Hearing loss is a common sensory problem that generally develops with increasing age or due to prolonged or persistent exposure to loud noises. It is one of the most typical problems that occurs throughout the world. If you are suffering from partial hearing loss, you may find ways of keeping in touch with your family and friends. If you are not suffering from such the following may help you keep your hearing intact for years to come.

Types of hearing loss
There are two main types of hearing loss: 
1. Conductive hearing loss where the problem lies in the middle ear, eardrum or ossicles. A conductive hearing loss affects the passage of sound between the eardrum and the inner ear. Sound passes down the ear canal to the ear drum and through the middle ear, where the sound is transmitted across the middle ear by the three bones called the ossicles to the inner ear.

Causes of conductive hearing loss:
1. Malformation of outer ear, ear canal, or middle ear structures
2. Fluid in the middle ear from colds
3. Ear infection (otitis media - an infection of the middle ear in which an accumulation of fluid may interfere with the movement of the eardrum and ossicles
4. Allergies
5. Poor eustachian tube function
6. Perforated eardrum
7. Benign tumors
8. Impacted earwax
9. Infection in the ear canal
10. Foreign body in the ear
11. Otosclerosis

2. Sensorineural hearing loss where there is damage in the inner ear, cochlea or hearing nerve. Sensorineural hearing loss (snhl) occurs when there is damage to the inner ear (cochlea), or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Most of the time, snhl cannot be medically or surgically corrected. This is the most common type of permanent hearing loss.

Causes of sensorineural hearing loss:
1. Exposure to loud noise
2. Head trauma
3. Virus or disease
4. Autoimmune inner ear disease
5. Hearing loss that runs in the family
6. Aging (presbycusis)
7. Malformation of the inner ear
8. Meniere's disease
9. Otosclerosis 
10. Tumors

Coping with hearing loss
Antibiotics and eardrops are often prescribed to treat hearing loss and its symptoms. In many cases, people suffering from severe hearing loss use hearing aids. Hearing aids are tiny instruments that people use in their ears to make sounds louder. People who suffer from hearing loss cope with their problems through increased concentration and focus. The usual way involves reading the moving lips of the person while they talk. Prevention is better than cure and is the best solution to avoid long term hearing loss. Avoiding continuous loud noises, to the possible extent helps prevent hearing loss to a great extent.

All About Hearing Loss

You should consider undertaking a cochlear implant in case you are experiencing hearing loss or are turning deaf. This is a small device that gets planted in your ear through a surgical procedure. It sends impulses to your auditory nerves directly, as a result of which sound signals get carried to your brain. Cochlear implants may not make you hear normally again, but help you with different sounds, and in the recognition of the different sounds around you like alarms, telephones, and door bells.

How it works?

A cochlear implant is fit for children and adults who suffer from the sensorineural hearing loss. This condition damages the tiny hair cells in your inner ear, which is called the cochlea. Hearing becomes impaired when these get damaged.
The device consists of two specific parts. The first part or the receiver-stimulator is placed under your skin via a surgical procedure. The other part of the device is the speech processor. It has to be worn around your neck in the form of a hearing aid.
The external device is, however, larger in size than a usual hearing aid. The receiver gets placed under your skin, behind the ear via a small incision. It is connected to electrodes.
This is inserted into the cochlea of your inner ear. The surgery requires a few hours to be undertaken successfully.
The speech processor has to be placed two weeks after the surgery is undertaken. The processor can be connected to the microphone, and this can be worn around the ear.
You can wear it on any other part of your body, based on your lifestyle and age.
Benefits of cochlear implant
The major benefits of a cochlear implant are as follows:

You might be able to hear speech almost normally.
You will be able to understand speech better, and will not have to depend on lip reading.
It will be much easier and simpler for you to listen to the television and talk over the phone.
You will be able to listen to music better.
You may also be able to pick up various sounds around you that include soft, medium, and loud sounds.
You will be able to control your own voice better. This makes other people understand you better.
If you are suffering from severe hearing loss, a cochlear implant may be able to change your life for the better. However, the results are not the same for all, and vary among people. It is possible for some people to benefit more from such an implant than others. 

Cochlear Implants - 6 Benefits You Must Know!

The sense of hearing is a complex one. The ears are divided into three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. While the outer ear sends the sound to the middle of the ear, the middle ear sends the same to the inner ear through the conductor. The inner ear in turn sends the auditory signal to the brain where the signal is processed and gives rise to a sense of hearing. 

Problems in hearings can arise if there is a problem in any of these parts. However, more often than not it is the middle or inner ear that is affected. However, there may also be situations when there are problems in both the middle and the inner ear. In that case, it is known as a mixed hearing loss. 

What is Mixed Hearing? 

