How Your Body Recovers From Injury and Sickness
The physical body normally has the ability to recover from cuts, scratches, and broken bones, although the recovery process could vary in duration depending on the damage.
But you’re out of luck when it concerns repairing the little hairs in your ears.
At least thus far.
Animals have the capability to regenerate damaged cilia in their ears, recovering their hearing, a trait that researchers are presently trying to reproduce in people.
That means you might have an irreversible loss of hearing if you damage the hearing nerve or those little hairs.
When is Hearing Loss Permanent?
The first thing you consider when you discover you have hearing loss is whether it can return.
Whether it will or not is dependent on a variety of factors.
Two primary kinds of hearing loss:
- Obstruction-based loss of hearing: When there’s something obstructing your ear canal, you can experience all the symptoms of hearing loss.
Earwax, debris, and abnormal growths can potentially block the ear canal.
Your hearing typically goes back to normal after the blockage is cleared, and that’s the good news. - Damage-related hearing loss: A more common type of hearing impairment, responsible for around 90 percent of all instances, is triggered by damage rather than other variables.
Clinically known as sensorineural hearing loss, this type of hearing loss is often irreversible.
The hearing process is activated by the impact of moving air on tiny hairs in the ear which send sound waves to the brain.
These vibrations are then transformed, by your brain, into signals that you hear as sound.
Prolonged exposure to loud noises can, however, lead to permanent damage to your hearing.
Sensorineural hearing loss can also be caused by injury to the inner ear or nerve.
A cochlear implant can help reestablish hearing in some cases of hearing loss, specifically in extreme cases.
A hearing assessment will help you determine whether hearing aids will help strengthen your hearing.
Solutions for Enhancing Your Hearing
There is currently no cure for sensorineural hearing loss.
Treatment for your hearing loss may, however, be an option.
The following are a number of ways that obtaining the right treatment can help you:
- Preserve a good overall standard of living and well-being.
- Effectively address any symptoms of hearing loss that you might be encountering.
- Preserve and safeguard the hearing you still have.
- Maintain connections and community involvement to prevent feelings of isolation and disconnection.
- Prevent mental degeneration.
This treatment can take many forms, and it’ll generally be dependent on how severe your hearing loss is.
One of the most common treatment options is rather simple: hearing aids.
What Role do Hearing Aids Play in Managing Hearing Impairment?
Individuals experiencing hearing loss can use hearing aids to detect sounds which will allow them to function more effectively.
Tiredness occurs when the brain has to work harder to process sound.
As researchers acquire more knowledge, they have identified a greater threat of cognitive decline with a consistent lack of cognitive input.
Your cognitive function can begin to be restored by using hearing aids because they help your ears hear again.
Studies have shown that wearing hearing aids can dramatically delay cognitive impairment, with some studies indicating a decrease of up to 75%.
Modern hearing aids allow you to concentrate on specific sounds you wish to hear while reducing background noise.
Prevention is The Best Protection
If you take away one thing from this little lesson, hopefully, it’s this: you need to safeguard the hearing you have because you can’t count on recovering from hearing loss. Certainly, if you get something lodged in your ear canal, you can most likely have it removed.
However, this doesn’t reduce the risk posed by loud sounds, which can be harmful even if they don’t seem overly loud to you.
That’s why making the effort to safeguard your ears is a smart plan.
If you are ever diagnosed with hearing loss in the future, you will have more treatment options if you take steps to protect your hearing now.
Treatment can help you live a great, full life even if recovery isn’t possible.
To identify what your best option is, make an appointment with our hearing care specialist.