Can hearing loss be reversed?
There are also specific types of hearing loss that, in the least, help in identifying a child's condition from the symptoms before bringing him or her for a medical check-up.
People can either lose their hearing since birth or develop hearing loss over time, all depending on certain external factors such as lacking ventilation in the middle ear through the form of ear wax, puss, or natural substances, or internal factors such as genetically malformed ears such as abnormal auditory nerves or bones, ageing, among others.
Children who get early assessment and assistance might be able to avoid hearing loss once and for all, be able to communicate well in normal settings due to early exposure to hearing loss medical aid or be able to hear well in the first few years as a child.
However, this does not dismiss the importance of checking children at the nearby hospital once they show symptoms such as lacking responses to loud noises or difficulty understanding speeches even in a quiet environment.
There are also specific types of hearing loss that, in the least, help in identifying a child's condition from the symptoms before bringing him or her for a medical check-up:
Types of hearing loss
1. Sensorineural hearing loss
This type of hearing loss is caused by the failure of the sensory organ, which is the inner ear, and the nerve system surrounding the auditory. It is one of the most common types of hearing loss. Factors leading to its development include genetics, ageing, prolonged exposure to loud noises, diseases, and infections.
2. Conductive hearing loss
While sensorineural hearing loss affects the inner ear, conductive hearing loss affects the middle and outer ear. This can be caused by blockage due to ear wax, puss or other natural substances, bone abnormalities or damage to the eardrum, according to one of the health websites.
While the inner ear requires more complex treatment due to the lack of accessibility, the outer ear is less complex and can be fixed better and even reversed.
3. Mixed hearing loss
As the name suggests, mixed hearing loss is a combination of sensorineural and conductive hearing loss, where it affects both the inner and outer ear. The treatment would require catering to both sides, which has less probability of being reversed than both conductive and sensorineural hearing losses since more treatment is needed.
There is also a need to address the tinnitus condition, which is often the symptom of hearing loss and can be checked even in adults, but most commonly in the elderly category. The condition would cause someone to hear ringing, buzzing, hissing and the like in a continuous or from-time-to-time pattern, sometimes loud.
Having a medical check-up would determine whether the treatment would resemble that of someone with hearing loss, such as being provided with a hearing aid, while ways to soothe the symptom would be listening to white noise or calming music.
The awaited question is now to be addressed, which is:
Can hearing loss be reversed?
The second type of hearing loss, as stated, would be the easiest to reverse, while the others such as those relating to nerve damage, cannot be reversed at all and the hearing loss caused by them would be permanent.
Children who do not get treated early might develop permanent hearing loss, depending on the situation. Situations such as otitis media in children, which is an infection in the ears without being treated, may lead to permanent sensorineural hearing loss.
When symptoms such as lack of response or startle to loud noises, difficulties in understanding speeches even in quiet situations and being unable to communicate well are being ignored by parents due to being affected by infections that create puss or any substances that block the ears, this would be the situation that allows permanent hearing loss to happen.
Other than infection most commonly beginning to occur in the respiratory system, a fever, and a cold can also lead to hearing loss if not treated and the ears not being checked properly.
Meanwhile, permanent conditions such as congenital hearing loss due to birth defects or genetics can only be slightly liberated with hearing aids such as behind-the-ear hearing aids, bone conduction hearing aids, and implanted hearing aids, some of which require surgeries other than over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids such as bone conduction and implanted ones, and surgical cochlear implants.
These aids are usually associated with a three-part system where the microphone will receive auditory information and transform it into a digital signal, the amplifier will increase the strength of the digital signal and the speaker will produce the amplified sound into the ear.
Sources: informedhealth.org and Listening Lab Malaysia.
