What sort of problem is an auditory tumor?

Brain tumor: An acoustic neuroma is an benign tumor of the auditory nerve, located in the auditory canal. They are relatively rare. Early symptoms include hearing loss, ringing in the ears, and vertigo. These tumors grow very slowly, and are treated with surgery or with radiation only if hearing is affected.

Acoustic neuroma: An auditory tumor is more commonly called an acoustic neuroma. These are generally benign nerve sheath tumors (schwannomas) involving the vestibular (balance) or hearing (auditory) branches of the eighth cranial nerve. Since the majority of the nerve is within the bony internal auditory canal (porus acousticus), a tumor as small as 1-2mm can cause nerve compression.

Acoustic neuroma: The longer you wait, the more risk you place the facial nerve when you finally need to remove the tumor. If hearing is gone, why operate? It will not bring hearing back. I counsel patients that if an acoustic is growing, then it is worth taking out sooner rather than later, as the longer you wait, the larger the tumor will get, and the great the chance you will have a facial nerve injury.