How Your Body Rebounds From Injury and Sickness
The physical body can normally repair scratches, cuts, and fractured bones, although some injuries take longer than others.
But you’re out of luck when it concerns restoring the tiny little hairs in your ears.
At least so far.
Animals have the capacity to regenerate damaged cilia in their ears, recovering their hearing, a trait that scientists are presently attempting to replicate in humans.
That means you may have an irreversible loss of hearing if you damage the hearing nerve or those tiny hairs.
At What Point Does Hearing Loss Become Permanent?
Upon identifying hearing loss, the preliminary worry that usually emerges is whether the hearing will be restored.
It is unclear if it will happen, as it depends on various variables.
There are a couple of fundamental types of hearing loss:
- Blockage-related hearing impairment: If your ear canal is partially or totally obstructed, it can mimic 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 obstruction is eliminated, and that’s the good news. - Hearing loss caused by damage: But there’s another, more prevalent type of hearing loss that represents around 90 percent of hearing loss.
This specific form of hearing loss, referred to as sensorineural hearing loss in medical terms, is usually irreversible.
Here’s how it works: tiny hairs in your ear vibrate when struck with moving air (sound waves).
These vibrations are then modified, 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 damage to the inner ear or nerve.
In certain cases of severe hearing loss, a cochlear implant may have the ability to improve hearing function.
A hearing examination can help in identifying if hearing aids would improve your hearing ability.
Solutions for Improving Your Hearing
There is currently no cure for sensorineural hearing loss.
Treatment for your hearing loss may, however, be a possibility.
Benefits of proper treatment for your well-being:
- Preserve a good general standard of living and well-being.
- Effectively deal with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you may be suffering from.
- Protect your remaining hearing to stop added damage.
- Preserve connections and community involvement to prevent feelings of loneliness and solitude.
- Prevent cognitive decline.
This treatment can take many forms, and it’ll usually be dependent on how severe your hearing loss is.
A typically encouraged and rather straightforward solution is the use of hearing aids.
How is Hearing Loss Managed by Hearing Aids
Individuals who cope with hearing loss can use hearing aids to help them perceive sounds, allowing them to work as effectively as they can.
Tiredness happens when the brain needs to work harder to process sound.
As researchers develop more insights, they have recognized a greater threat of cognitive decline with a persistent lack of cognitive input.
Hearing aids help you recover your cognitive function by allowing your ears to hear again.
Studies have shown that using hearing aids can significantly slow cognitive decline, with some research indicating a reduction of up to 75%.
Modern hearing aids will also allow you to pay attention to what you want to hear while tuning out background sounds.
Prevention is The Best Defence
If you take away one thing from this article, hopefully, it’s this: you should safeguard the hearing you have because you can’t count on recovering from hearing loss. If an object becomes lodged in your ear canal, it can likely be safely removed.
However, this doesn’t reduce the danger posed by loud sounds, which can be harmful even if they don’t seem overly loud to you.
So taking measures to safeguard your hearing is a wise decision.
The better you protect your hearing today, the more treatment possibilities you’ll have when and if you are eventually diagnosed with hearing loss.
Getting treatment can enable you to lead a fulfilling life, even if total recovery is not achievable.
To identify what your best option is, make an appointment with our hearing care professionals.