Your Body’s Ability to Heal
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. Though scientists are working on it, humans can’t repair the cilia in their ears in the same way animals can. That means you could have permanent hearing loss if you injure the hearing nerve or those little hairs.
At What Point Does Hearing Loss Become Permanent?
When you learn you have loss of hearing, the first thing that most people ask is will I get it back? Whether it will or not depends on a number of factors. Fundamentally, there are two types of hearing loss:
- Damage based hearing loss: But there’s another, more widespread kind of hearing loss that accounts for around 90 percent of hearing loss. This sort of hearing loss, which is usually irreversible, is known as sensorineural hearing loss. This is how it works: there are tiny hairs in your ear that vibrate when hit by moving air (sound waves). Your brain is good at changing these vibrations into the sounds you can hear. But your hearing can, as time passes, be permanently damaged by loud noises. Sensorineural hearing loss can also be from damage to the nerve or to the inner ear. In some cases, especially in cases of extreme hearing loss, a cochlear implant may help restore hearing.
- Loss of hearing caused by a blockage: When there’s something blocking your ear canal, you can have all the symptoms of hearing loss. Debris, earwax, and tumors are some of the things that can cause a blockage. The good news is that once the blockage is cleared your hearing often returns to normal.
Whether hearing aids will help restore your hearing can only be determined by getting a hearing exam.
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. actually, getting the proper treatment for your hearing loss can help you:
- Protect and preserve the hearing you have left.
- Stop mental decline.
- Keep isolation at bay by staying socially engaged.
- Guarantee your overall quality of life is unaffected or remains high.
- Cope successfully with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you may be experiencing.
This approach can take many forms, and it’ll usually depend on how extreme your hearing loss is. One of the most common treatments is fairly simple: hearing aids.
Why Are Hearing Aids a Good Treatment for Hearing Loss?
People with loss of hearing can use hearing aids to perceive sounds and perform as effectively as possible. When your hearing is hindered, the brain struggles to hear, which can fatigue you. As scientist acquire more knowledge, they have recognized an increased danger of mental decline with a persistent lack of cognitive input. Your mental function can start to be recovered by using hearing aids because they allow 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 sound can also be tuned out by contemporary hearing aids allowing you to focus on what you want to hear.
The Best Defense Is Prevention
Hopefully, if you get one thing from this knowledge, it this: you should protect the hearing you have because you can’t count on recovering from loss of hearing. Certainly, you can have any obstruction in your ear cleared. But that doesn’t decrease the threat from loud sounds, noises you might not even think are loud enough to really be all that dangerous. That’s why it’s not a bad strategy to take the time to safeguard your ears. If you are inevitably diagnosed with loss of hearing, you will have more treatment possibilities if you take measures today to protect your hearing. Recovery likely won’t be a possibility but treatment can help you keep living a great, full life. To find out what your best option is, make an appointment with a hearing care professional.