2022 Volume 43 Issue 1 Pages 87-96
Functional hearing loss is hearing loss in which there is a discrepancy between the pure tone audiometry threshold and not only other hearing test results but also normal voice discrimination. This report presents the course of six children with migraine and vestibular migraine who showed hearing abnormalities that were thought to be functional hearing loss. The children visited an ear-nose-throat clinic between March 2019 and July 2020. The main complaints at the first visit were poor hearing or difficulty hearing. In addition, migraine-related symptoms were obtained during an interview. Their mean hearing level at that time ranged from 32.5 to 62.5 dB (method of quartering). However, their ability to engage in daily conversation was normal. Observation with an infrared charge-coupled device camera showed abnormal movements of the eye and eyelid, which were thought to be caused by a migraine or vestibular migraine. Treatment using Kampo medicines, which are though to improve the water metabolism, was administered. As a result, most of the hearing loss improved to a level less than 25 dB within 3 months, but it took another 4 to 12 months to bring the migraine and vestibular migraine under control. Since the treatment of these migraines may have improved the functional hearing loss, it was thought that migraine and functional hearing loss might be related to each other.
