How Your Body Bounces Back From Injury and Sickness
The physical body can usually heal scratches, cuts, and broken bones, though some injuries take longer than others.
But you’re out of luck when it pertains to restoring the tiny little hairs in your ears.
At least thus far.
Animals can repair damage to the hair cells in their ears and get their hearing back, but people don’t have that ability (although scientists are working on it).
If you damage the hearing nerves or the little hairs, you could experience irreversible hearing loss.
When is Hearing Loss Permanent?
Upon discovering hearing loss, the preliminary worry that commonly emerges is whether the hearing will be recovered.
It is uncertain if it will happen, as it is dependent on various factors.
Two principal types of hearing loss:
- Obstruction-based loss of hearing: When there’s something obstructing your ear canal, you can experience all of the symptoms of hearing loss.
Earwax, debris, and abnormal growths can possibly obstruct the ear canal.
The good news is, your hearing normally recovers as soon as the blockage is removed. - Damage-related hearing loss: A more prevalent form of hearing impairment, responsible for approximately 90 percent of all instances, is triggered by damage instead of other factors.
Clinically known as sensorineural hearing loss, this kind of hearing loss is often irreversible.
Here’s the way it works: tiny hairs in your ear vibrate when hit with moving air (sound waves).
Your brain transforms these vibrations into auditory signals that are heard by you as sound.
Prolonged exposure to loud noises can, however, lead to permanent damage to your hearing.
Damage to the inner ear or nerve can also trigger sensorineural hearing loss.
A cochlear implant can help bring back hearing in some instances of hearing loss, particularly in severe cases.
A hearing assessment can help in identifying if hearing aids would enhance your hearing ability.
Solutions for Improving Your Hearing
Sensorineural hearing loss presently has no cure.
Treatment for your hearing loss might, however, be a possibility.
The following are some ways that getting the right treatment can help you:
- Make sure your general quality of life is unaffected or remains high.
- Effectively manage any of the symptoms of hearing loss you may be experiencing.
- Take care of your remaining hearing to stop further damage.
- Keep solitude away by staying socially engaged.
- Prevent cognitive degeneration.
The kind of treatment you receive for your hearing loss will differ depending on the severity of the condition.
One of the most common treatment solutions is quite simple: hearing aids.
How is Hearing Loss Managed by Hearing Aids
People who have hearing loss can use hearing aids to help them perceive sounds, allowing them to work as effectively as they can.
Tiredness occurs when the brain has to work harder to process sound.
Researchers have come to realize that extended mental inactivity presents a substantial risk to mental health, as new discoveries shed light on the importance of ongoing mental stimulation.
Your cognitive function can begin to be recovered by utilizing hearing aids because they let your ears hear again.
In fact, utilizing hearing aids has been shown to diminish mental decline by as much as 75%.
Modern hearing aids will also allow you to focus on what you want to hear while tuning out background sounds.
Prevention is The Best Protection
Maintaining your hearing is essential because once it’s lost, it’s often permanent. If an object becomes wedged in your ear canal, it can likely be safely removed.
However, this doesn’t decrease the risk posed by high-volume noises, which can be harmful even if they don’t seem excessively loud to you.
That’s why making the effort to protect your ears is a good idea.
If you are ever diagnosed with hearing loss in the future, you will have more treatment options if you take steps to safeguard your hearing today.
Receiving treatment can enable you to lead a fulfilling life, even if complete recovery is not achievable.
To identify what your best option is, make an appointment with our hearing care professionals.
