Hearing Loss - Permanent or temporary, it can make a difference

As the age of the population is getting older, more and more people will be suffering from some form of hearing loss.  Hearing loss affects about two out of every ten adults in the U.K. Most of these people are over 60 years old whose hearing has deteriorated over a number of years.  This is not however exclusively so as hundreds of children are born with some hearing loss or are even profoundly deaf.  Hearing loss can affect your life in many ways, such as finding it difficult to hear and understand people when you are in a noisy place or in a crowd. Initially it is advisable to see your own G.P. as the problem may not be as serious as you first think.  He will look into your ears using a special instrument to check to see if there are any obvious problems that are causing the loss of hearing.  You may just have wax in the ear channel which is stopping sound waves getting to the ear drum.  You may have an infection in the ear channel which is blocking the sound which can be cured by antibiotics both of which can be treated by your GP and quickly overcome any hearing loss.

There are two main causes of hearing loss, Conductive hearing loss and Sensor neural hearing loss.

Conductive hearing loss is caused by anything that stops sound from the outer ear travelling to the inner ear.  This can be caused by a number of problems such as - damage to the middle ear, hammer, anvil or stirrup, caused by infection or head injury, hardening of the middle ear bones, making them less able to vibrate.  Perforated ear drum, caused by infection, a blow to the ear or poking something into the ear, collection of fluid in the middle ear. Sensor neural hearing loss is caused by damage to the auditory nerve or the hair cells within the cochlea. Damage to the hair cells is nearly always caused by continuous loud noises. Most hearing loss occurs because of the decline of the natural responses of the hair cells in the cochlea. Measles, mumps and meningitis can also cause loss of hearing, whereas Mainers disease also causes hearing loss as well as tinnitus, which is a constant ringing, buzzing or humming noise in the ear. Any sudden deafness should be regarded as an emergency and is usually treatable if diagnosed very quickly by a doctor.

If you decide that your hearing loss is not caused by any serious problem but is the result of age, the next stage is to take a hearing test which will confirm to you what hearing loss you are suffering.  The hearing loss generally experienced is either in high frequency or just low frequencies, but a full hearing test will identify exactly what hearing you have.