Treatment of noise induced hearing loss

In most textbooks, it is stated that noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is an irreversible impairment of hearing. This is certainly true for the slowly, over time acquired NIHL. Working for years in a very noisy environment is causing a gradual killing of hair cells in the inner ear, with no hope for recovery. The other way of acquiring NIHL is by means of exposure to impact noise, and may cause various degree of impairment of the hair cell cilia, depending on the energy in the impulsive noise. If the cilia are completely broken, the chance for recovery is probably zero. In many instances, the result of exposure to impulsive noise, for instance from rifle shooting, may mainly be a disarrangement of the cilia. It will be shown an example of recovery from grade III NIHL to grade I after treatment of the exposed person with a stay in silence, i.e. in environmental noise below 70 dB(A), for three weeks.