How Your Body Bounces Back From Injury and Illness
The physical body can typically heal scratches, cuts, and broken bones, though some injuries take longer than others.
But you’re out of luck when it pertains to repairing the tiny little hairs in your ears.
Up to this time, at least.
Animals can heal damage to the cilia in their ears and get their hearing back, but humans don’t have that ability (though scientists are working on it).
That means you could have a permanent loss of hearing if you damage the hearing nerve or those tiny hairs.
When is Hearing Loss Permanent?
Upon discovering hearing loss, the initial concern that frequently emerges is whether the hearing will be restored.
Whether it will or not depends on a number of factors.
There are a couple of fundamental kinds of hearing loss:
- Obstruction-based loss of hearing: When there’s something obstructing your ear canal, you can experience all of the symptoms of hearing loss.
Debris, earwax, and tumors are some of the things that can cause a blockage.
Your hearing typically returns to normal after the blockage is cleared, and that’s the good news. - Damage-related hearing loss: A more common type of hearing impairment, responsible for roughly 90 percent of all cases, is caused by damage instead of other factors.
Clinically known as sensorineural hearing loss, this kind of hearing loss is typically permanent.
The hearing process is triggered by the impact of moving air on tiny hairs in the ear which send sound waves to the brain.
These vibrations are then modified, by your brain, into signals that you hear as sound.
But your hearing can, over time, be permanently harmed by loud noises.
Injury to the inner ear or nerve can also cause sensorineural hearing loss.
In certain instances of extreme hearing loss, a cochlear implant may have the ability to enhance hearing function.
A hearing test will help you determine whether hearing aids will help strengthen your hearing.
Treatment of Hearing Loss
There is presently no cure for sensorineural hearing loss.
Treatment for your hearing loss might, however, be a possibility.
Benefits of correct treatment for your well-being:
- Ensure your general quality of life is unaffected or remains high.
- Successfully manage any symptoms of hearing loss that you might be experiencing.
- Preserve and safeguard the hearing you still have.
- Preserve relations and community participation to avoid feelings of isolation and disconnection.
- Prevent mental degeneration.
The type of treatment you obtain for your hearing loss will differ depending on the extent of the issue.
One of the most common treatment solutions is quite simple: hearing aids.
What Role do Hearing Aids Play in Dealing With Hearing Loss?
Individuals who cope with hearing loss can use hearing aids to help them perceive sounds, allowing them to work as effectively as they can.
Fatigue happens when the brain needs to work overtime to process sound.
Scientists have come to realize that extended mental inactivity presents a considerable danger to mental health, as new findings clarify the importance of ongoing mental stimulation.
Hearing aids help you restore your cognitive function by allowing your ears to hear again.
In fact, utilizing hearing aids has been shown to slow cognitive decline by as much as 75%.
Modern hearing aids will also allow you to focus on what you want to hear while tuning out background sounds.
The Best Defense is Prevention
Maintaining your hearing is crucial as once it’s lost, it’s often irretrievable. Certainly, if you get something stuck in your ear canal, you can probably have it cleared.
But that doesn’t reduce the danger posed by loud sounds that you may not think are loud enough to be all that harmful.
That’s why making the effort to protect your ears is a smart plan.
If you are ever diagnosed with hearing loss in the future, you will have more treatment options if you take steps to protect your hearing now.
Receiving treatment can allow you to lead a fulfilling life, even if complete recovery is not achievable.
Consult with our professional audiologist to discover the most practical solution for your unique hearing needs.