subject: Time To Celebrate Our Own Ears [print this page] Don't listen to loud music, don't use Q-tips to clean your ears, and read the following article to maintain your hearing. Next time you're out running errands, make sure to hit a store where you can purchase a pair of earplugs.
The next time you have a day off, wear them all day, and you will see how much harder it is to do anything when you don't have your hearing. The most basic conversations become stressful and difficult. It's almost impossible to listen to the stereo or watch television.
You'll also find out what a challenge it is even to be aware of activity--alarms going off, appliances being used, doors being closed--in your own home. This is what hearing impaired people experience every day--it's called audio isolation, but luckily, it is avoidable for a good number of us.
Conductive hearing loss is one of two basic kinds; it happens as a result of sounds not reaching the inner ear, the part of the ear in which sound is interpreted into something we can recognize. The second type of hearing loss is called sensorineural hearing loss, where the sound is able to make it through to the inner ear, but somehow isn't interpreted correctly when it gets there.
When tiny fibers in the inner ear are damaged, the nerves that communicate with the brain stop working properly. When people are suffering from sensorineural hearing loss, they frequently have tinnitus, which causes a ringing, buzzing, or humming sound.
This sound can be present constantly or off and on. Either way, it's extremely irritating and distracting to the sufferer.
An audiologist or physician can usually diagnosis which type of loss it is after performing specific exams and taking a look at your history. If a hearing test is able to confirm the diagnosis as a conductive hearing loss, the treatment could be a easy as removing the wax buildup from the ear canal, or as complicated as requiring otosclerosis surgery on the bones that are in the middle ear.
In cases of sensorineural loss, treatment is a bit more troubling. A digital hearing aid can be inserted. These are terribly effective for some patients.
Other people may be candidates for cochlear implants. People with very specific inner ear problems may investigate this option.
Do yourself a favour use this strategy to remember things that can cause ear problems. It all comes down to sensory overload. Generally, when you find it necessary to shout above the general noise in the area you are in, you should cover your ears using headphones or earplugs, or remove yourself from the situation.
Those who have spent their lives listening to loud music will suffer a lifetime of impeded hearing. There are many people who didn't use ear protection while shooting a gun or serving near cannons and other loud artillery in the military who now suffer from hearing loss.
For people who have walked about with undiagnosed tumors or infections that went untreated and uncared for, they now have hearing damage and loss that cannot be corrected in their advanced age.
Statistics show by the age of 55 there's some 20% of folks who are dealing with hearing loss. However, studies also reveal that age-related hearing loss, which doesn't usually lead to a complete loss of hearing, affects only 33% of the population by the age of 65.
Some people who experience hearing issues in just one ear could be suffering from an acoustic neuroma, which is a non-cancerous tumor that targets the nerve responsible for hearing. This type of tumor grows slowly but can eventually become so large that it causes complete hearing loss and even other problems over time. The only cure is to operate.
Many people seem to constantly suffer from chronic ear infections, especially those in the middle-ear. Others have been exposed and succumbed to mumps, measles, meningitis and scarlet fever. All of those diseases and infections can cause hearing loss and should be discussed with your doctor.
Anything that ends up blocking the ear canal, be it bones or a non-functioning ear canal, will obstruct the flow of sounds. I have often seen patients who take an aggressive approach using cotton swabs to clean their ears, thinking they're removing wax while actually pushing it further down in the ear canal.If you produce a great deal of wax, you could probably benefit from a light go-round with the Q-Tips, but make sure you consult your doctor about how to do it properly.
Infections and allergies both provoke additional fluid in the ears. Additionally, there can be hardening of the bones of the middle ear. We call this otosclerosis.
Hearing can also be hindered by aspirin, heart drugs, malarial drugs, specific antibiotics, or pressure and trauma. Blunt force head injuries, gunfire, explosions and firecrackers, pressure such as from an airplane trip, deep-sea diving, and even the smallest perforation in the eardrum, are all forms of trauma that can have some seriously negative affects on our auditory input.
