Your Body’s Ability to Recover
The human body typically can heal scrapes, cuts, and broken bones, even though some injuries take longer than others. But you’re out of luck when it comes to repairing the tiny little hairs in your ears. At least, so far. Although scientists are working on it, humans don’t repair the cilia in their ears like animals can. That means you could have permanent loss of hearing if you injure the hearing nerve or those little hairs.
When Is Loss of Hearing Irreversible?
The first thing you think of when you find out you have hearing loss is, will I get it back? And the response is, it depends. Basically, there are two types of hearing loss:
- Loss of hearing caused by damage: But there’s another, more widespread type of hearing loss that makes up nearly 90 percent of hearing loss. This type of hearing loss, which is usually permanent, is known as sensorineural hearing loss. Here’s what takes place: When hit by moving air (sound waves), tiny little hairs in your ears move. Your brain is good at turning these vibrations into the sounds you hear. But your hearing can, over time, be permanently damaged by loud noises. Sensorineural hearing loss can also be caused by injury to the nerve or to the inner ear. A cochlear implant can help improve hearing in some cases of hearing loss, particularly severe cases.
- Blockage based loss of hearing: You can show all the signs of hearing loss when there is something obstructing your ear canal. This obstruction can be caused by a wide range of things, from earwax to debris to tumors. The good news is that after the obstruction is cleared your hearing often goes back to normal.
A hearing examination will help you figure out whether hearing aids will help improve your hearing.
Treatment of Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss currently has no cure. But it might be possible to get treatment for your hearing loss. In fact, getting the proper treatment for your hearing loss can help you:
- Prevent mental decline.
- Guarantee your all-around quality of life is unaffected or remains high.
- Successfully deal with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you might be suffering from.
- Preserve and protect the hearing you still have.
- Keep isolation away by staying socially engaged.
This treatment can have many forms, and it’ll usually depend on how severe your loss of hearing is. One of the most common treatments is pretty simple: hearing aids.
How is Hearing Loss Treated by Hearing Aids
Hearing aids help the ear with hearing loss to hear sounds and perform the best they can. When your hearing is hampered, the brain struggles to hear, which can exhaust you. As scientist gain more knowledge, they have identified a greater chance of cognitive decline with a continued lack of cognitive input. By allowing your ears to hear again, hearing aids assist the restoration of mental function. as a matter of fact, it has been shown that wearing hearing aids can slow cognitive decline by as much as 75%. Background sound can also be drowned out by modern hearing aids enabling you to concentrate on what you want to hear.
The Best Defense Is Prevention
If you get one thing from this little lesson, hopefully, it’s this: you should protect the hearing you’ve got because you can’t count on recovering from hearing loss. Sure, if you have something blocking your ear canal, more than likely you can have it cleared. But lots of loud noises are hazardous even though you may not think they are that loud. That’s why it’s not a bad idea to take the time to safeguard your ears. If you are inevitably diagnosed with hearing loss, you will have more treatment possibilities if you take measures today to safeguard your hearing. Recovery likely won’t be an option but treatment can help you continue living a great, full life. Make an appointment with a hearing care professional to find out what your best choice is.