The human body has some amazing and remarkable abilities. The human body usually has no problem mending cuts, scrapes, or broken bones (with a little time, your body can heal the giant bones in your arms and legs).
But you won’t be so lucky if the tiny hairs in your ears are compromised. For now at least.
It’s really unfortunate that your body can pull off such great feats of healing but can’t regenerate these tiny hairs. What’s going on there?
When is Hearing Loss Irreversible?
So let’s have a closer look. You’re sitting in your doctor’s office and you’re absorbing the news: you’re losing your hearing. So you ask your doctor if your hearing will ever return. And he tells you that it might or it might not.
It’s a bit anticlimactic, speaking dramatically.
But he isn’t wrong. There are two basic forms of hearing loss:
- Hearing loss caused by an obstruction: You can show every indicator of hearing loss when your ear has some type of blockage. A wide range of things, from something gross (earwax) to something frightening (a tumor), can be the cause of this blockage. Fortunately, once the obstruction is removed, your hearing usually goes back to normal.
- Damage related hearing loss: But there’s another, more common form of hearing loss. This form of hearing loss, known as sensorineural hearing loss, is permanent. This is how it works: there are tiny hairs in your ear that vibrate when struck by moving air (sound waves). When vibrations are converted into signals, they are sent to the brain which makes them into the sounds you perceive. But loud sounds can cause harm to the hairs and, over time, diminish your hearing to the point where you need treatment.
So the bottom line is this: you can recover from one form of hearing loss and you most likely won’t know which one you’re coping with without having a hearing exam.
Treating Hearing Loss
So at this time there’s no “cure” for sensorineural hearing loss (though scientists are working on that). But your hearing loss still may be treatable. In fact, getting the proper treatment for your hearing loss might help you:
- Counter cognitive decline.
- Cope successfully with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you might be going through.
- Safeguard and maintain your remaining hearing.
- Maintain a high quality of life.
- Prevent isolation by staying socially involved.
This treatment can take many forms, and it’ll normally depend on how severe your hearing loss is. One of the most prevalent treatments is pretty simple: hearing aids.
Why is Hearing Loss Effectively Managed With Hearing AIds?
You can return to the people and things you love with the assistance of hearing aids. With the help of hearing aids, you can start to hear conversations, your tv, your phone, and sounds of nature once more. Hearing aids can also take some of the pressure off of your brain because you won’t be struggling to hear.
The Best Protection is Prevention
Whether you have hearing loss now or not, you need to safeguard your hearing from loud sounds and other things that can damage your hearing (like ototoxic drugs). Your general health and well being depend on good hearing. Having regular hearing exams is the best way to be sure that you are protecting your hearing.