A wide range of therapeutic strategies are available for the
therapy of
hearing disorders including
pharmaceutical, acoustic, electrical, surgical, radiological, cognitive-behavioural and so-called "alternative" strategies. This review focuses on general conservative strategies and specific therapeutic approaches mainly for inner ear disorders, whereas surgical and device-based
therapies including
hearing aids and
cochlear implants are described in other chapters in this volume.In addition to the systemic medication-based
therapies for the treatment of
hearing disorders, the rapidly growing field of local
drug delivery to the inner ear as a promising therapeutic strategy is discussed on the background of unresolved issues. After description of non-
drug-based therapeutic procedures, the
conservative therapy of specific diseases and syndromes is reviewed.In general, there is a major discrepancy between promising animal studies up to regeneration and
stem-cell transplantation, and uncontrolled experimental studies in humans on the one hand and the shortage of randomized controlled clinical trials with a high level of evidence on the other hand. Therefore, the review and comments on published clinical studies should assist the reader in making his/her own decision about the effectiveness of various, especially
pharmaceutical treatments. From a critical analysis - particularly of the clinical studies presented - conclusions are drawn for the
therapy of
hearing disorders in the future.