Types of Hearing Loss
People of any group can be affected by hearing loss and it causes major challenges in life.
Hearing loss not only affects our physical disability but also affects us mentally. Nowadays modern science has developed significantly and scientists and doctors are making all efforts to cure and prevent hearing loss for the world.
Do you also have any kind of hearing loss or problem related to hearing?
Majorly hearing loss is of three types:
- Conductive hearing loss (involves outer or middle ear)
- Sensorineural hearing loss (affects the inner ear)
- Combined or Mixed hearing loss (combination of the two)
Every affected person or loved one should know how hearing loss occurs and what are the major reasons for hearing loss. It will not only educate and aware the affected persons but also make their hearing loss experience much better in handling it and prevent it from further loosening.
There is also auditory processing and perception disorder (AVWS). All hearing problems reduce a person’s listening ability. It can be mild, moderate, severe and profound. Ageing and chronic exposure to loud noises both contribute to hearing loss. Other factors, such as excessive earwax, can temporarily reduce how well your ears conduct sounds. You can’t reverse most types of hearing loss. However, you and your doctor or a hearing specialist can take steps to improve what you hear.
Conductive Hearing Loss:
When sound vibrations listened to by the ear, are not able to pass through the outer or middle ear of your ear to the inner ear, or cochlea is called conductive hearing loss. All sounds heard thus become weak and/or muffled. This type of hearing loss impaired mechanical sounds and hearing becomes harder on all frequencies.
Conductive hearing loss can be temporary or permanent.
It is temporary when – ossicles (very small bones in the middle ear) are blocked after the otitis media (inflammation in the middle ear). It can be cured by surgery or medication.
Causes of conductive hearing loss:
There are many causes of conductive hearing loss. Your middle or outer ear can be affected by temporary or permanent conductive hearing loss.
A temporary conductive hearing may be caused by,
- The sound which may be blocked by an earwax plug (cerumen obturans), a foreign object located in the ear canal or inflammation of the ear canal (otitis externa).
- In children, It may also be caused by a condition present at birth, such as an irregularity of the small bones of the middle ear. It may resolve with time, and by medication or surgical treatment. If it doesn’t resolve, hearing aids may be required.
Permanent conductive hearing loss is caused by,
- Auricular malformations/Microtia – Microtia is a congenital anomaly that ranges in severity from mild structural abnormalities to the complete absence of the external ear (anotia).
- malformations of the auditory canal
- Chronic middle ear infections or a hole in the eardrum – A hole in the eardrum (called the tympanic membrane) can be caused by trauma, infection, or severe eustachian tube dysfunction.
- Otosclerosis – a disease of the bone that surrounds the inner ear – can also be the cause of permanent conductive hearing loss.
- Cholesteatoma – Skin cells that are present in the middle ear space that is not usually there. When skin is present in the middle ear, it is called cholesteatoma. Cholesteatomas start small as a lump or pocket but can grow and cause damage to the bones.