The human body has some fantastic and remarkable abilities. The human body usually has no problem healing cuts, scrapes, or broken bones (I mean, sure, it takes some time, but your body can actually heal the huge bones in your legs and arms with little more than a splint and some time).
But you won’t be so lucky if the delicate hairs in your ears are damaged. For now anyway.
It’s truly unfortunate that your body can pull off such great feats of healing but can’t restore these tiny hairs. So what’s the deal?
When is Hearing Loss Permanent?
So let’s have a closer look. You’re waiting in your doctor’s office and you’re absorbing the news: you have hearing loss. So you ask your doctor if your hearing will ever come back. And he tells you that it may or may not.
Dramatically speaking, it’s a little anticlimactic.
But it’s also the truth. There are two primary forms of hearing loss:
- Hearing loss due to damage: But there’s another, more common type of hearing loss. This kind of hearing loss, called sensorineural hearing loss, is irreversible. This is how it works: inside of your ear, there are tiny hairs that vibrate when struck by sound waves. When vibrations are transformed into signals, they are sent to the brain which makes them into the sounds you perceive. But over time, loud sounds can cause these hairs to be damaged to the point where treatment is necessary.
- Obstruction induced hearing loss: You can exhibit every sign of hearing loss when your ear has some sort of obstruction. A wide variety of things, from something gross (earwax) to something frightening (a tumor), can be the cause of this obstruction. Your hearing will return to normal, luckily, when the obstruction is removed.
So here’s the main point: you can recover from one type of hearing loss and you most likely won’t know which one you have without getting a hearing exam.
Treating Hearing Loss
So at this time there’s no “cure” for sensorineural hearing loss (though scientists are working on it). But that doesn’t mean you can’t find treatment for your hearing loss. Here are a few ways that the right treatment might help you:
- Successfully cope with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you may be experiencing.
- Maintain a high quality of life.
- Maintain and protect the hearing you have left.
- Reduce cognitive decline.
- Stay active socially, keeping isolation away.
Of the many types of treatment available, which one is correct for you depends on the extent of your hearing loss. One of the most common treatments is fairly simple: hearing aids.
Why Are Hearing Aids a Good Treatment For Hearing Impairment?
You can get back to the people and things you enjoy with the assistance of hearing aids. They can help you hear the conversation, the phone, your television, or even just the sounds of nature. Hearing aids can also remove some of the pressure from your brain because you won’t be struggling to hear.
The Best Protection is Prevention
Loud noises and other things that would damage your hearing should be avoided and your ears should be protected against them. Hearing well is critical to your overall health and well-being. Routine hearing care, like annual hearing tests, is just another form of self-care.
