Hearing loss is recognised as a common problem that often develops as one ages and/or is continually exposed to loud noises and occurs due to birth complications, trauma to the ear and more. Also known as hearing impairment, individuals from all over the world can be affected no matter the gender and age. It can occur to one or both ears and is characterised as a partial or total inability to hear sounds and so one.
Although you may not see the big impact that it can have on a person’s quality of life at the moment, you will eventually when you start noticing how they can’t even enjoy the simplest pleasures in life. Having a good conversation with your family and friends, listening to your favourite music and even hearing sweet nothings from your loved-ones – these can all be gone once you start developing hearing loss. And so, it is necessary that you get in touch with a doctor as soon as possible and keep yourself informed with what you need to know and do.
Indeed, it is a very scary thought that you’ll probably lose your hearing. But it’s not as bad as there are hearing loss treatment that you can undergo. When it comes to treating hearing loss, it is necessary to determine the underlying cause of the condition and identify if it’s temporary or permanent.
Treatment for Temporary Hearing Loss
The hearing loss is considered as temporary if the sounds are unable to pass into the inner ear and is treatable. Also known as conductive hearing loss, there are different reasons that can cause this such as earwax and fluid build-up, hearing loss caused by a bacterial infection and perforated eardrum among others. To treat this type of hearing loss, a general practitioner medical doctor can use drops, suction or a syringe to clear earwax build-up while antibiotics can be used to treat ones that are caused by bacterial infection. However, people whose hearing loss is caused by fluid up or to repair a perforated eardrum, they need to undergo a surgery.
Treatment for Permanent Hearing Loss
On the other hand, people with permanent hearing loss may need to rely on other kinds of treatment such as a hearing aid. Also known as sensorineural hearing loss, this occurred due to a damage to the inner ear or to the nerves that transmit sounds to the brain and is considered a permanent condition. Fortunately, as mentioned above, there are treatments that can be done such as the use of hearing aids. A device that consists of an amplifier, a loudspeaker and microphone and a battery, hearing aids works by magnifying the sound vibrations or volume of sound entering your ear so you can hear and understand what’s being said. Depending on the patient, it is up to them if they want to use hearing aids or not. But considering the improvement this can make to their quality of life, wearing it is worth considering.
Developing hearing loss is indeed scary. But there is nothing to worry about as there are available treatments and doctors capable of providing the correct diagnosis.