Conductive Hearing Loss: Causes, Signs, and What You Can Do

When sound can’t travel properly through your outer or middle ear, you’re dealing with conductive hearing loss, a type of hearing impairment caused by physical blockages or damage in the ear canal, eardrum, or middle ear bones. It’s not about your inner ear or nerves—it’s about the pathway getting stuck. Unlike sensorineural hearing loss, which is often permanent, conductive hearing loss is frequently treatable. Many people don’t realize it’s even happening until they notice their voice sounds muffled, music feels distant, or they keep asking people to repeat themselves.

This kind of hearing loss ear infection, a common trigger, especially in kids, where fluid builds up behind the eardrum and blocks sound. It can also come from eardrum perforation, a tear or hole in the eardrum caused by trauma, loud noise, or infection. Even something as simple as too much earwax can do it. In adults, it’s often linked to chronic infections, otosclerosis (where the middle ear bones fuse), or fluid that won’t drain. Kids are more prone to it because their Eustachian tubes are smaller and more horizontal, making it easier for fluid to get trapped.

What makes conductive hearing loss different is that it usually doesn’t make sounds seem faint—just unclear. You might hear people talking but struggle to understand words. Background noise doesn’t always make it worse like it does with sensorineural loss. That’s why many people delay getting checked, thinking they just need to turn up the TV. But if left untreated, it can lead to speech delays in children or permanent damage in adults.

Good news: most cases improve with simple fixes. Antibiotics clear up infections. Earwax removal? A quick visit to the doctor. For eardrum tears, many heal on their own. When they don’t, minor surgery often fixes it. If the issue is with the tiny bones in your middle ear, a hearing aid or even a bone-conduction device can restore hearing without surgery. You don’t have to live with it.

The posts below cover everything from how to tell if your hearing loss is conductive versus something else, to what medications might be making it worse, how to talk to your doctor about testing, and why hearing aids aren’t always the first answer. You’ll find real advice on managing ear infections, understanding when to push for imaging, and how to avoid common mistakes that delay recovery. This isn’t about guessing—it’s about knowing what’s really going on in your ear and what steps actually work.