Magnesium treatment for sudden hearing loss.

Magnesium treatment has been repeatedly shown to reduce the incidence of both temporary and permanent noise-induced hearing loss. We hypothesized that it might also improve the permanent threshold shift in patients with acute-onset hearing loss. In a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 28 patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss were treated with either steroids and oral magnesium (study group) or steroids and a placebo (control group). Compared to the controls, the magnesium-treated group had a significantly higher proportion of patients with improved hearing (>10 dB hearing level) across all frequencies tested, and a significantly greater mean improvement in all frequencies. Analysis of the individual data confirmed that more patients treated with magnesium experienced hearing improvement, and at a larger magnitude, than control subjects. Magnesium is a relatively safe and convenient adjunct to steroid treatment for enhancing the improvement in hearing, especially in the low-tone range, in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.