5. Hearing Loss: An Overlooked Consequence of Paget’s Disease
One of the more unexpected symptoms of Paget’s disease is hearing loss, which occurs in cases where the disease affects the skull and leads to bone changes around the ear canal or inner ear. While this is not the most common symptom, it does occur in a significant number of cases and can severely impact a person’s quality of life.
How does a bone disease affect hearing? The intricacies of the ear’s structure and function can shed some light on this. The inner ear, also known as the cochlea, is responsible for translating sound vibrations into electrical signals that the brain interprets as sound. It’s a delicate structure housed within the temporal bone of the skull.
When Paget’s disease affects the skull, the accelerated and disorganized bone remodeling can impact the cochlea’s surrounding bone. These changes can interfere with sound conduction, leading to conductive hearing loss. Additionally, the increased blood flow associated with Paget’s disease can cause a type of noise-induced hearing loss known as tinnitus, where individuals perceive a constant ringing or buzzing noise. (5)
