Hearing loss is a disorder that mostly occurs when you age and is a common issue in older people. But it can impact an individual at any age and can be caused by diseases, heredity issues, and noises. Individuals with hearing loss have a difficult time having a conversation with family and friends, responding to the warning, hearing alarms and doorbells, etc. If hearing problems are not treated in a timely manner, then the situation can get worse.
What Are The Types of Hearing Loss?
Following are the types of hearing loss:
- Conductive Hearing Loss
This type of loss is caused by an obstruction in the middle or outer ear. This may be the result of an ear tumor, fluid retention, earwax, or ear formation. This disorder prevents the sound from getting inside the inner ear. It can be treated either through medicine or surgery.
- Sensorineural Hearing Loss
This type of hearing is loss experienced by most of the people. It is caused by the damage in inner ear nerves or hair cells. This could be a result of noise damage, age, or any other factor. This type of hearing loss affects the pathways between the inner ear and brain. These are not generally treated surgically or medically, but treated through hearing aids.
- Mixed Hearing Loss
Mixed hearing loss occurs when an individual suffers from both sensorineural hearing and conductive hearing loss. The latter is permanent, whereas the conductive hearing aspect can be either temporary or permanent.
What Are The Symptoms Of Hearing Loss?
Some common symptoms of hearing loss include:
- Muffling in speech
- Trouble hearing consonants
- Difficulty in understanding words
- Watching or listening to TV, radio, etc. at high volume.
- Avoiding social settings
- Withdrawal from ongoing conversations
If you experience loss of hearing in any of the ears, immediately consult a relevant click such as the Gold Coast super clinic.
What Are The Causes Of Hearing Loss?
Following are some of the prominent causes associated with hearing loss:
- Wax buildup: Earwax can restrict the ear canal and hinder the conduction of sound waver. Removing ear wax may help in restoring the hearing loss.
- Ruptured eardrums:Extremely loud noises, sudden pressure changes, infection, and poking of the eardrum with any object can result in ruptured eardrums that can impact the hearing.
- Ear infection, irregular growth in the bone or tumors:Any of these issues in the outer ear or middle ear can result in hearing loss.
- Damage to Inner Ear: Aging process and prolonged exposure to loud noises can result in wear and tear on the nerve cells or hair present in the cochlea. It is responsible for transmitting sound signals to your brain. When there is damage to these nerve cells, the electrical signals are not able to get transmitted properly, thereby resulting in hearing loss.
Hearing loss affects approximately one in seven people in Australia. It can have a serious impact on the quality of your life. Older individuals suffering from it are also reported as being depressed as they feel isolated because of this.
In order to protect yourself from hearing loss, you should limit the time your ears are exposed to loud noises. Additionally, also get your ear tested on a regular basis to ensure everything is healthy. This also allows early detection of any defect and timely treatment of the same.