A mumps infection typically only lasts a few weeks, but the effects can be life-long, particularly when it comes to your hearing. In this post, we review everything you need to know about the connection between mumps and hearing loss.<\/p>\n
The mumps virus belongs to the same family of viruses that cause measles and other common respiratory infections. It can spread easily from person to person through saliva droplets, especially when an infected person coughs or sneezes. In most cases, it takes about two weeks from the initial exposure until symptoms present.<\/p>\n
The characterizing symptom of mumps is swelling of the salivary glands on one or both sides of the face. Other symptoms include:<\/p>\n
Note that in some cases, a person can be infected with mumps but not show any symptoms.<\/p>\n
Experts aren\u2019t certain how the mumps causes hearing loss, but some speculate that mumps causes damage to the cochlea, a tiny organ within the inner ear. More specifically, the virus can affect the stereocilia, which are tiny hair cells that line the cochlea. Their job is to convert incoming soundwaves into electrical energy that is interpreted by the brain as sound. Mumps can also impact the stria vascularis, which supplies blood to the inner ear.<\/p>\n
One study<\/a> published in Acta Oto-Laryngologica <\/em>reports, \u201cThe majority of hearing loss due to mumps presents as unilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss.\u201d This means single-sided hearing loss caused by nerve damage.<\/p>\n The most effective way to prevent yourself from getting the mumps is to get immunized. The mumps vaccine is typically administered with the measles and rubella vaccines and is called the MMR vaccine. The MMR vaccine is generally given in three doses: around a child\u2019s first birthday, when they start kindergarten and around high school.<\/p>\n If you suspect you have hearing loss after being infected by the mumps, the first step is to schedule an appointment for a comprehensive hearing test with Southwestern Hearing & Balance. If the test reveals hearing loss is present, treatment options include:<\/p>\n To learn more or to schedule an appointment, call Southwestern Hearing & Balance today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A mumps infection typically only lasts a few weeks, but the effects can be life-long, particularly when it comes to your hearing. In this post, we review everything you need to know about the connection between mumps and hearing loss. About the Mumps The mumps virus belongs to the same family of viruses that cause…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearsantafe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Preventing the Mumps<\/h2>\n
Treating Hearing Loss Caused by the Mumps<\/h2>\n
\n