TYPES OF HEARING LOSS

There are three types of hearing loss. C ONDUCTIVE hearing loss occurs when sound isn’t conducted efficiently through the outer ear to the eardrum and then through the bones in the middle ear to the cochlea. This can come about if the eardrum is damaged, through infection in the middle ear, allergies, fluid buildup in the middle ear, presence of a tumor, through congenital malformation, impacted earwax or obstruction of the Eustachian tube.

“Many times, conductive hearing loss can be remedied by one medical means or another,” says Jose Luis Jiron, Jr., M.D., of Ocala Ear, there. Whatever the cause, many times we can correct conductive hearing loss.”

SENSORINEURAL hearing loss occurs when there is damage to the cochlea or the nerves connecting the inner ear to the brain. This can come about through disease or viral illness, with advancing age, from head or ear trauma or from the side effects of certain medications.

“Usually, sensorineural hearing loss is permanent,” says Dr. Jiron. “If a person has sudden hearing loss that is found to be sensorineural, this is considered to be a critical and urgent matter for an otolaryngologist. Sometimes, if it is treated in time with steroids, which can include injections through the eardrum into the middle ear, then some of the hearing loss can be restored, but most times, once such loss occurs, it is permanent.”

MIXED HEARING loss is any combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

“Many times, the conductive aspect of mixed hearing loss can be corrected, but once again, it is harder to regain any sensorineural loss,” says Dr. Jiron. “It depends entirely on the root cause of the loss.”

Once physicians have done all that is medically possible to correct the physical reason for hearing loss, most people turn to hearing aids in an effort to boost what residual hearing remains. Hearing aids cannot truly correct hearing loss, they are simply amplification devices to make sounds louder and, therefore, more accessible to the person wearing them. in

the news…

SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD INDIAN AMERICAN MUKUND VENKATAKRISHNAN OF DUPONT MANUAL HIGH SCHOOL IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, HAS DEVELOPED A HEARING AID THAT TESTS A PERSON’S HEARING, PROGRAMS ITSELF FOR THE PERSON’S INDIVIDUAL HEARING DEFICIT AND CUSTOMIZES SOUND AMPLIFICATION—AND IT ONLY COSTS $60 TO PRODUCE. THE SCIENCE PRODIGY WAS INSPIRED BY HIS GRANDFATHER IN INDIA WHO HAS HEARING LOSS AND CANNOT AFFORD A $1,900 DEVICE. MUKUND SAYS, “IF SOMEONE IN INDIA SAVES ALL YEAR WITHOUT SPENDING A PENNY, THEY STILL CAN’T AFFORD A HEARING AID.”

Source: fox8.com

Getting A Boost

“There are a variety of different styles and types of hearing aids that can rehabilitate a person’s hearing by amplifying whatever level of residual hearing is left… while also suiting his or her lifestyle,” says Dr. Fankhouser. “We have devices that fit behind the ear or in the ear. Because, most likely, the person will be wearing the device eight hours or more a day, comfort is one of the most important factors we look at.”

Dr. Fankhouser says that hearing aids have come a long way since the first easily wearable analog devices were made available shortly after World War II. Newer digitized hearing aids (and some older analog devices) are computer customizable for each individual. When the audiologist conducts tests to determine the degree and pattern of hearing loss for the individual, a computerized database is stored and then used to program a microprocessor chip in that person’s hearing device. This Digital Signal Processor chip then processes, filters and amplifies the incoming sound optimally for that specific individual.

“Instead of the person having to adjust the hearing aid for sound loudness, the device automatically listens for softer sounds and helps buff er loud ones,” says Shon Murray, Au.D., of Hearing and Balance Solutions in Ocala. “This gives today’s devices the ability to help cut through background noise and enhance sounds such as human speech, thereby enabling users to better hear normal conversation in a loud and noisy environment.”

The biggest change in hearing aids comes in the

33%: AMOUNT OF PEOPLE OVER 65 WITH HEARING LOSS ability to customize them in so many ways.

“Each individual has certain needs. Individual preference and style, the degree of hearing loss and whatever lifestyle the person lives, whether it be a quiet, sedentary one or a noisier, more active one, all determine what type of device is best suited for each person,” Dr. Fankhouser says. “We can very accurately customize not only the look of hearing aids but specifically what type of sounds need to be enhanced and which ones need to be filtered out.”

Many people are under the impression that hearing loss simply implies the person no longer hears sound as loudly or as clearly as they once did, or no longer hears any sound at all.

“Quite the contrary,” says Leigh Ann Watts, AuD, CCC-A, of Beneficial

Hearing Aid Center in Ocala. “A person with hearing loss will generally say, ‘I can hear, but I can’t understand.’ In most cases, when a person begins to lose their hearing, they develop a ringing, roaring or buzzing, known as tinnitus. Tinnitus is the brain’s attempt to fill in those reduced frequencies of hearing.

“Today’s technology in hearing instruments not only helps people hear and understand

3 in 1,000: children who are hard of hearing or deaf

better, but it fills in those voids and, in turn, reduces the awareness of tinnitus. Those who need additional help can benefit from tinnitus therapy, which we personally customize for each patient with residual tinnitus.”