Hearing Loss

Caring for your Hearing Health at Medica

Deafness is mainly caused by damage to the inner ear or nerves. Noise, aging, sickness, and inheritance are all factors that contribute to hearing loss. Conversations with friends and family may be difficult for people with hearing loss. They may also have difficulty comprehending medical advice, reacting to warnings, and hearing doorbells and sirens. Hearing loss affects one out of every three adults between the ages of 65 and 74, and nearly half of those over 75 have difficulties hearing. However, some people may be hesitant to confess they have hearing problems.

ENT specialists at Medica are not just medical professionals who can treat your sinus pain, swimmer’s ear in your child, or sleep apnea in your father. They are also skilled surgeons who can undertake incredibly delicate surgeries to restore middle ear hearing, unblock blocked airways, remove tumors of the head, neck, and throat, and reconstruct these vital tissues.

Symptoms of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss symptoms vary based on the kind of hearing loss, the origin of the loss, and the severity of the loss. It’s common for persons with age-related hearing loss to have what’s known as high-frequency hearing loss. Higher-pitched noises like women’s voices and birds chirping may be more difficult to hear.

Hearing loss, on the other hand, can cause any or all of the following symptoms:

• Everyday communication is difficult to comprehend
• The sensation of being able to hear but not comprehending
• Having to turn up the volume on the television or radio
• Frequently asking others to repeat
• Birdsong is no longer heard, or is only heard infrequently
• Avoidance of previously pleasurable social interactions
• After a day of listening to other people, I’m exhausted
• Increased communication problems in noisy environments such as
• restaurants, boisterous family gatherings, in the automobile, or in group meetings
• Tinnitus is a condition that causes ringing and/or buzzing sounds in the ears

Types of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss can be divided into three categories:

Sensorineural Hearing Loss: The most prevalent type of hearing loss is sensorineural hearing loss. It is permanent and is caused by a variety of disorders that injure the auditory nerve or small hair-like cells in the inner ear. The auditory nerve transmits vital information to the brain regarding the loudness, pitch, and meaning of sounds. Sensorineural hearing loss affects the majority of individuals. Even if the sound or speech is loud enough to hear, sensorineural hearing loss might make it difficult to understand it.

Conductive Hearing Loss: A mechanical problem in the outer or middle ear, or an obstruction in the ear canal, such as earwax, causes conductive hearing loss. It can be permanent, but it’s more likely to be transient and treatable medically.

Mixed Hearing Loss: When a person has both sensorineural and conductive hearing loss, they are said to have mixed hearing loss.

Causes of Hearing Loss

One of the most common causes of hearing loss is loud noise. Lawn mowers, snow blowers, and loud music can cause irreversible hearing loss by damaging the inner ear. Tinnitus is exacerbated by loud sounds. The majority of noise-induced hearing loss can be avoided. Turn lower the volume on your stereo, television, or headphones; move away from loud noise; or use earplugs or other ear protection to protect yourself.

Sounds that are transported from the eardrum to the inner ear can be blocked by earwax or fluid buildup. Consult your doctor if wax blockage is an issue. He or she may recommend minor ear wax softening treatments.

Hearing loss can also be passed down through generations. However, not every inherited hearing loss manifests itself at birth. Some forms can manifest themselves later in life. An irregular growth of bone, for example, hinders structures within the ear from operating properly in otosclerosis, which is assumed to be a hereditary illness.

Other Risk Factors

People with hearing loss may find it difficult to converse with friends and family, which can result in reduced social involvement, social isolation, and loneliness.

Complications

Hearing loss can drastically reduce your quality of life. Depressed sentiments have been reported by older persons with hearing loss. Some people endure feelings of isolation as a result of their hearing loss, which makes conversation difficult. Hearing loss has also been linked to cognitive decline and disability.

Hearing loss, cognitive decline, sadness, and loneliness all have mechanisms that are being investigated. According to preliminary study, correcting hearing loss can improve cognitive performance, particularly memory.

Advanced Equipment at Medica

• LASER for various surgeries
• Microdebrider including laryngeal microdebrider
• Harmonic Scalpel
• Atmos Stroboscope
• Sialendoscope for endoscopy

Comprehensive & Advanced care for all ENT cases

All routine ENT surgeries like Tympanoplasty, Mastoidectomy, Stapedotomy, FESS, Rhinoplasty, Microlaryngeal Surgery, Phonosurgery, Septoplasty

Advanced ENT surgeries like:

• Pediatric Airway Surgery
• Laryngeal/Tracheal Stenosis
• Endoscopic Skull base surgery for CSF leak,
• Pituitary tumors
• Frontal Sinus Disease
• Lateral Skull-base surgery
• Cochlear Implantation – on totally deaf patients

Treatment

Although hearing loss is rarely cured, it is almost always treatable. Finding the optimal therapy is a collaborative effort between you and your hearing care specialist, and it should take into account the following elements if done correctly:

• Types of hearing loss you are suffering from
• Hearing loss severity
• The cause, if known
• Lifestyle
• Your communication requirements and your age
• Your cosmetic inclinations
• Your financial situation

Some types of hearing loss, particularly conductive hearing loss, can be treated medically or surgically, while others cannot. Hearing aids that are properly fitted are the most common treatment for sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing aids come in a variety of shapes, colors, sizes, degrees of technology, and pricing points. What’s the good news? Hearing aids do more than just help you hear; they also improve your entire health. Cochlear implants are becoming more popular as a treatment option for those who aren’t aided sufficiently by hearing aids.