Hearing loss can be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. A patient with a mild hearing impedance may have issues understanding conversation, particularly if there is a great deal of noise around, while those with moderate deafness may require an assistive listening device.
Many people who are hard of hearing depend on lip-reading when speaking with others. Individuals who have severe hearing loss have a hard time hearing conversations and often rely on lip reading and gestures to communicate.
How does hearing function?
Sound waves enter the ear, through the ear canal until they reach the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. The vibrations from the eardrum are transmitted to three tiny bones known as the ossicles, which are located in the middle ear.
These ossicles amplify the vibrations, which are then received by little hair-like cells in the cochlea.
The hair cells move as the vibrations reach them, and they convert the vibrations into electrical signals that are sent to the brain.. The brain receives and processes the signals, which allows an individual to recognize it as sound.
Conductive hearing loss
This implies that the sounds are not able to make it from our external ear to the inner ear, explicitly to the cochlea. This sort of issue can happen for a variety of reasons.
Ear diseases can leave scar tissue, which may lessen the eardrum’s ability to perform its functions at optimal levels. The ossicles may also get debilitated and damaged because of contamination, injury, or may be affected by a condition known ankylosis.
Sensorineural hearing loss
Hearing loss is brought about by a variety of issues within the ear. Sensorineural hearing loss is most commonly caused by excessive exposure to noise and aging.
This sort of hearing loss is regularly associated with damaged hair cells in the cochlea. As people age and are exposed to loud noises, hair cells can get damaged and lose some of their sensitivity or ability to respond to sound waves, resulting in hearing loss.
Prolonged exposure to loud noises, especially when it is consistent or recurring, can cause damage to the hair cells and hearing over time. Dead hair cells can’t be regenerated. Researchers are investigating a variety of ways to utilize undifferentiated organisms to develop ideas and ways to generate new hair cells in hopes of improving hearing.
Mixed hearing loss
This condition occurs when an individual has both conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss. Ear infections can have long term effects and can harm both the eardrum and the ossicles. Now and again, careful assessment and treatment may reestablish some hearing ability.
Prelingual deafness
A person with prelingual deafness was born into the world with an innate distortion of hearing or will have lost some or all of their hearing during the earliest stages of life, before they learn speech and language.
In most cases, individuals with prelingual deafness have hearing guardians and kin. Many individuals with prelingual deafness are introduced to families who know gesture-based communication. They will in general have moderate language advancement due to this exposure and learning.
Introducing cochlear implants to help with hearing before the age of four can make a great and effective impact in language development in children.
Oral language and the capacity to utilize meaningful gestures are firmly interrelated when considering how we communicate with others. That is the reason children with hearing loss, particularly those with more moderate to severe loss, may encounter postponed language development and struggle in other academic and social situations.
Thus, children with prelingual deafness often become socially isolated and are integrated into classrooms that can better accommodate their needs.
Post-lingual deafness
Most people with hearing loss have post-lingual deafness. They learned speech and language before their hearing was damaged or even lost. A medical condition, medication , injury, or infection may have caused their hearing loss.
For most people with post-lingual deafness, hearing loss takes place gradually over time.
Individuals who experience hearing loss face various difficulties, contingent upon when their hearing loss affects them and how often they encounter those situations. Some individuals may need to consider hearing aids and others may consider a medical procedure if it is a good fit for their condition. However, all individuals with hearing loss will need to learn new ways to better communicate, which may include hand gestures, lip reading, and utilizing different hearing devices.
Many individuals with hearing loss feel a sense of detachment, isolation and can often lead to increased feelings of sadness and depression. Individuals who feel like they are starting to notice hearing loss should address their hearing early and regularly To avoid more serious and devastating issues related to untreated hearing loss. Untreated hearing loss may present difficulties not only for the individual experiencing the loss, but for families, friends, and colleagues that they interact with on a regular basis.
However, there are several innovative methods, technologies and mobile apps, like AudioCardio that hope to help improve your situation. Learn more about AudioCardio and clinically proven Threshold Sound Conditioning technology by visiting www.audiocardio.com.
