Cookie bite hearing loss sounds funny, yes. But you'll soon discover it has nothing to do with tasty chocolate chip cookies. Instead, cookie bite hearing loss is a sensorineural defect caused by nerve damage in the inner ear.
According to a study, cookie bite hearing loss is a rare defect that affects less than 1% of people who have difficulty hearing. People with this mid-frequency hearing defect find it hard to hear normal-pitched human speech and music. They can't easily differentiate voices in a noisy area and often ask others to repeat themselves.
In this article, we dive into what cookie bite hearing loss is, what causes it, and how to manage it. Let’s get started.
What Is Cookie Bite Hearing Loss?
Cookie bite hearing loss is a defect that can happen when there's damage to the nerves in the inner ear. It's a relatively rare genetic hearing defect that affects only 0.7% to 1% of people who have hearing loss. The official name is mid-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (MFSNHL).
Furthermore, the hearing defect affects only mid-range sound frequencies – 500 Hz and 2000 Hz, which is where most human speech lies. Therefore, patients find it difficult to hear conversations. They often ask others to repeat what they’ve said, increase the volume of TV sets, and can't hear the next person in a noisy environment. Music also happens mid-frequencies, so patients may not enjoy music fully.
Still, people suffering from cookie bite hearing loss can hear many sounds, especially the ones in the low and high frequencies. These include dogs barking, thunder, lawn mowers in the low frequencies, and women’s voices and chirping birds in the high frequencies.
Remember that this hearing loss is called cookie bite because the patient's audiogram has a U-shape and looks like a bitten cookie.
What Does a Cookie Bite Hearing Loss Audiogram Look Like?
The audiogram of a person suffering from cookie bite hearing loss looks like a cookie that has been bitten. It shows that while the low and high frequencies still function normally, the mid frequencies suffer, so the person would have difficulty hearing any sounds in the mid-range.
Causes of Cookie Bite Hearing Loss
The most common cause of cookie bite hearing loss is genetics. But besides that, other factors have been shown to cause the condition. Here are all of them:
Genetics
Cookie bite hearing loss is most commonly associated with genetic mutation on genes such as Connexin 16 and TECTA. Depending on the gene, the way it runs in families will vary. If it’s a dominant gene that carries the defect, then the hearing loss may show up in every generation, but if it’s recessive, it’ll occur randomly.
Acoustic neuroma
An acoustic neuroma, or vestibular schwannoma, is a rare and benign tumor that grows on the vestibular nerve connecting your inner ear to the brain. It may also cause cookie bite hearing loss, although it’s rare.
Congenital disability in association with Turner’s syndrome
Sometimes, kids who also have Turner’s syndrome present with cookie-bite hearing loss at birth.
Other causes include dominant nonsyndromic familial deafness (that is, deafness that runs in families) and autoimmune inner ear disease (although hearing loss patterns fluctuate when associated with this type of disease).
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Cookie Bite Hearing Loss?
Cookie bite hearing loss is typically a mild hearing defect in the mid-frequency range, so it’s not usually detected early. Most people don’t know they have it until their friends and family notice.
The most common symptoms include the following:
- Finding it difficult to follow along a conversation because you can't hear the next person
- Asking for repetition often
- Difficulty making out individual sounds in a crowd. Since the hearing loss is mild, you may not notice it often in a one-on-one conversation. But when you’re talking with someone in a crowded area, and you struggle to make out what they’re saying, that’s a sign.
- You often increase the volume of the TV or radio.
- You begin to look at people’s lips when they speak.
- You may also experience tinnitus (ringing in the ears) or dizziness.
Keep in mind that cookie bite hearing loss may occur at birth, so it can still be detected in newborns. Detecting it early is vital to help a child not fall back on keeping up with their peers.
Cookie Bite Hearing Loss Treatment
Unfortunately, there’s no permanent treatment or cure for cookie bite hearing loss. However, it can be managed in two major ways.
Lifestyle changes
Once you’ve been diagnosed with cookie bite hearing loss, you can implement some lifestyle changes to make hearing a lot easier for you.
To begin, move closer to people you communicate with so you can hear them more easily. You can also aim to sit near a speaker in a noisy area.
