The human body is an awesome, beautiful, confusing, confounding piece of work, isn’t it? The human body typically has no issue repairing cuts, scratches, or broken bones (with a bit of time, your body can repair the giant bones in your legs and arms).
But you won’t be so fortunate if the fragile hairs in your ears are damaged. At least, so far.
It doesn’t seem exactly fair when you can recover from considerable bone injuries but you can’t heal tiny hairs in your ear. What’s going on there?
When is Hearing Impairment Permanent?
So let’s take a closer look. You’re at your doctor’s office attempting to process the news he’s giving you: you have hearing impairment. So you ask your doctor if your hearing will ever come back. And the answer is… maybe.
Dramatically speaking, it’s a bit anticlimactic.
But he’s not wrong. There are two basic forms of hearing loss:
- Hearing loss caused by an obstruction: When there’s something obstructing your ear canal, you can present all the signs of hearing loss. A wide range of things, from something gross (earwax) to something frightening (a tumor), can be the cause of this blockage. Your hearing will return to normal, thankfully, when the obstruction is cleared away.
- Damage induced hearing loss: But there’s another, more prevalent type of hearing loss. Known scientifically as sensorineural hearing loss, this type of hearing loss is effectively permanent. This is how it works: there are tiny hairs in your ear that vibrate when hit with moving air (sound waves). Your brain is good at turning these vibrations into the sounds you hear. But over time, loud sounds can cause these hairs to be damaged to the point where treatment is necessary.
So the bottom line is this: there’s one form of hearing loss you can recover from, and you may need to get tested to see which one you have.
Hearing Loss Treatment
Scientists haven’t discovered a “cure” for sensorineural hearing loss but they’re working on it. But that’s not to say you can’t get treatment for your hearing loss. As a matter of fact, getting the right treatment for your hearing loss may help you:
- Make sure your overall quality of life is untouched or remains high.
- Prevent isolation by staying socially involved.
- Successfully manage hearing loss symptoms you may already have.
- Protect and maintain your remaining hearing.
- Help stave off mental decline.
This treatment can take many forms, and it’ll normally depend on how significant your hearing loss is. Hearing aids are one of the simplest and most prevalent treatment choices.
Why Are Hearing Aids a Smart Treatment For Hearing Loss?
Hearing aids can help you return to the people and things you love. With the help of hearing aids, you can start to hear conversations, your television, your phone, and sounds of nature once more. You will no longer be straining to hear so pressure will be removed from your brain.
The Best Protection is Prevention
Whether you have hearing loss now or not, you should protect your hearing from loud sounds and other things that can damage your hearing (like ototoxic drugs). Hearing well is critical to your general health and well-being. Having routine hearing exams is the best way to be certain that you are safeguarding your hearing.