposure to loud sounds. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is an ENT emergency. The symptoms most complained about by patients are: C.M. &amp; F.A. 04-04-25","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3993"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23641,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3993\/revisions\/23641"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}