The Recovery Ability of Your Body
The human body can usually repair scratches, cuts, and broken bones, though some injuries take longer than others.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for the fragile hair cells in your ears once they are damaged.
At least so far.
Animals have the ability to renew damaged cilia in their ears, restoring their hearing, a trait that researchers are currently attempting to replicate in humans.
That means you might have an irreversible loss of hearing if you damage the hearing nerve or those little hairs.
At What Point Does Hearing Loss Become Permanent?
The first thing you think about when you find out you have hearing loss is whether it will come back.
It is uncertain if it will happen, as it is dependent on numerous variables.
There are two basic kinds of hearing loss:
- Obstruction-based loss of hearing: When there’s something blocking your ear canal, you can experience all of the symptoms of hearing loss.
Debris, earwax, and growths are some of the things that can cause an obstruction.
The good news is, your hearing generally bounces back when the blockage is removed. - Hearing loss caused by damage: But there’s another, more prevalent kind of hearing loss that makes up approximately 90 percent of hearing loss.
This distinct form of hearing loss, known as sensorineural hearing loss in scientific terms, is typically irreversible.
Here’s the way it works: tiny hairs in your ear vibrate when hit with moving air (sound waves).
Your brain converts these vibrations into auditory signals that are heard by you as sound.
But your hearing can, over time, be permanently harmed by loud noises.
Damage to the inner ear or nerve can also cause sensorineural hearing loss.
A cochlear implant can help reestablish hearing in some instances of hearing loss, particularly in severe cases.
A hearing exam will help you identify whether hearing aids will help enhance your hearing.
Treatment of Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss currently can’t be cured.
But it may be possible to obtain effective treatment.
The following are a few ways that getting the correct treatment can help you:
- Maintain a good general standard of living and well-being.
- Effectively address any symptoms of hearing loss that you might be encountering.
- Protect your remaining hearing to prevent added damage.
- Maintain relations and community participation to prevent feelings of isolation and solitude.
- Prevent mental degeneration.
The kind of treatment you obtain for your hearing loss will vary depending on the extent of the condition.
One of the most common treatment solutions is fairly simple: hearing aids.
How is Hearing Loss Treated by Hearing Aids
Individuals going through hearing loss can utilize hearing aids to detect sounds which will allow them to function more effectively.
Tiredness happens when the brain needs to work overtime to process sound.
As researchers acquire more insights, they have recognized a more significant threat of mental decline with a persistent lack of cognitive stimulation.
Hearing aids help you restore your cognitive function by allowing your ears to hear again.
In fact, using hearing aids has been shown to diminish cognitive decline by as much as 75%.
Cutting-edge hearing aids allow you to focus in on particular sounds you want to hear while reducing background noise.
The Best Protection is Prevention
If you take away one thing from this little lesson, hopefully, it’s this: you should safeguard the hearing you have because you can’t depend on recuperating from hearing loss. Certainly, if you get something stuck in your ear canal, you can most likely have it removed.
But that doesn’t decrease the danger posed by loud noises that you may not think are loud enough to be all that harmful.
That’s why making the effort to safeguard your ears is a smart idea.
If you are ever diagnosed with hearing loss later in life, you will have more treatment possibilities if you take steps to protect your hearing now.
Treatment can help you live a great, full life even if recovery isn’t possible.
To determine what your best option is, schedule an appointment with our hearing care professionals.