Loss If there is damage to the middle ear, it may precipitate a conductive hearing loss. Now, in addition to that, if there is a sensorineural problem, then it gives rise to mixed hearing. So, in the case of a mixed hearing loss, all the parts of the ear and even the brain may be involved. There may be damage to the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, as well as the auditory nerve. 

Causes of Hearing Loss 

Since mixed hearing loss may result from damage to any part of the ear, it is necessary that the causes be grouped into different categories. 

  Sensorineural Hearing Loss 

Sensorineural loss may result from drugs, different illnesses, head trauma, malformation of the inner ear etc. Genetic predisposition may also precipitate such problems. 

  Conductive Hearing Loss 

Such type of hearing loss may result from excessive deposition of earwax, ear infections, perforation in eardrums, malformation of the middle or outer ear, as well as problems with the fluid in the middle ear. 

Symptoms of Hearing Loss 

Reduced hearing in either or both ears is considered to be delineating symptoms of mixed hearing loss. 

Treatment 

Since mixed hearing loss can result from sensorineural failure as well as damage to outer or middle ear, treatment needs to be divided into different groups too.   To treat Conductive Hearing Loss, doctors can use surgical or medical options. 

  For sensorineural hearing loss, doctors usually prescribe hearing aids. This indicates that treatment for mixed hearing loss may include treatment for conductive hearing loss as well as that for sensorineural hearing loss. So, it is usually a combination of both medical and surgical options. Physicians may prescribe both medicines and hearing aids or resort to surgical interventions and also prescribe hearing aids. Sometimes, physicians use special hearing aids or implants to treat mixed hearing loss. 

Conclusion 

In case a person is sensing reduced hearing in one or both ears, he/she needs to seek medical advice. It may be a symptom of mixed hearing loss. Getting in touch with an experienced physician is the first step towards that.

Mixed Hearing Loss - How To Treat It?

Hearing is one of the five senses that you or anyone else relies on for communication and a whole host of other things. Among the five senses, touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight, it is often hearing, which is the most easily affected. You don't have to be a senior citizen to experience hearing loss as it is quite common among younger people as well. This problem is also getting widespread with each passing day.

Before coping with hearing loss, the first job is to detect it
If you have a hunch that you or any of your loved ones is suffering from hearing loss, it is important that you get it diagnosed. Some of the common symptoms of hearing loss will be:

 Hearing difficulties while talking to someone over the phone
 Straining to hear conversations with family members or friends in household situations 
 People usually need to repeat what they talk to you with a louder voice
 You often hear complaints that you keep the tv too loud.
 In crowded situations, such as family gatherings or a restaurant, you have problems listening to people.

Although this condition tends to affect senior citizens, an increasing trend shows younger people i. E. People mostly in their 40 and 50s and even younger than that suffer from this condition.

How to deal with hearing loss?
Some of the options to deal with hearing loss are mentioned below.

 Once diagnosed with hearing problems, change your ways of communication: if you or your loved ones have been diagnosed with hearing problems, it is important that both adjust your ways to deal with the problem. Rather than getting angry at the other for not being able to communicate effectively, develop and strategize ways to make communication less problematic and erratic.
 Cochlear implants: this is a newer technology, which has gained popularity in the past decade or so. These are directly implanted into the inner ear and are designed to bypass the damaged areas of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. These have become very popular, although, are not a replacement of natural hearing. It is only prescribed for people who have severe hearing loss or are deaf.
 Hearing aids: although selecting a hearing aid is difficult as the patient needs to be comfortable, once selected it is one of the best solutions for the hearing impaired. The functionality of these devices can be extended with the hearing assistive technology or hat devices that can focus the audio waves depending on the situations and give a more tailored approach for every individual's needs.

Dealing With Hearing Loss

Did you know your earphones are making you deaf? Here's how.

Fact: Roughly 1.1 billion people worldwide within the age group of 12-35 have been found to be at an increased risk of developing hearing problems.

Listening to loud music on handheld devices using earphones has become a common trend among youngsters these days. You might find it very relaxing to plug in your earphones and escape into your own world of music, but you need to know that this can cause serious damage to your ears. The worst part: you won't realise your ears are being damaged until it's too late.

So, exactly how is loud music damaging your ears?

Continuous exposure to loud music from earphones or other sources results in a medical condition known as Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), which can be associated with irreversible damage to the ears resulting in deafness.

When you hear loud music for a considerable amount of time every day it affects your hair cells (nerve cells responsible for sending sound signals to the brain) negatively, so that their ability to respond to sound decreases. If this keeps on happening for many months, eventually the hair cells are damaged beyond repair. These cells cannot be regenerated, making you permanently deaf.

How loud is too loud?

