A child with hearing loss may experience mild effects or severe ones. A child with severe hearing loss could be labeled as “deaf.” Babies may have hearing loss from birth or may acquire it as a result of disease, trauma, or prolonged exposure to loud noise.
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How you can hear
The three primary parts of the ear are the middle ear, the inner ear, and the outer ear. The eardrum vibrates when sound waves enter the outer ear. As the vibrations move to the inner ear, the eardrum and the three tiny bones in the middle ear amplify them. The vibrations travel through fluid in the cochlea, a snail-shaped part of the inner ear.
Thousands of microscopic hairs that are attached to cochlear nerve cells aid in the conversion of sound waves into electrical signals. The brain receives electrical signals. The brain produces sound from these signals.
Hearing loss symptoms may include:
• Silencing speech and other noises.
• having trouble understanding words, particularly in noisy or crowded environments.
• Having trouble pronouncing alphabetic characters that aren’t vowels.
• Requesting that people speak louder, clearer, and more slowly.
• Needing to adjust the radio or television’s volume.
• Avoiding particular social situations.
• Finding background noise bothersome.
• Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.
Causes of hearing loss include:
- An inner ear injury. The hairs, or nerve cells, in the cochlea that transmit sound signals to the brain can deteriorate with age and exposure to loud noises. Nerve cells or hairs that are damaged or missing have poor electrical signal transmission. Hearing loss results from this.
- Tones with higher pitches could appear muffled. Against background noise, it could be challenging to distinguish words.
- Production of ear wax. Earwax can obstruct the ear canal over time, preventing sound waves from entering. Hearing loss can be helped by removing earwax.
- Unusual bone growths, tumors, or infections in the ears. Any one of these could result in hearing loss in the middle or outer ear.
- An eardrum rupture is alternatively referred to as a tympanic membrane perforation. The eardrum can burst due to infection, loud noises, abrupt pressure changes, and prodding with an object.
The following conditions can harm or cause the hairs and nerve cells in the inner ear to disappear:
- Growing older. With time, the inner ear deteriorates.
- Noisy surroundings. The inner ear’s cells can sustain damage from exposure to loud noises. Prolonged exposure to loud noises can lead to harm. Alternatively, a brief burst of noise, like a gunshot, may cause harm.
- Temperament. Your genetic makeup may predispose you to age-related or sound-induced ear damage.
- Noises at work. Occupations involving continuous loud noise, like farming, construction, or manufacturing, can cause internal ear damage.
- Playing with noise. Hearing loss can occur instantly and be permanent if one is exposed to explosive noises, such as those produced by jet engines and firearms.
- Other activities that involve dangerously high noise levels include motorcycling, carpentry, snowmobiling, and loud music listening.
- A few medications. These include sildenafil (Viagra), the antibiotic gentamicin, and some cancer-related medications that can harm the inner ear. Short-term effects on hearing can be caused by very high doses of aspirin, other pain relievers, antimalarial medications, or loop diuretics. These include hearing loss, tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.
- A few ailments. The cochlea can be harmed by illnesses like meningitis that result in a high temperature.
A temporary loss of hearing is possible.
When it is not, there are resources such as tools, treatments, and other remedies that can be used. Devices such as cochlear implants and hearing aids can improve a child’s hearing. Learning to speak, use sign language, and read can also make communication easier. A collaborative effort between educators, parents, students with hearing loss, audiologists (specialists in diagnosing and treating hearing problems), and speech therapists can result in an educational plan. Creating a 504 plan or individualized education program (IEP) can be part of helping children realize their full potential.
FAQ
covid hearing loss
- COVID-19 can damage the internal ear as well as the auditory pathway. Hearing loss may be the most effective symptom of COVID-19 or be an overdue difficulty of the sickness because of postinfectious inflammation of the nerve tissue as a symptom of lengthy COVID-19
In addition, COVID can result in the following ear symptoms:
- Vertigo/dizziness: One of the most frequently reported ear symptoms of COVID-19 is vertigo.
- Hearing loss: COVID has been linked to hearing loss, which occasionally occurs as the only symptom.
- Tinnitus: Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, has been reported by a few COVID-19 patients.
sudden hearing loss
- Sudden sensorineural (“inner ear”) listening to loss (SSHL), commonly known as surprising deafness, is an unexplained, rapid lack of hearing both unexpectedly or over a few days. SSHL happens due to the fact that there’s something wrong with the sensory organs of the internal ear. Sudden deafness frequently impacts one ear. For more detail
