The human body is an awesome, beautiful, perplexing, confounding construction, isn’t it? The human body generally has no difficulty mending cuts, scrapes, or broken bones (I mean, sure, it takes a while, but your body can literally repair the giant bones in your arms and legs with little more than a splint and some time).
But you won’t be so lucky if the tiny hairs in your ears are compromised. At least, so far.
It’s truly regrettable that your body can accomplish such great feats of healing but can’t restore these little hairs. So what’s the deal?
When is Hearing Loss Permanent?
So, let’s get right down to it. You’re waiting in your doctor’s office and you’re taking in the news: you have hearing loss. So you ask your doctor if your hearing will ever return. And he informs you that it might or it might not.
It’s a little anticlimactic, speaking dramatically.
But he’s not wrong. 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 blockage. This obstruction can be caused by a wide variety of things, from the gross (ear wax) to the downright scary (tumors). Your hearing will go back to normal, luckily, when the obstruction is cleared away.
- Hearing loss due to damage: But hearing loss has another more common form. This kind of hearing loss, called sensorineural hearing loss, is permanent. Here’s what happens: there are little hairs in your ear that vibrate when hit with moving air (sound waves). When vibrations are converted into signals, they are sent to the brain which makes them into the sounds you perceive. But loud sounds can cause damage to the hairs and, over time, reduce your hearing to the point where you need treatment.
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 it). But that doesn’t mean you can’t get treatment for your hearing loss. Here are some ways that the proper treatment might help you:
- Help stave off cognitive decline.
- Avoid isolation by staying socially active.
- Preserve a high quality of life.
- Preserve and safeguard the hearing you still have.
- Successfully cope with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you may be enduring.
Of the many forms of treatment available, which one is correct for you depends on the severity of your hearing loss. Hearing aids are one of the easiest and most prevalent treatment options.
Why Are Hearing Aids a Smart Treatment For Hearing Impairment?
Hearing aids can help you get back to the people and things you enjoy. With the help of hearing aids, you can begin to hear conversations, your television, your phone, and sounds of nature once again. Hearing aids can also take some of the pressure off of your brain because you will no longer be struggling to hear.
Prevention is The Best Protection
Loud noises and other things that would damage your hearing should be avoided and your ears should be safeguarded against them. Hearing well is critical to your overall health and well-being. Regular hearing care, like annual hearing tests, is just another type of self-care.