If your ears are exposed to sounds at 95, 100, 105, 110 and 115 dB (decibel, the unit used for measuring sound) for 4 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour, 30 minutes and 15 minutes each day respectively, your ears are at risk of getting severely damaged. Also, playing music at 120 dB or above can damage your ears instantly. You can have a realistic idea about the relation between decibels and sounds you commonly hear by referring to this list:

30 dB: soft whisper
75 dB: busy traffic
90 dB: noise of a motorcycle at 25 feet
100 dB: noise of a farm tractor
140 dB: jet plane taking off
Moreover, if you experience the following symptoms regularly, there's a high chance that you need to get your ears treated soon:

A ringing sound in your ears when you are at a quiet place, which vanishes after a few minutes
You need to raise the volume of TV or music to the fullest to hear it properly
You have difficulty in hearing people talking at a distance of just 3 feet
Tips For Safer Listening

Use earplugs: The louder the noise and the longer you're exposed to it, the greater the chance of damaging your hearing. Protect your ears with ear protectors   earplugs or earmuffs   and get away from the noise as quickly or as often as you can. 
Turn down the music: Don't listen to your personal music player at very high volumes and never to drown out background noise. If the music is uncomfortable for you to listen to, or you can t hear external sounds when you ve got your headphones on, then it's too loud. It's also too loud if the person next to you can hear the music from your headphones.
Use the 60:60 rule: To enjoy music from your MP3 player safely, listen to your music at 60% of the maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes a day. 
Wear headphones: When listening to your personal music player, choose noise-cancelling headphones, or go retro with older muff-type headphones. Ear-bud style headphones and in-the-ear headphones are less effective at drowning out background noise. 
Turn down the dial: Turn down the volume on your TV, radio or hi-fi a notch. Even a small reduction in volume can make a big difference to the risk of damage to your hearing. 
Use earplugs when you re listening to live music: They can reduce average sound levels by between 15 and 35 decibels. They re widely available at many live music venues and shouldn t spoil your enjoyment of the music.
Don't put up with work noise: If you re experiencing noise at work, talk to your human resources (HR) department or your manager and ask for advice on reducing the noise and getting hearing protection.
Wear ear protectors: Wear ear protectors (earplugs or earmuffs) if you are using noisy equipment such as power drills, saws, sanders or lawn mowers.
Be careful in the car: Listening to music in a confined space increases the risk of hearing damage. Don t listen to music too loud for too long.
Have a hearing detox: Give your ears time to recover after they ve been exposed to loud noise. According to Action on Hearing Loss, you need at least 16 hours of rest for your ears to recover after spending around two hours in 100dB sound, for example in a club. Reducing this recovery time increases the risk of permanent deafness.

Your Headphones Can Turn You Deaf!! 

SSHL is not like any other normal hear-loss trouble. Rather it is quite a severe condition. Sudden deafness can occur at any time due to several reasons. This trouble does not affect both the ears rather only one specific ear is usually affected, and thus this is one of the prominent signs that can help the doctors to understand that SSHL has occurred. 


What are the leading causes of this hearing loss?

    Head injury: If you have faced any severe kind of head injury ever, then it might bring SSHL. This is why you are suggested to get necessary treatment on time so that this kind of hearing loss can be avoided.
    Loud-noise exposure: If your ears are exposed to louder noises or sounds in a consistent manner, then there is a greater possibility of the occurrence of this hearing loss. Thus, you should stay away from unwanted noises. 
    Ageing: With the increase in age, hearing power slowly decreases. However, if you take proper precautions from the very beginning, then SSHL can be definitely avoided. 
    Blood-circulation troubles: Interrupted blood-circulation creates different physical troubles out of which hearing loos is one of the most prominent one. And if timely treatment is not provided, then it might get converted into SSHL. 
    Ototoxic medication: This kind of medication should not be continued for long without doctor's prescription otherwise SSHL might occur. 
    Lyme disease: This is a kind of disease, which occurs due to tick bites and this is pretty infectious in nature. Apart from that, this disease is now considered as one of the main sources of SSHL. 

How to evaluate this hearing loss? 

    History analysis: The history of the patient needs to be known first otherwise SSHL cannot be perfectly treated. If the history shows that the patient already has an existing trouble of ear loss for which SSHL has been proven, then in accordance with the same the treatment can be prescribed. 
    Laboratory and imaging: Laboratory analysis is one of the main methods for evaluating SSHL and necessary images of the ears boost the potentiality and importance of this kind of analysis to a great extent. 
    Quick evaluation: This kind of medical evaluation is mainly made on the basis of the symptoms. The doctors often follow the signs thoroughly in order to determine as to whether the patients have SSHL or not. This evaluation is highly supported by different medical tests that are prescribed by the doctor.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Causes and Evaluation

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