The Recovery Ability of Your Body
While some wounds take longer to heal than others, the human body generally has no problem mending cuts, scrapes, or broken bones. But when it comes to fixing the tiny little hairs in your ear, you’re out of luck. At least, so far. Even though scientists are working on it, humans can’t heal the cilia in their ears in the same way animals can. That means you could have irreversible hearing loss if you injure the hearing nerve or those little hairs.
At What Point Does Loss of Hearing Become Irreversible?
When you learn you have hearing loss, the first thing that most people think is will I get it back? Whether it will or not depends on several factors. There are two basic types 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. Known clinically as sensorineural hearing loss, this form of hearing loss is usually permanent. This is how it works: When hit by moving air (sound waves), tiny little hairs in your ears vibrate. These vibrations are then changed, by your brain, into signals that you hear as sound. But your hearing can, as time passes, be permanently harmed by loud noises. Sensorineural hearing loss can also be caused by damage to the nerve or to the inner ear. In some cases, particularly in cases of severe hearing loss, a cochlear implant could help return hearing.
- Loss of hearing caused by a blockage: You can exhibit all the signs of hearing loss when there is something obstructing your ear canal. Debris, earwax, and tumors are just a few of the things that can cause a blockage. The good news is that after the blockage is cleared your hearing often returns to normal.
Whether hearing aids will help improve your hearing can only be determined by getting a hearing examination.
Treatment of Hearing Loss
So currently there’s no cure for sensorineural hearing loss. But it may be possible to get treatment for your hearing loss. The following are some ways that getting the correct treatment can help you:
- Cope successfully with the symptoms of hearing loss you may be suffering from.
- Preserve and protect the hearing you still have.
- Stop cognitive decline.
- Stay involved socially, keeping isolation away.
- Ensure your all-around quality of life is unaffected or remains high.
Depending on how severe your loss of hearing is, this procedure can take on many kinds. One of the most common treatment options is fairly simple: hearing aids.
How is Hearing Loss Treated by Hearing Aids
People with hearing loss can use hearing aids to perceive sounds and perform as efficiently as possible. When your hearing is hindered, the brain strains to hear, which can fatigue you. As scientist acquire more insights, they have identified an increased risk of cognitive decline with a continued lack of cognitive input. By letting your ears to hear again, hearing aids help you restore cognitive performance. In fact, it has been demonstrated that using hearing aids can slow cognitive decline by as much as 75%. Modern day hearing aids can also allow you to focus on what you want to hear, and tune out background noises.
Prevention is The Best Defense
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 depend on recovering from loss of hearing. Certainly, you can have any obstruction in your ear cleared. But that doesn’t mitigate the risk from loud noises, noises you might not even consider to be loud enough to really be all that harmful. That’s why it’s not a bad strategy to take the time to protect your ears. If you are eventually diagnosed with hearing loss, you will have more treatment options if you take steps now to safeguard your hearing. Treatment can help you live a great, full life even if recovery isn’t a possibility. Contact a hearing care expert to decide what your best choice is.