The human body is an awesome, breathtaking, perplexing, confounding construction, isn’t it? The human body generally has no problem repairing cuts, scratches, or broken bones (I mean, sure, it takes some time, but your body can literally mend the huge bones in your legs and arms with little more than a splint and some time).
But when it comes to restoring the delicate little hairs in your ear, it’s not going to happen. For now anyway.
It’s truly unfortunate that your body can pull off such fantastic feats of healing but can’t ever re-grow these little hairs. What’s going on there?
When is Hearing Loss Irreversible?
So let’s have a closer look. You’re at your doctor’s office trying to digest the news he’s giving you: you have hearing loss. So you ask your doctor if your hearing will ever return. And he informs you that it may or may not.
It’s a bit anticlimactic, speaking dramatically.
But he’s not wrong. Hearing loss comes in two general forms:
- Damage related hearing loss: But hearing loss has another more common form. This form of hearing loss, known as sensorineural hearing loss, is irreversible. This is how it works: there are delicate hairs in your ear that vibrate when struck by moving air (sound waves). When vibrations are transformed into signals, they are transmitted to the brain which makes them into the sounds you perceive. But over time, loud noises can cause these hairs to be damaged to the point where treatment is needed.
- Obstruction induced hearing loss: When there’s something blocking your ear canal, you can exhibit all the signs of hearing loss. This obstruction can be caused by a wide variety of things, from the gross (ear wax) to the downright scary (tumors). The good news is that once the blockage is cleared, your hearing often returns to normal.
So here’s the main point: there’s one form of hearing loss you can recover from, and you might need to get examined to see which one you’re dealing with.
Hearing Loss Treatment
So at this time there’s no “cure” for sensorineural hearing loss (although scientists are working on it). But that’s not to say you can’t get treatment for your hearing loss. As a matter of fact, getting the correct treatment for your hearing loss might help you:
- Maintain and safeguard the hearing you still have.
- Avoid isolation by staying socially active.
- Help fend off cognitive decline.
- Preserve a high quality of life.
- Successfully manage hearing loss symptoms you may already have.
This treatment can take various forms, and it’ll normally depend on how severe your hearing loss is. Hearing aids are one of the easiest and most prevalent treatment choices.
Why Are Hearing Aids a Good Treatment For Hearing Impairment?
You can return to the people and things you enjoy with the assistance of hearing aids. They can help you hear the conversation, the phone, your tv, or even just the birds in the park. You will no longer be struggling to hear so pressure will be taken off your brain.
The Best Protection is Prevention
Loud sounds and other things that would harm your hearing should be avoided and your ears should be protected against them. Hearing well is essential to your general health and well-being. Having routine hearing exams is the best way to be sure that you are safeguarding your hearing.