In our time, human he alth problems are becoming more and more relevant, hearing loss is no exception. This is due to the environment, high noise levels, etc. It is also no secret that with age, the body begins to work worse and becomes more susceptible to various diseases, including hearing problems. According to statistics, disorders in the work of this organ are most often found in older people, but sometimes children also suffer from such pathologies. The causes of hearing loss are quite varied. Often a person during the appearance of the first symptoms does not attach any importance to this. Diseases progress and pass into a more severe stage. And then the appeal to a specialist may not help. What are the causes of hearing loss? How do the first signs appear? What are the most effective ways to treat pathology? Find the answers in our article.
The principle of the hearing organs
To delve into the topic, and talk about the causes of hearing loss, you should first consider the design of the system. It should be understood that the body works only if all its elements are functioning. The process looks likeas follows: the source of noise is sound or vibration vibrations, which enter the ear canal. The human ear is designed in such a way that it is able to determine the approximate location of the stimulus.
Then the sound reaches the eardrum, at which point the auditory ossicles begin to move. They transmit the signal further along a certain chain. The hair receptors that the sound reaches are designed to convert the vibrations and transmit the signal to the appropriate part of the brain.
The reasons that can lead to hearing loss are based on the malfunction of one of the elements of the organ. Most often, the pathology is functional in nature. However, if a violation is observed in the work of the neural network, then a person has a different type of hearing loss.
Causes of hearing loss
What causes hearing loss? Experts believe that the main reason is the loss of sensitivity of the cells and tissues of the ear, which are responsible for decoding the received signals. This pathology occurs mainly in older people. Its essence lies in the fact that the cells cease to perceive sounds normally, and the signals reach the brain in a distorted form.
The causes of hearing loss in older people are often provoked by certain diseases, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders.
However, hearing problems do not always appear in people of age, sometimes even children cannot protect themselves from this. If the baby hasproblems with the hearing aid, it is most likely caused by the mother's poor lifestyle during pregnancy. We are talking about the use of alcohol and drugs, smoking cigarettes. Sometimes the reason may be the fact that the baby was born prematurely and weighed less than one and a half kilograms.
An older child's hearing loss may be caused by intentionally playing loud music, especially with headphones. Often this is due to quarrels with parents and stubbornness of children. This process negatively affects the ear cells that are responsible for the perception of sound. They die and then don't respawn. That is why doctors are increasingly diagnosing hearing problems in adolescence lately.
Grounds for hearing loss
If a person works in a noisy room, then problems with a hearing aid cannot be avoided. Loud machines that operate all day cannot have a positive effect on the human body. In such a situation, it is imperative to use protective equipment, such as earplugs. Hearing loss occurs gradually, sometimes you will hear an incomprehensible noise. In order to have time to turn to a specialist for help in time, you need to pay attention to every extraneous sound and take your he alth seriously.
Causes that can lead to hearing loss include injuries to the ear or skull. Especially dangerous for he alth is the explosion of the eardrum, which occurs due to purulentotitis. In addition, treatment for this disease can only aggravate the situation. It is not recommended to use antibiotics, because they can have a negative effect on the hearing aid. If you notice that a certain drug causes hearing problems, you should discard it and replace it with a new one.
Meaning of ear cleaning
Oddly enough, even a banal cleaning of the ears can lead to very serious consequences. If you've cleaned the dirt so thoroughly that you left a scratch, then a fungal infection is possible. It is not recommended to clean the ears too deeply, because you can damage the eardrum, and this is the most dangerous injury. It is attributed to the causes of hearing loss in one ear. Moreover, the violation occurs instantly. Often, the eardrum does not heal on its own, so surgery is needed to repair it.
As for infectious diseases, they should be feared the most. Any contact with contaminated objects can lead to bacterial contamination. It is not recommended to use other people's headphones, hats and other items that are carriers of germs. Bacteria, when they enter the body, look for a gap in the defense mechanism. Often they find it and start their attacks, and if you do not contact the doctor in a timely manner, the germs can spread so quickly that it will be very difficult to stop them later.
Temporary hearing loss
Hearing disorders are not always acute and chronic. Maybealso temporary hearing loss. This pathology is observed equally in both adults and children. The cause of a sharp deterioration in hearing can be various respiratory diseases, for example, influenza, tonsillitis, etc. If the patient suffers from these diseases, then swelling of the mucous membrane occurs, and the infection can spread to the hearing aid.
Inflammation occurs when there is not enough air in the middle ear cavity, and this is fraught with a curvature of the eardrum. As a result, the sound signal is distorted and in this form reaches the corresponding part of the brain. In order to prevent such a development of events, it is necessary to make an appointment with a specialist in a timely manner, as well as to carry out the prevention of respiratory diseases.
Temporary hearing loss is also caused by a sulfuric plug, which clogs the channel through which sound waves pass. If such a problem is observed, it can also shoot in the ear, which is rather unpleasant. Only a qualified doctor can remove the sulfur plug, you should not do it yourself. After all, inflammation can be detected behind it. Then a professional look is definitely needed.
