Otosclerosis

Otosclerosis is a hearing condition where the stapes in the ear becomes attached to the surrounding bone by a growth of abnormal bone. Sound transmission is progressively impaired and so that hearing in the affected ear deteriorates.

The condition can be cured by having a stapedoctomy[?]. This involves bypassing the stuck stapes by making a hole through it to the outer chamber of the inner ear and placing an artificial bone from the still moveable healthy hearing bones through the hole to the inner ear.