Symptoms And Treatment For Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is gradually manifested by progressive hearing impairments. In fact, there are a few steps your body needs to take to hear correctly. In the following, we will discuss the symptoms and the main treatment for hearing loss.
Sound enters through the ear canal. It strikes the eardrum and makes it vibrate. The vibration moves to a tiny chain of bones that simulates the cochlea (membranous snail).
Inside the cochlea, there are several cells that turn these vibrations into energy. The energy moves through the auditory nerve to the brainstem in the form of a nerve impulse. From there, it reaches the cerebral cortex. Finally, you will hear a sound.
The nature of hearing loss depends on the part of the process in which a problem occurs.
Types of hearing loss
There are two main types of hearing loss: conductive and sensorineural. If the outer ear and middle ear (eardrum and small bones) suffer trauma, hearing loss is conductive. In case of sensorineural hearing loss, the cochlea, the acoustic nerve, the brainstem or the cerebral cortex may be damaged.
Symptoms of hearing loss
It usually takes a long time for people to detect this condition. This is due to the fact that the body tries to compensate for the deficiency in several ways. There is a wide range of changes related to hearing loss.
The main symptom is the difficulty of hearing certain types of sounds. In general, low-intensity sounds are harder to hear when conductive hearing loss. If you are affected by sensorineural hearing loss, it is difficult for you to distinguish sounds, but you can hear their intensity.
It is usually harder for you to hear the sharp sounds. Because of this, it is harder to hear female voices than male ones. In addition, people with this problem have difficulty hearing environmental noise. In other cases, they may think that certain sounds are louder than they really are.
Depending on the cause, there are other common symptoms of hearing loss. One of the most common is ear pain. In addition, if the balance receptors are damaged, dizziness and dizziness may occur.
If left untreated, hearing loss can make communication difficult. It can also have emotional consequences, such as depression.
Hearing loss treatment
To treat hearing loss, its cause must be discovered. Then, depending on the type, doctors may recommend the best treatment.
Conductive hearing loss treatment
If the problem that caused the hearing loss is a wax plug, doctors will remove it. If small bones are damaged, they can be repaired or replaced. If the problem is otitis, doctors will prescribe antibiotics. Also, if there is an accumulation of fluid due to an infection, doctors will drain it.
In the case of the eardrum damaged due to a perforation or scar caused by an infection, doctors can repair or replace it.
There is also the option of implanting hearing aids. They capture the vibrations produced by the sounds in the air and transfer them to the inner ear.
Sensorineural hearing loss treatment
