Your Body’s Ability to Recover
While some injuries take longer to heal than others, the human body generally has no problem mending cuts, scrapes, or broken bones. But you’re out of luck when it comes to repairing the tiny little hairs in your ears. At least, so far. Animals are capable of healing damage to the cilia in their ears and get their hearing back, but humans don’t possess that ability (although scientists are working on it). That means you could have permanent loss of hearing if you damage the hearing nerve or those little hairs.
When Is Loss of Hearing Irreversible?
When you learn you have hearing loss, the first thing that most people ask is will it come back? And the answer is, it depends. There are two fundamental kinds of hearing loss:
- Hearing loss caused by damage: But there’s another, more prevalent kind of hearing loss that accounts for nearly 90 percent of hearing loss. This sort of hearing loss, which is often irreversible, is known as sensorineural hearing loss. Here’s how it works: there are little hairs in your ear that vibrate when hit by moving air (sound waves). These vibrations are then turned, by your brain, into impulses that you hear as sound. But loud noises can cause damage to the hairs and, over time, permanently diminish your hearing. Sensorineural hearing loss can also be caused by injury to the nerve or to the inner ear. A cochlear implant may help restore hearing in some cases of hearing loss, specifically severe cases.
- Obstruction based hearing loss: You can exhibit all the signs of hearing loss when there is something blocking your ear canal. This obstruction can be caused by a wide range of things, from debris to earwax to tumors. Your hearing normally returns to normal after the blockage is cleared, and that’s the good news.
A hearing examination will help you determine whether hearing aids will help improve your hearing.
Treatment of Hearing Loss
So presently there’s no cure for sensorineural hearing loss. But that’s doesn’t mean you can’t get treatment for your hearing loss. The following are some ways that getting the right treatment can help you:
- Preserve and protect the hearing you still have.
- Prevent cognitive decline.
- Keep isolation at bay by staying socially engaged.
- Guarantee your overall quality of life remains high or is unaffected.
- Cope successfully with the symptoms of hearing loss you may be suffering from.
Based on how extreme your hearing loss is, this procedure can take on many forms. One of the most common treatment options is pretty simple: hearing aids.
Why Are Hearing Aids an effective Treatment for Hearing Loss?
Hearing aids assist the ear with hearing loss to pick up sounds and function to the best of their ability. When your hearing is hindered, the brain struggles to hear, which can fatigue you. As scientist gain more insights, they have recognized an increased chance of mental decline with a continued lack of cognitive input. Your cognitive function can begin to be restored by using hearing aids because they allow your ears hear again. In fact, using hearing aids has been demonstrated to slow cognitive decline by as much as 75%. Background noise can also be tuned out by contemporary hearing aids letting you concentrate on what you want to hear.
The Best Defense Is Prevention
Hopefully, if you get one thing from this information, it this: you should safeguard the hearing you’ve got because you can’t count on recovering from loss of hearing. Certainly, if you have something blocking your ear canal, more than likely you can have it removed. But that doesn’t decrease the risk from loud sounds, noises you may not even consider to be loud enough to be all that dangerous. That’s why taking the time to safeguard your ears is a good plan. If you are eventually diagnosed with loss of hearing, you will have more treatment options if you take steps today to protect your hearing. Recovery won’t likely be an option but treatment can help you keep living a great, full life. To determine what your best option is, schedule an appointment with a hearing care professional.