Question
Have you found any correlation between changes in hearing and a woman's menstrual cycle? I have a female patient who has threshold shifts of approximately 10dB immediately preceding and during menstruation.
Answer
There have been sporadic reports, over the years, of particular individuals whose hearing seems to fluctuate noticeably in relation to the menstrual cycle, but systematic study has been rare. A number of studies have shown variation in certain aspects of research regarding neural transmission of sound from the ear to the brain, but actual changes in threshold sensitivity are not well documented.
A group of investigators in Spain recently compared hearing thresholds pre and post menstruation in 60 women. There were significant changes only at 9000, 10,000, and 11,200 Hz, which is outside the range of frequencies (pitches) that are critical for everyday listening.
The possibility that there may be significant changes in all cycling females is unlikely in view of the recent study by Yellin & Stillman (1999). These investigators performed non-invasive tests of inner-ear status on a group of woman during a 12-week timeframe. No systematic changes were observed. Since the tests used were very sensitive to the inner ear, any threshold variations seen in the hearing of those studied would have to be attributed to some other location(s) along the transmission sites between the ear and brain.
In summary, I would not be surprised to find slight changes in an individual, but would have to regard it as an exceptional circumstance warranting careful diagnostic evaluation.
BIO: James Jerger obtained his Ph.D degree in Audiology from Northwestern University in 1954. After 7 years on the NU faculty he moved to Washington, D.C. and joined the faculty of Gallaudet College. In 1962 he moved to Houston as Director of Research for the Houston Speech & Hearing Center. In 1968 he joined the faculty of the Baylor College of Medicine as Professor of Audiology and Head, Division of Audiology and Speech Pathology, where he remained until 1997. Jerger is currently Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the University of Texas/Dallas where he continues his research on auditory aging, especially the topographic brain mapping of auditory event-related potentials. He continues to teach audiology students at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders and directs doctoral studies in the School of Human Development.
Over the years Jerger's research and clinical interests have focused on the development and evaluation of tools for the refinement of audiological diagnosis. His work includes studies of intensity discrimination (the ''SISI'' test), auditory adaptation and fatigue, speech audiometry, immittance audiometry, dichotic listening, and auditory evoked potentials. He is the author or co-author of 296 publications in the field.
