Hearing Loss is one of the Most Common Health Problems
Hearing loss is a problem shared by many people of all ages. In fact, it is one of the most common health problems reported. Approximately 17% (36 million) of American adults report some degree of hearing loss. About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing. Nine out of every 10 children who are born deaf are born to parents who can hear.
Hearing loss may be congenital, hereditary or the result of physical changes within the ear, exposure to toxic medicines, disease, infection or injury; it may occur suddenly, but more often it is a gradual process that occurs over time. Precision Audiology is dedicated to assessing hearing status and providing aural rehabilitation and hearing aid fittings.
How We Hear
Sound waves vibrate the tympanic membrane, which transmits vibrations through the bones of the middle ear to the cochlea (organ of hearing). Hair cells in the cochlea then transmit sound to the auditory nerve.
Hearing loss may be unilateral (occurring in only one ear) or it may be bilateral (occurring in both ears). Bilateral hearing loss may be symmetrical or nonsymmetrical (the degree, severity and/or configuration of the hearing loss may be different in each ear).
Hearing loss resulting from a failure of the physical structures in the outer and middle ear to conduct sound impulses to the nerve center in the inner ear is called a conductive hearing loss. This involves interference of any sort in the transmission of sound from the external auditory canal to the inner ear.
Hearing loss resulting from damage to the tiny hair cells that line the inner ear and transmit sound in the form of vibrations to the nerves or damage or injury to any of the structures of the inner ear or the auditory nerve is known as a sensorineural hearing loss. The dysfunction may be in the inner ear, eighth nerve, or in the central auditory pathways.
Hearing loss resulting from damage to the physical structures of the outer and/or middle ear and damage to the cochlea or auditory nerve is called a mixed hearing loss. This involves both conductive and sensorineural components.
