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!

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

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

Usher syndrome is a genetic disorder that is characterized by complications in vision and hearing; the most common of them being partial/complete loss of hearing and retinitis pigmentosa. Retinitis pigmentosa is characterized by progressive deterioration of the retina, resulting in deprivation of peripheral vision and subsequent night blindness.

The symptoms and its rate of progression usually vary among people. Usher syndrome is classified into three types:

Type 1: In this type, children are born with balance issues and hearing loss problems. The symptoms of night blindness and loss of peripheral vision associated with  Retinitis Pigmentosa  only appear in the early stages of adolescence.
Type 2: In type 2, children are born with moderate to mild hearing loss problems. Retinitis Pigmentosa develops soon after the child reaches adolescence.
Type 3: In type 3 Usher Syndrome, children are usually born with normal hearing skills, however, loss of hearing and Retinitis pigmentosa occur soon after puberty.
Causes
Hearing loss in Usher syndrome occurs when the nerve cells that are present in the cochlear (inner ear s spiral cavity) are affected by genetic mutation. A similar problem occurs in the cells of the retina leading to loss of vision. These cells allow conversion of light into electrical signals for the brain to interpret them. Both the parents need to pass the mutated gene to the child for it to be affected. If the child has only one gene, then he/she rarely develops the symptoms.

Treatment
This disorder does not have any prescribed course of treatments. The vision loss that occurs in this disorder can be slowed down by nutritional therapy. This therapy involves providing the body with essential amounts of vitamin A which can help in reducing vision loss.

Usher Syndrome - Things You Must Know!

Hearing has a deep impact on your life. It determines the kind of life you are going to lead. It has been found by various studies and surveys that hearing aids drastically improve the quality of life you lead. It is the much needed relief to a life, burdened by the stress and strains of living with hearing impairment. The hearing aids are not just instruments. This is a way to live a life of dignity. According to the Evaluation of the Social and Economic Costs of Hearing Impairment report, hearing loss leads to socio and economic stress in ones  life in major continents like Europe, Australia and the United States.

A research conducted by the National Council on Aging found that over 2,000 people living with hearing impairment or loss experienced positive changes in their respective lives after using hearing aids. They experienced improvements in social, emotional, psychological and physical spheres of life. Furthermore, a US study claims that nine in ten people using hearing aid say that their life has changed for the better after using the aids. It can also be said that hearing aid users lead a better life than non-users of these aids.

How these aids better your life?
Hearing aids gift you a life of expressions and dignity. They can connect you to the rest of the world and empower you to maintain your individualism. You are empowered to make your point in front of others and understand their perspectives too. Here s what a hearing aid can do for you:

Users of hearing aids have a better life as they have improved cognitive functioning. The family members claim that the users of these aids become more interactive. They are lesser of an introvert than the non-users.

It improves the social life of user. He or she can participate in group activities and their family and other ties or relationships go smooth. There is no communication gap.
Hearing aids build up your confidence. You regain your lost dignity and faith on your abilities. Hearing loss kicks you to a life of loneliness, alienation and leaves you with low confidence levels.
It helps you in having better psychological functioning. It keeps you away from psychological problems like depression, personality disorders and over-all absurd behavioural changes.
It improves the understanding in closer or personal relationships. The warmth in a relationship is regained or bettered with effective communication.

Hearing Aids - How Can They Improve Quality of Life?

Your hearing is one of the most important function your body carries out and sometimes you realize that you are losing your sense of hearing, when it is too late to get it back. There are two main reasons for this. One of the reason is age  and the other is when the inner ear's hair cells break down and do not pick up sound well. Here are 7 ways to safeguard your hearing.

1. Try to avoid loud places
It is not advisable to go to places where you have to shout to be heard, such as in a street, a concert or a construction site.

2. Buy low noise rating equipment
The equipments in your house will make sound that you hear the most. Try to avoid these equipments by buying appliances with a low noise rating.

3. Wear hearing protection at loud places
However, it is true that it is not always possible to avoid loud noises. This is when you need to get hearing protection. Earplugs and earmuffs are two of the best ways to make sure that even when you are in a loud place, your hearing does not get affected. Earplugs and earmuffs generally reduce sound by 15 to 30 decibels, which may be crucial to make sure that later in your life, you do not lose your hearing.

4. Avoid smoke
Smoking raises your chance of hearing loss. Second hand smoke does the same thing. Therefore, try to avoid, both smoking and secondhand smoking. 

5. Remove earwax properly
Earwax cannot be removed properly using a cotton swab. Instead, you should use an irrigation kit. Remember this as otherwise; the earwax could muffle your hearing.

6. Avoid medications which reduce hearing
Certain medications increase hearing loss. Therefore, double check with your doctor to make sure your medicines will not make you lose your hearing.

7. Get your hearing tested
Finally, get your hearing tested as identifying the problem early on can help stop worsen the situation.

7 Tips to Safeguard Your Hearing

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