This is a collaborative post.
When we think of hearing loss, the majority of us will automatically think of the elderly. Now, while many types of hearing loss can be to do with ageing, it’s important to bear in mind that you can experience problems with your auditory health at any point in your life. Very important that, you should never try to clean your ear by yourself as this can cause serious damages, but find an ear cleaning clinic like Auris Ear Care. If you were to experience problems with your hearing, you’d have to make all sorts of changes to your lifestyle. You’d have to find new ways to communicate with people, perhaps learning sign language if issues were extremely serious. However, the good news is that there are a few different ways to prevent certain types of hearing loss, or to at least improve your experience of the symptoms associated with certain types of hearing loss. So, let’s take a quick look at everything you could possibly need to know on the subject!
Things to Watch Out For
Loss of hearing can range from mild issues to a complete loss of your sense of hearing. It’s also important to remember that issues can often creep up on you, slowly getting worse rather than you waking up one morning suddenly unable to hear. More often than not, people will experience a gradual deterioration of their sense of sound. The four main types of hearing loss are referred to as: conductive, neural, sensorineural, and mixed. Here’s how to recognise each.
Conductive Hearing Loss
Conductive hearing loss is most often caused by ear infections (both outer and middle infections). It can also be attributed to earwax blockage, fixation of the middle ear bones, deterioration of the middle ear bones, a hole in the eardrum or perhaps (in rare cases), the complete absence of features of the middle or outer ear. Symptoms associated with this type of hearing loss include sounds being muffled, low, or quiet.
Neural Hearing Loss
If your auditory nerve is missing, damage, or deemed abnormal, you may be found to suffer from neural hearing loss. This nerve’s role is to carry messages from the cochlea in your ear to your brain. While this can be attributed to genetics or in-utero exposure to infections, it could also be the result of acoustic tumours.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
If you are finding that others’ speech sounds muffled, you have signs of tinnitus, or difficulty focusing on background noise, you may be suffering from sensorineural hearing loss. This occurs when you experience problems with the receptors in your ears. The hair cells in your ears play a huge role in allowing you to listen effectively and these may have become damaged as you have aged.
Mixed Hearing Loss
Mixed hearing loss is a mixture of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.
If you find that you are suffering from any of these conditions, don’t worry. There are ways to experience a full and happy life while living with them. Just remember to contact your doctor as soon as possible!
Potential Treatments
While many hearing issues cannot be treated as such, there are plenty of different state of the art hearing aids out there that can help you hear better. To find the best aid for you, make sure to contact a consultant or professional audiologist who will be able to determine exactly what aids you need.
Finding the Right Audiologist
Of course, to be certain in your diagnosis and to get the best advice possible, you’re going to have to find the best audiologist in your local vicinity. Look up reviews and ask others for recommendations!
Sure, hearing isn’t the sense that the majority of us prioritise the most and many of us will avoid seeking help until we’ve experienced significant hearing loss. Avoid this – seek help as soon as you notice any changes in your hearing ability!
