Most of the people who suffer from some kind of hearing loss can be helped with a medical or surgical therapy or at least with a hearing aid. There are two types of hearing loss that are commonly known. Conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss are the two types. A conductive hearing loss results from an external ear disorder or a middle ear disorder such as otitis media or an otosclerosis. A sensorineural hearing loss is as a result of damage to the cochlea or the vestibulcochlear nerve. There are functional and mixed hearing losses, which are rarer, where in mixed hearing loss there is both conductive as well as sensorineural hearing loss. In the functional hearing loss, there is non organic cause and it is unrelated to detectable structural changes in the hearing mechanisms.
The cause of the hearing loss is very important in the treatment of the condition because if the fact that any person who is suffering from this kind of hearing loss should make sure that they get it identified by an audiologist as early as possible. When the initial identification of the condition is done, it will help the people to be treated early and also according to the cause of the hearing loss.
Early manifestation of hearing impairment may include tinnitus, increasing inability to hear in groups and the need to turn up the volume in television. Hearing impairment can also trigger changes in the personality and attitude, the ability to communicate, the awareness of the surroundings and even the ability to protect ones life thereby affecting the persons quality of life. Often it is not the person with the hearing loss but those around them are the ones who identify the impairment first.
The severity of hearing loss can range from mild to profound and this can be prevented if we take certain measures. Many environmental factors have an influence over the auditor system and the most common is noise. Noise is one of the environmental hazard causing hearing loss. Loud noise can cause constriction of peripheral blood vessels, increased blood pressure and heart rate and increased gastrointestinal activity and it affects the overall human body. Noise induced hearing loss or acoustic trauma where the hair cells in the organ of corti are destroyed can be prevented by avoiding exposure to excessive noise levels. With ageing certain changes occur in the ear that may lead to certain hearing deficits. Even with some medications such as Aspirin and Gentamicin which has ototoxic effects hearing loss can occur. When a hearing problem occurs an early evaluation is warranted. If the hearing loss is permanent it aural rehabilitation can be given.
Unilateral hearing loss:
There is one more kind of hearing loss that is also very common in people and that is the unilateral hearing loss. This may be mild in some people and can be severe in other people. In those who have mild hearing loss in one ear, it may not be identified very easily. On the other hand, when the hearing loss is pronounced in one ear, then it can lead to various hearing issues and can also be identified easily. Once it has been identified, the treatment is done by routing the hearing aid in such a way that the sound in the side of the hearing impaired ear is rerouted to the normal ear and so the person is able to hear.
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