Degrees of hearing loss as a disease
As you know, one of the most important components of the human body is the organ of hearing. The causes of hearing loss were discussed above, now it's time to talk about the stages of hearing loss. It is worth noting that the disease in the early stages may go unnoticed, and the more dangerous it is for a person.
After a thorough medical examinationthe doctor will come to the following conclusions:
- If the patient is good at distinguishing sound signals up to 25 dB, then everything is in order with hearing.
- If the patient hears only if the specialist has increased the sound to 40 dB. This means that the patient has the first stage of hearing loss.
- A hearing aid can be bought for people with the second degree of the disease, when the sound is heard in the range from 40 to 55 dB.
- 55-70 dB - with such indicators they already give disability. A person can normally perceive speech at a distance of two steps.
- It's time to order the most powerful hearing aids in the fourth stage of hearing loss. Here, a person already hears a sound only from 70 to 90 dB, a disability group is assigned.
Key Features
Hearing loss can be noticed in noisy crowded places, where an unceasing buzz constantly sounds. To understand what the interlocutor says, you need to strain your ears. If you need to turn up the volume when watching TV, when everyone else can hear normally, then you should think about it. It is the little things that should be paid attention to in order to identify any problems in a timely manner.
Be especially careful when talking with the interlocutor. If you need to read lips to understand his speech, this is the first sign of hearing loss. Sometimes, in order to accurately hear what was said, you need to ask the interlocutor to repeat the same phrase several times. It also indicates some kind of failure. Causes and treatment of hearing loss cannot be separated, becauseThe methods of therapy also depend on the basis. Therefore, it is in your best interest not to hide anything from your doctor and to tell it like it is.
Diagnosis of hearing diseases
If you feel that the perception of sounds has become worse, then be sure to seek help from a specialist, there is no need to postpone this visit. Understand that the sooner the doctor finds the problem, the sooner he will solve it. The causes and treatment of hearing loss in the elderly, middle-aged people, adolescents, and young children are impossible without diagnosis. To begin with, you need to verbally tell the specialist about your problems and situations when you discovered hearing loss. For the most complete picture, you can ask loved ones to tell you what they have noticed in your behavior strange lately.
If there were diseases of the organ of hearing or injuries of the ears, then be sure to share this information. It should also be mentioned about the medicines taken at the moment. In order for the doctor to be able to make an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to conduct a series of medical studies. In cases where the patient came to the appointment with the initial stage of hearing loss, hearing could be fully restored. To achieve this result, you must follow the doctor's recommendations and follow all his instructions.
If a person sees a specialist with significant problems, then the doctor can only recommend a powerful hearing aid that will help lead a full life.
Causes and treatment of hearing loss
Worth itIt should be noted that there are several methods of therapy that are effective in their own way in a particular situation. To carry out a full-fledged treatment of diseases, the following approaches are used:
- Drug therapy. The purpose of taking medicines is to improve the blood supply to the brain and hearing organs. If a patient has certain diseases, the doctor prescribes anti-inflammatory and antibacterial medicines.
- Vitamin therapy. The main goal is to increase the strength of the body, so that recovery occurs naturally. Moreover, the treatment is not carried out by taking medications, but by adjusting the diet. Add foods that contain essential vitamins: A, B, C, and E.
- Physiotherapy treatment. As a full-fledged therapy, this method looks rather weak, but if we consider it as an additional tool, then it is very good. Physiotherapy will speed up recovery along with standard conservative treatment. This method is also well suited for rehabilitation after surgery.
- Traditional medicine. As always, non-traditional methods cannot act as the main ones. Moreover, many experts very much doubt the effectiveness of these methods. If we talk about popularity among the people, then propolis, tar, onion and bay leaf have excellent reviews.
- Surgery. Depending on the causes of hearing loss and the stage of development of the pathology, it may be necessary to intervene with surgeons. In spite ofradicalism, this method is considered the most effective, as it is guaranteed to return hearing or at least improve it. The operation involves the restoration of damaged elements, as well as the implantation of sound signal transmitters.
Prevention
Most people do not pay any attention to this, and this is their fatal mistake. After all, it is much easier to prevent the occurrence of pathology than to fight it later. That is why it is necessary to prevent the decrease in the level of perception of sounds by taking proper care of your he alth.
Prevention of the causes of hearing loss includes the following activities:
- Protect your ears from hypothermia and frostbite. Cold air has an adverse effect on hearing, inflammation may occur.
- Protection against loud signals. Do not listen to music with headphones at maximum volume, avoid sharp loud sounds. If your work involves noise, use protective equipment such as ear plugs.
- Keep out noise pollution. This term means an abundance of monotonous sounds - traffic, hammering, etc. Try to minimize these phenomena in your life.
- Timely treatment of diseases. If you find symptoms of any disease, do not postpone a visit to the doctor. It is better to avoid diseases of the auditory organ or get rid of them in time.
- Hygiene. Ear cleaning is essential, so do it regularly, but remember the rules.
Modernmedicine is now at a very high level and can cope with all the causes of hearing loss. However, it is much easier to just follow preventive measures to protect yourself from these kinds of problems.
