TYPES OF HEARING LOSS AND TREATMENTS TO CONSIDER

Posted by vivek choudhary on August 14th, 2019

There are 4 kinds of hearing loss - auditory processing disorder, sensorineural, conductive, and mixed. Auditory Processing Disorder happens when the brain cannot process the information that is contained in sound, which includes understanding speech. Sensorineural means that the auditory nerve or the inner ear has a problem. Conductive means that the inner ear has a problem in receiving the sound due to, usually, an obstruction. Mixed, as the name suggests, means a combination of Sensorineural and Conductive. Following are explained the 4 types of hearing loss and their treatments in detail.

  1. Auditory Processing Disorder

Auditory processing disorder or APD is a problem found in school-aged children, and around 5% of them are affected by this type of disorder. Kids who have this condition are not able to process what they hear because their brain and ears don't coordinate properly. Most times, the causes for a kid's APD are not known but it is suggested that chronic ear infections, head trauma, and lead poisoning could lead to it. A multispecialty hospital in Mohaliis the place to go for a diagnosis as APD can only be diagnosed by an audiologist. APD can be treated by proper therapy as the auditory system is not developed until the age of 15. There is no medicinal cure, but therapy lessons like speech-language therapy and assistive devices can help.

  1. Sensorineural

This is the most common and permanent type of hearing loss. It happens when the tiny hair-like cells in the inner ear or the auditory nerve are damaged. This damage weakens or prevents the nerve cells from being transferred to the brain. Usually, this type of hearing loss happens to people who are old aged, but if a child is born with this problem then it is because of a genetic syndrome.
There is no treatment – medical or surgical – available for this type of damage but sensorineural hearing loss can be reduced with the help of hearing aids or cochlear implants.

  1. Conductive hearing loss

Conductive hearing loss may be either permanent or temporary and it happens due to an obstruction or damage to the middle or outer-ear. There can be various causes behind this type of hearing loss, depending on the affected part. For example, if the outer-ear is affected then it could be because of wax impaction and if the middle-ear is affected then it could be due to ear infection resulting in a breach in the eardrum. Conductive hearing loss can sometimes be treated by surgical or medical treatments. For instance, if conductive hearing loss has been caused due to earwax impaction, then it can be treated by extracting the earwax.

  1. Mixed hearing loss

Mixed hearing loss is just a combination of sensorineural and conductive hearing loss. It occurs commonly when some sort of trauma is sustained by the ear. The treatment for this type of hearing loss depends on whether it is more conductive or sensorineural and deciding the respective treatments. To get a more detailed understanding about mixed hearing loss, consult an ENT specialist in Panchkula.

If you feel that you or a close person to you might be experiencing hearing loss then visit the best hospital in Panchkula and find out more about the above-mentioned hearing loss and obtain the right treatment at the right time.

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vivek choudhary

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vivek choudhary
Joined: May 13th, 2019
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