The Recovery Ability of Your Body
The human body usually can heal scrapes, cuts, and broken bones, although some injuries take longer than others. But when it comes to fixing the tiny little hairs in your ear, you’re out of luck. So far, at least. Although scientists are working on it, humans don’t repair the cilia in their ears like animals can. That means you might have permanent loss of hearing if you damage the hearing nerve or those little hairs.
At What Point Does Loss of Hearing Become Permanent?
When you learn you have hearing loss, the first thing that most people ask is will I get it back? Whether it will or not depends on several things. Basically, there are two kinds of hearing loss:
- Loss of hearing caused by an obstruction: When there’s something obstructing your ear canal, you can show all the signs of hearing loss. Debris, earwax, and tumors are just a few of the things that can cause a blockage. The good news is that once the blockage is cleared your hearing often returns to normal.
- Damage based loss of hearing: But about 90 percent of hearing loss is accounted for by another, more prevalent cause. This sort of hearing loss, which is often permanent, is known as sensorineural hearing loss. This is 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 sounds can damage the hairs and, over time, permanently diminish your hearing. Sensorineural hearing loss can also be from injury to the nerve or to the inner ear. A cochlear implant may help improve hearing in some cases of hearing loss, especially extreme cases.
Whether hearing aids will help restore your hearing can only be figured out by having a hearing exam.
Hearing Loss Treatment
So presently there’s no cure for sensorineural hearing loss. But that’s doesn’t mean you can’t find treatment for your loss of hearing. The following are some ways that getting the correct treatment can help you:
- Successfully deal with the symptoms of hearing loss you may be suffering from.
- Prevent mental decline.
- Ensure your all-around quality of life is unaffected or remains high.
- Preserve and protect the hearing you still have.
- Keep isolation away by staying socially engaged.
Depending on how severe your loss of hearing is, this procedure can have many forms. One of the most common treatments is pretty simple: hearing aids.
How is Hearing Loss Treated by Hearing Aids
People who have loss of hearing can use hearing aids to perceive sounds and perform as effectively as possible. Fatigue is caused when the brain strains to hear because hearing is hindered. Over time the lack of sensory input has been associated with an increased chance of mental decline. Your cognitive function can begin to be restored by using hearing aids because they let your ears hear again. As a matter of fact, wearing hearing aids has been shown to slow cognitive decline by as much as 75%. Background noise can also be drowned out by modern-day hearing aids enabling you to concentrate on what you want to hear.
Prevention is The Best Defense
Hopefully, if you get one thing from this knowledge, it this: you can’t count on recovering from loss of hearing, so instead you should focus on safeguarding the hearing you’ve got. Sure, if you get something blocking your ear canal, more than likely you can have it removed. But lots of loud noises are harmful even though you might not think they are very loud. That’s why it’s not a bad idea to take the time to safeguard your ears. The better you protect your hearing now, the more treatment possibilities you’ll have if and when you are eventually diagnosed with loss of hearing. Treatment can help you live a great, full life even if recovery isn’t a possibility. Contact a hearing care professional to find out what your best choice is.