The human body is an awesome, breathtaking, confusing, confounding construction, isn’t it? The human body typically has no difficulty repairing cuts, scratches, or broken bones (I mean, sure, it takes a while, but your body can literally heal the giant bones in your arms and legs with little more than some time and a splint).
But when it comes to mending the delicate little hairs in your ear, you’re out of luck. For now anyway.
It doesn’t seem really fair when you can recover from major bone injuries but you can’t heal tiny hairs in your ear. So what’s the deal?
When is Hearing Loss Permanent?
So, let’s get right to it. You’re at your doctor’s office attempting to digest the news he’s giving you: you’re losing your hearing. So the first question you have is whether the hearing will ever return. And the answer is… maybe.
It’s a bit anticlimactic, speaking dramatically.
But he isn’t wrong. There are two primary forms of hearing loss:
- Damage induced hearing loss: But there’s another, more prevalent type of hearing loss. This form of hearing loss, known as sensorineural hearing loss, is irreversible. This is how it works: inside of your ear, there are little hairs that vibrate when struck by sound waves. Your brain is good at changing these vibrations into the sounds you hear. But loud sounds can cause harm to the hairs and, over time, diminish your hearing to the point where you require treatment.
- Blockage induced hearing loss: You can show every sign of hearing loss when your ear has some sort of blockage. This blockage can be caused by a wide range of things, from the gross (ear wax) to the downright frightening (tumors). Your hearing will go back to normal, thankfully, when the obstruction is removed.
So here’s the main point: you can recover from one form of hearing loss and you most likely won’t know which one you’re coping with without having a hearing test.
Hearing Loss Treatment
So at this time there’s no “cure” for sensorineural hearing loss (although scientists are working on that). But that doesn’t mean you can’t find treatment for your hearing loss. In fact, getting the proper treatment for your hearing loss might help you:
- Protect and maintain your remaining hearing.
- Maintain a high quality of life.
- Cope successfully with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you might be going through.
- Remain active socially, keeping isolation at bay.
- Help stave off mental decline.
This treatment can take numerous forms, and it’ll usually depend on how significant your hearing loss is. Hearing aids are one of the simplest and most common treatment choices.
Why Are Hearing Aids a Smart Treatment For Hearing Impairment?
You can get back to the things and people you love with the assistance of hearing aids. With the help of hearing aids, you can start to hear conversations, your tv, your phone, and sounds of nature once again. Hearing aids can also remove some of the pressure from your brain because you won’t be straining to hear.
The Best Protection is Prevention
Whether you have hearing loss now or not, you should safeguard your hearing from loud noises and other things that can harm your hearing (like ototoxic drugs). Your general health and well being depend on good hearing. Regular hearing care, such as annual hearing tests, is just another form of self-care.