About Hearing Loss

Hearing Loss

The ear is divided into three parts, outer, middle and inner. We determine what type of loss has occurred by where the problem lies within the ear. ​

CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS: Problems of the outer and middle ear cause a hearing loss known as conductive. This type of hearing loss is often corrected through medication or surgery. Causes of conductive hearing loss may include: wax impaction, fluid in the middle ear, and hardening of the bones of the middle ear, a perforation of the eardrum.

SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS: This is sometimes mistakenly referred to as nerve deafness and results from damage to the hearing portion of the inner ear. The most common cause is genetics, meaning if your parents were hearing impaired the chances are good you will be too. Some other causes include damage due to noise exposure, the aging process and certain medications. The effects of this type of hearing loss may include – difficulty distinguishing speech from noise, high-pitched sounds such as birdsong disappear altogether, people seem to be mumbling and you often have to ask them to repeat themselves. Most sensorineural hearing losses are permanent and cannot be corrected medically, but hearing aids can almost always help.

MIXED HEARING LOSS: This is simply a combination of the above described hearing losses.