In Mark 7:31-37, we learn that Jesus healed a man who was deaf and mute. Mark was the only Evangelist to record this miracle.
Blistering was a very popular remedy for deafness. A caustic plaster made of fat or wax, was applied behind the ear (sometimes cut into a certain size) in order to raise a blister.
Another method was the use of setons, a thread placed underneath the skin behind the ear.
The use of ear trumpets for the partially deaf dates back to the 17th century. By the late 18th century, their use was becoming increasingly common.
The use of mercury for medical applications has been dated to the ancient Greeks, reaching its height in popularity in the 15th century.
Silver Nitrate was used as a cauterizing agent to remove blockages in the ear impeding hearing.
Appearing in various forms since 1755, catheterization was the process of inserting a catheter up the nostrils or through the mouth, in order to cure deafness through the Eustachian tubes (which connects the ear to the nose).
Syringing was done to remove excess wax out of the ear, which was explained as causing a blockage in the auditory canal, thus diminishing hearing.
As electricity became a part of everyday lives in the nineteenth-century, practitioners became excited about its applications for medical ailments.
Ultraviolet therapy arose during the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth century to compliment the growing use of electrotherapy by using high-frequency electric current.
Artificial eardrums were tiny devices that were inserted in the ear in order to resonate sounds throughout the auditory canal and eardrum.
Vibration was another fashionable medical option during the nineteenth-century.
Dr. Curtis H. Muncie (1887-1963) of Brooklyn was the inventor of Muncie the Constructive Finger Surgery”. This was a manoeuvre in which he used only his fingers to manually manipulate the ear canal and Eustachian tube to correct deafness.
Dr. Grant Selfridge (1863-1951) was an ear specialist who graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College in San Francisco in 1889 and was later joined the California State Homeopathic Medical Society, receiving his licence to practice in 1890.
“The cochlear implant (CI) is the first effective treatment for deafness and severe losses in hearing. As such, the CI is now widely regarded as one of the great advances in modern medicine.” (In: The cochlear implant: Historical aspects and future prospects, 2012)
Middle ear transplant to cure deafness using 3D printing technologies
A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) presents an innovative treatment for deafness, based on the delivery of genetic material into the cells of the inner ear. The genetic material “replaces” the genetic defect and enables the cells to continue functioning normally.