The human body is an awesome, beautiful, perplexing, confounding piece of work, isn’t it? Scratches, cuts, and broken bones are normally no problem for the human body to repair (I mean, sure, it takes a while, but your body can literally repair the giant bones in your legs and arms with little more than a splint and some time).
But when it comes to restoring the delicate little hairs in your ear, it’s not going to happen. At least, so far.
It’s truly unfortunate that your body can accomplish such amazing feats of healing but can’t regenerate these tiny hairs. What’s happening there?
When is Hearing Loss Irreversible?
So, let’s get right down to it. You’re at your doctor’s office attempting to process the news he’s giving you: you have hearing loss. So you ask your doctor if your hearing will ever return. And he informs you that it may or may not.
Dramatically speaking, it’s a bit anticlimactic.
But it’s also a fact. Hearing loss comes in two basic forms:
- Hearing loss caused by an obstruction: You can show every indicator of hearing loss when your ear has some sort of obstruction. A wide range of things, from something gross (earwax) to something frightening (a tumor), can be the cause of this obstruction. Fortunately, once the blockage is removed, your hearing usually returns to normal.
- Hearing loss caused by damage: But there’s another, more prevalent type of hearing loss. Known scientifically as sensorineural hearing loss, this type of hearing loss is effectively irreversible. This is how it works: In your ear, there are little hairs that vibrate when struck by sound waves. When vibrations are converted into signals, they are transmitted to the brain which renders them into the sounds you perceive. But loud noises can cause damage to the hairs and, over time, reduce your hearing to the point where you require treatment.
So here’s the main point: you can recover from one type of hearing loss and you probably won’t know which one you have without having a hearing exam.
Hearing Loss Treatment
Scientists haven’t discovered a “cure” for sensorineural hearing loss but they’re working on it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get treatment for your hearing loss. Here are some ways that the correct treatment might help you:
- Help fend off cognitive decline.
- Protect and maintain your remaining hearing.
- Make sure your overall quality of life is untouched or remains high.
- Prevent isolation by remaining socially active.
- Successfully cope with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you might be experiencing.
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 common treatment choices.
Why is Hearing Loss Successfully Treated With Hearing AIds?
Hearing aids can help you return to the people and things you enjoy. With the help of hearing aids, you can start to hear conversations, your television, your phone, and sounds of nature once more. Hearing aids can also remove some of the pressure from your brain because you will no longer be struggling to hear.
The Best Protection is Prevention
Whether you have hearing loss now or not, you should safeguard your hearing from loud sounds and other things that can damage your hearing (like ototoxic drugs). Your overall health and well being depend on strong hearing. Having routine hearing exams is the best way to be certain that you are safeguarding your hearing.
