The human body has some fantastic and surprising abilities. Scratches, cuts, and broken bones are generally no problem for the human body to mend (with a little time, your body can heal the giant bones in your arms and legs).
But you won’t be so fortunate if the delicate hairs in your ears are damaged. For now anyway.
It doesn’t seem exactly fair when you can recover from major bone injuries but you have problems repairing tiny hairs in your ear. So what’s the deal?
When is Hearing Impairment Permanent?
So let’s take a closer look. You’re waiting in your doctor’s office and you’re taking in the news: you have hearing loss. So the first question you have is whether the hearing will ever return. And he tells you that it might or it might not.
It’s a bit anticlimactic, speaking dramatically.
But he isn’t wrong. There are two basic types of hearing loss:
- Obstruction induced hearing loss: When there’s something obstructing your ear canal, you can show all the indications of hearing loss. This blockage can be caused by a number of things, from the gross (ear wax) to the downright scary (tumors). Fortunately, once the blockage is removed, your hearing usually returns to normal.
- Damage related hearing loss: But hearing loss has another more common form. This form of hearing loss, known as sensorineural hearing loss, is permanent. This is how it works: there are delicate hairs in your ear that vibrate when hit with moving air (sound waves). Your brain is good at changing these vibrations into the sounds you hear. But loud sounds can cause harm to the hairs and, over time, diminish your hearing to the point where you require treatment.
So the bottom line is this: you can recover from one form of hearing loss and you most likely won’t know which one you have without having a hearing test.
Hearing Loss Treatment
Scientists haven’t discovered a “cure” for sensorineural hearing loss but they’re working on it. But your hearing loss still may be treatable. As a matter of fact, getting the correct treatment for your hearing loss might help you:
- Reduce cognitive decline.
- Successfully manage hearing loss symptoms you may already have.
- Maintain and safeguard the hearing you have left.
- Avoid isolation by staying socially active.
- Maintain a high quality of life.
This treatment can take various forms, and it’ll usually depend on how severe your hearing loss is. Hearing aids are one of the easiest and most prevalent treatment options.
Why Are Hearing Aids a Good Treatment For Hearing Impairment?
Hearing aids can help you return to the people and things you enjoy. They can help you hear the discussions, the phone, your television, or even just the birds in the park. Hearing aids can also take some of the pressure off of your brain because you won’t be straining to hear.
Prevention is The Best Protection
Whether you have hearing loss now or not, you need to protect your hearing from loud sounds and other things that can harm your hearing (like ototoxic drugs). Your overall health and well being depend on strong hearing. Having regular hearing exams is the best way to be certain that you are protecting your hearing.