Hearing is something that most of us take for granted but when we experience hearing loss or ringing in your ears can be debilitating and your daily routine is affected.  We will be exploring why we experience hearing loss and ways to fix hearing loss.

How we hear.

Ears are divided into three parts leading to the brain, the outer ear, middle ear and the inner ear.

Outer Ear consists of the ear canal and eardrum. Sound travels down the ear canal, hitting the eardrum and causing it to move or vibrate.

Middle Ear is the space behind the eardrum that contains three small bones called ossicles. This chain of tiny bones is connected to the eardrum at one end and to an opening to the inner ear at the other end. Vibrations from the eardrum cause the ossicles to vibrate which, in turn, creates movement of the fluid in the inner ear.

Inner Ear or cochlea is the movement of the fluid of tiny structures called hair cells. This movement of the hair cells sends electric signals from the inner ear up the auditory nerve to the brain.

The brain interprets these sounds and this is how we hear.

Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound is impaired through the outer ear canal to the eardrum and the tiny bones of the middle ear. Conductive hearing loss usually involves a reduction in sound level or the ability to hear faint sounds. This type of hearing loss can often be corrected naturally, medically or in severe cases may result in surgery.

Some causes of conductive hearing loss:

  • Fluid in the middle ear from colds
  • Allergies
  • Ear Infection
  • Perforated eardrum
  • Benign tumors
  • Impacted earwax
  • Infection in the ear canal
  • Swimmers Ear
  • Presence of a foreign body
  • Absence or malformation of the outer ear, ear canal, or middle ear

Sensorineural hearing loss can be permanent loss of hearing. This occurs when there is damage to the Inner Ear, or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Most of the time, SNHL cannot be medically or surgically corrected. This is the most common type of permanent hearing loss.

Some possible causes:

  • Illnesses
  • Hearing loss that runs in the family
  • Aging
  • Head trauma
  • Malformation of the inner ear
  • Exposure to loud noise

We can look for solutions naturally to help fix some of these conditions to fix hearing loss.