Health and Medical Problems That Cause Hearing Loss

Hearing is one of our basic senses and part of our Auditory System. It is an important function of the body that enables one to communicate properly. But before discussing hearing loss, it is important that you understand how hearing works and what intervenes with this function that leads to hearing loss.

Your ear is made up of three different sections: the outer, middle, and inner ear. The sound waves that penetrate your ear go through these different sections before they are processed and sent to your brain. The outer ear is responsible for picking up sound waves until they reach the ear drum. Once the eardrum starts to vibrate, the different bones in your ear help transport them into your inner ear.

Inside your ear, there are two more types of hair cells that are responsible for detecting the sound and relaying essential information to the brain. Once the sound is amplified, it sends information to the brain so you know where the sound is coming from.

What is Hearing Loss?

Now that you are aware of the process of the hearing system, hearing loss or hearing impairment is a disorder that disables this function. Simply put, hearing loss is a condition wherein you become incapable of hearing sounds. There are other terms used to refer to this condition, which includes deafness or hard hearing.

Hearing loss is quite common as a birth defect. It is hard to define hearing loss as a hearing or auditory system problem. Statistics show that 3 out of 1,000 newborn babies develop it during birth. However, you can acquire this condition later in life due to malfunction in some of the components of your ear for a variety of reasons.

As one of the most important functions of the body, it is important that you take care of your ear as much as you would other parts of the body.

Medical History

Aside from conducting on the spot hearing tests when you see your audiologist, your doctor will also try to gather as much information about your medical history. It will help them evaluate and understand various factors that might contribute to your condition. On top of diagnosis, it will also enable them to determine whether your case is permanent, and if not then what procedures can be done to revive your sense of hearing.

When hearing loss is confirmed, the objective of audiologists or an otolaryngologist is basically to measure how much it affects a person's capacity for communication such as understanding speech. Each of the tests performed by doctors serves different purposes. Therefore, you might find yourself undergoing more than one test when you visit your doctor for diagnosis. Once you have recognized the symptoms and understood the cause of hearing loss, then you can take the most important step in your aim to treat hearing loss - diagnosis. This step is crucial because this is your opportunity to verify whether you actually have hearing loss or some other condition. Because your sense of hearing is an important bodily function, you cannot afford to risk losing your sense of hearing permanently.