Understanding Hearing Loss-The Causes, Types and Treatment of Hearing Loss

Your ear is made up of three main parts:  the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.  The outer ear is the part that is visible.  The ear canal is considered to be a part of the outer ear.  The middle ear consists of the three middle ear bones, the ear drum and the Eustachian tube. 

The inner ear consists of hair cells and nerve fibers that transmit information to the brain.  The first step in understanding hearing loss is to learn what part of the ear has caused the hearing loss.

Hearing problems that are diagnosed in the outer ear or middle ear are classified as a conductive hearing loss.   Conductive hearing loss happens when sounds are not transmitted through the ear canal, the ear drum or the inner ear bones.  Ear wax, an infection, fluid in the ear or a punctured ear drum could be causing the hearing loss.  This is a temporary loss of hearing and the problem can be fixed and the hearing will be restored.  If the conductive hear loss is caused by a genetic defect, it can be improved with either medical or surgical treatment. 

Hearing problems that are diagnosed in the inner ear are classified as a sensorineural hearing loss.  This is most common type of hearing loss and in most cases, it can be medically or surgically treated.  Hearing problems that are diagnosed in either the outer ear or middle ear and the inner ear are classified as a mixed hearing loss.  Having an understanding of where the hearing loss is located in the ear, is helpful when deciding on a medical device or surgery.

An otologist or otolarygologist, a physician who specializes in understanding hearing loss and treating conditions of the ear, will examine the patient to access if the loss of hearing could be treated with either surgery or a medical device.  The physician will also test for other health issues that may be connected to the hearing loss. 

Hearing tests transmit sounds into the ear canal, the middle ear and the inner ear.  If the test results indicate there is a loss of hearing, they will use a device called a bone vibrator to determine if the hearing loss is conductive or sensorineural.

If a person has conductive hearing loss, they will be able to hear at lower levels when listening to sounds through the bone vibrator than they hear when listening through the earphone.  If a person has sensorineural hearing loss, the levels of sound will be heard the same using both instruments. 

To further the understanding of hearing loss, the physician will administer a word recognition test to determine the clarity of the words that are spoken and various listening levels.  The patient will listen to the words and repeat them back to the physician.  The number of correct words repeated helps to access a patient’s recognition ability.