When you find yourself in a crowd, try to be as near as possible to the person you’re speaking with, or even look at their lips to follow the conversation quickly. Also, find more quiet restaurants to dine in over noisier ones.
Hearing aids
The best way to deal with cookie bite hearing loss is to get hearing aids to amplify sounds. It would be best to have hearing aids that can clarify mid-frequency sounds since that suffers the most in this condition. We'll explore the best hearing aids for cookie bite hearing loss later in the article.
Cochlear implant
Cochlear implants for cookie bite hearing loss are for when the inner ear is so damaged that hearing aids no longer provide much help. This is for people whose hearing loss is much more severe.
Best Hearing Aids for Cookie Bite Hearing Loss
The best hearing aids for cookie bite hearing loss amplify the mid-frequency range sounds while leaving the lows and highs mostly the same. If not, you'll find that your hearing aids amplify every sound, making everything loud and uncomfortable without much clarity.
So, when picking a hearing aid for cookie bite hearing loss, consider the following factors:
Design of hearing aid
The design of the hearing aid you get depends on your personal preference. If you desire privacy and don’t want many people to know you wear hearing aids, a CIC/IIC design would be the best because it fits into the ear and is almost invincible.
Additionally, the design still works well with cookie bite hearing loss because CIC hearing aids work for mild to moderate hearing loss and still allow the outer ear to send sounds into the ear.
But if you're looking for more advanced features and the ability to improve severe hearing loss, an RIC hearing aid or BTE hearing aid would be better.
Read More: Completely In Canal CIC Hearing Aids Guide
Frequency range amplification
You need to select hearing aids that can focus on amplifying mid-range sounds. That way, you ensure that your hearing aids can improve the particular type of defect that cookie bite hearing loss presents.
Extra features
You may want extra features like sound clarification, noise cancellation, and self-tuning. Some hearing aids come with mobile apps that have equalizers in them, too. That way, you can also tune the way the hearing aid amplifies sound, thereby making it work more personally for you.
Check out Core One OTC Hearing Aids
Core One OTC hearing aids are FDA-approved, over-the-counter hearing aids that become almost invisible when placed in the ear. Their CIC design allows the outer ear to work naturally since the outer ear is still undamaged in a cookie bite hearing loss.
Furthermore, the hearing aid has a mobile Ceretone app for adjustment and how-to videos for easy use . Even better, you get to choose audio tunes for when you’re indoors, in a quiet environment, or a noisy area like a restaurant.
Other premium hearing aids that can work well for cookie bite hearing loss include Phonak Naida Lumity and Oticon Real 3 Mini-BTE hearing aids. They also offer options for tuning your hearing via mobile apps. However, they’re not sold over the counter and require a doctor’s prescription to pick them up.
Read more:
OTC Hearing Aids vs Prescription: How to Choose
Ceretone Core One vs Eargo 7 Hearing Aids: Alternative, Reviews & Price
Rounding Up
Cookie bite hearing loss can negatively affect a huge part of your life since most human speech and music fall into the mid-frequency sound range. Don’t worry, though. You can properly manage your cookie bite hearing loss if you get the best hearing aids available.
Visit an audiologist to get a personalized fitting to pick out the best option for you. Plus, if you’re looking for an affordable over-the-counter option, check out Core One OTC hearing aids. What’re you waiting for?
FAQs
Cookie bite is a very rare type of hearing loss that only shows up in 0.7% to 1% of hearing loss cases.
Yes, cookie bite hearing loss is hereditary. Depending on whether the affected gene is dominant or recessive, the hearing defect can show up in all family generations or skip a few instead.
No, cookie bite hearing loss can’t be treated permanently. But, you can manage the hearing loss by making lifestyle changes and getting the appropriate hearing aids.
Yes, cookie bite hearing loss is only considered a disability in the United States if it interferes with your ability to work or function normally in society. However, if you’re looking to qualify for disability checks, the SSA approves each on a case-by-case basis. Also, you’ll have to retest yearly to show that you’re still eligible for help.
According to a 2019 study, cookie bite hearing loss was not progressive over 4 years of monitoring patients. However, there’s no study for longer-term evaluations.
Cookie bite hearing loss, like all types of hearing loss, increases the chances of developing dementia because it strains the brain and may cause brain changes that affect memory and processing thoughts.
