Hearing Impairment

A few people will not experience some hearing loss in their lifetime. Despite improved primary health care, hearing problem among the aged are as prevalent as ever. Added to those problems that are simply age-induce are those that are caused by the general increase in noise levels.

The outer ear and middle ear are responsible for conducting sound through the eardrum and the ossicles to the oval window [see the digital below]. Any interruption to this process is called ‘conductive’ deafness. The cochlea is a sense organ of hearing and is connected to the brain by the auditory nerve. Damage to the cochlea causes nerve deafness which is also called ‘sensory-neural’ deafness or ‘perceptive’ deafness: although quite sounds cannot be heard, loud songs appear louder and very loud sounds can be painful. Shouting and too much amplification produce distortion and make speech more difficult to understand.

Tinnitus is experienced by two out of three people with a hearing loss. Noise in the head such as ringing, whistling,. etc., which can be loud and distressing, are experienced. Mostly this is due to tiny abnormalities in the cochlea or the auditory nerve. The condition cannot be surgically treated. Drug therapy does not always alleviate symptoms, but a tinnitus masker [worn in the ear] is helpful to cover up noises in the head.