Hearing Loss: Symptoms And Treatment

Hearing loss is when one has a hearing impairment and cannot hear properly. There are actually a few steps one’s body must go through in order to do properly.

First,  sounds penetrate through the ear canal. It hits the eardrum and causes it to vibrate. This vibration moves to a chain of small bones, which simulates the snail.

Inside the snail,  there are some cells that transform these vibrations into energy. This energy moves through the auditory nerve to the brain stem as a nerve impulse. From there it reaches the cerebral cortex. Eventually, you realize you are hearing a sound.

The type of hearing loss depends on which part of the process is failing. We will therefore show you the different types of hearing loss, as well as how to treat them.

Types of hearing loss

There are two primary types of hearing loss: Conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. If the outer and middle part of the ear (eardrum and bones) are not intact, it is conductive. However, in sensorineural hearing loss, the cochlea, auditory nerve, brainstem, or cerebral cortex may be damaged.

The symptoms

As a rule, people are taking a while to discover this condition. This is because your body is trying to compensate for it in many different ways. There is a wide range of changes related to hearing loss.

The primary symptoms are what kinds of sounds one can and cannot hear. In general, low-intensity sounds are harder to hear with conductive hearing loss. With sensorineural hearing loss, however, it is more difficult to distinguish between sounds, but one can hear their intensity.

As a rule, it is harder to hear shrill sounds. Because of this, it is usually harder to hear female voices than male ones. In addition  , people with this condition have a harder time hearing when there is ambient noise. In other cases, they may think that certain sounds are louder than they actually are.

Depending on the cause,  there are other common symptoms of hearing loss. One of the most common symptoms is pain in the ears. In addition, if the balance nerve is damaged, you may also experience dizziness.

It can be difficult to communicate if you have hearing loss without receiving treatment. It can also have other emotional consequences, such as depression.

Treatment

You need to know the cause before you can treat hearing loss. Then doctors can recommend the best treatment depending on the type.

Treatment of conductive hearing loss

If the cause is a blockage of earwax, your doctor will remove it. If there is damage to the chain of bones, they can repair or remove it. However, if the problem is otitis media, they will give antibiotics. If there is fluid from an infection, doctors will also drain it.

For a damaged eardrum, such as from a ruptured eardrum or scars from infections, doctors can repair or replace them.

It is always possible to insert leg-anchored hearing aids. They capture the vibrations of sounds in the air and transmit them to the inner ear. Then they can fix the problems in the middle ear.

Treatment of sensorineural hearing loss

In these cases, the causes are usually not recoverable. You may therefore need to get an implant that does the work for you. There are also therapeutic options, as well as non-implantable prosthetic treatments.

In other words, you can get a hearing aid. They modify sounds depending on the specific needs of the patient. In general, there are two types of hearing aids:

• Cochlear implant. These replace the function of the cochlea.
• Brain stem implant. They stimulate this area, without sound having to go through the inner ear or the auditory nerve.

Lastly, keep in mind that the only person who can give you the best treatment is a professional with the appropriate training for it.