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Difficulties of hearing loss is a fairly common occurrence. Those who have ever come across them know how hard the daily lives of those with reduced hearing can be. Therefore, scientists over the years came up with new ways to restore it.
Today, the most common and effective method is the use of hearing aids. However, medicine does not standstill.
Is it possible to recover a loss in hearing? The opinion of doctors
Modern medicine successfully helps people with hearing problems. However, the ability to recover lost abilities primarily depends on the different types of hearing loss and its degree. Let us dwell in more detail on the issue related to the hearing restoration and turn to medical research conducted on this topic.
Earwax Hearing Loss
Earwax is a kind of barrier that protects the ear canals from infection or water. But do not neglect the hygiene of the ear cavity, to avoid the detrimental effects. There are several ways to help keep your auricle and ear canal clean. That’s what Dr. Stella Fulman says about this:
The safest way is the general cleaning of the outer ear with a cloth during daily showers. For people who cannot fold a towel on their index finger to clean the outer ear, they can use cotton swabs. Most people fall into the trap of going deeper into the ear because of the good feeling. It cannot be stressed enough. Resist the urge and stick to the outer ear.
Keep in mind, that in no case should you use cotton swabs to clean the ear canal, since this method most often leads to occluding wax and temporary hearing loss. This loss is reversible and easy to treat. To avoid complications, the patient should contact an audiologist who will help to safely remove earwax.
Age-Related Hearing Loss
The main reason for age-related hearing loss is the changes that occur in the tissues and cells of the body. In such patients, deformation of the sound membrane and death of cochlear hair cells occurs, which normally allows the brain to receive information about the sound signal.
It’s hearing loss, which actually affects nearly a third of all adults aged between 65 and 74 in the United States. The National Institutes of Health believe that over half of those over 75 suffer from it in some way. There is no pill that one can take for it.
According to studies by the World Health Organization, the affected hair cells cannot recover, so this type of hearing loss, unfortunately, is not reversible. Only the use of hearing aids helps in this situation.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
The constant impact of noise is another reason why people lose their hearing. Most often, people working in industries suffer from this ailment. However, even among teenagers, there are similar problems due to listening to music at high volume. The percentage of young people suffering from this is growing every year. Unfortunately, the effects of noise lead to irreversible consequences, and if people do not adhere to safety measures (earplugs, anti-noise headphones, etc.), they quickly lose their hearing.
Infectious disease as a cause of hearing loss
Quite often, infectious diseases can cause complete or partial hearing loss. In this case, the reversibility or irreversibility will depend on the type of infection. Early diagnosis is important for the treatment. In most cases, hearing is restored. But sometimes, especially severe infections lead to its irreversible loss.
Sudden Onset Hearing Loss
Sudden hearing loss is characterized by acute hearing loss in one or two ears at once. It occurs within a few seconds, or minutes. In most patients, the cause of the problem cannot be determined. However, medicine associates the occurrence of an ailment with vascular disorders of the inner ear. Usually, it occurs in people aged 40-50 years. To avoid the irreversible effects of sudden hearing loss, you need to seek medical help as soon as possible.
Have you found any symptoms in yourself or your loved ones? Test your hearing After you pass this test, you can send us your results. Our experts will provide you with free medical advice.
What do scientists say?
Most cases of hearing loss are reversible. The main thing is to resort to the help of a doctor in time. Unfortunately, the problem of patients suffering from age-related hearing loss remains relevant and cannot be treated. However, hearing loss researches give hope to this group of people.
Specialists at Stanford University research the field of genetics. Their main goal is to search for genes that are involved in hearing loss, as well as create a special test. With its help, specialists will be able to determine whether a person has a predisposition to the occurrence of the problem or not.
Scientists at Harvard University are conducting gene studies to restore the hair cells of the inner ear in mice. The author of the study, Zheng-Yi Chen, claims that the researchers were able to reprogram the cells taken from adult mice. They are similar to human ones and can be used for regeneration.
Other scientists have created special brain exercises. They stimulate the auditory cortex and improve some of the effects associated with hearing loss. Lace Listening, a smartphone app developer, claims their exercises increase speech recognition in noisy environments by 30%.
The data obtained during the research show that medicine is on the right track. But complete success is still far away. What can be done right now?
Hearing aids are indispensable assistants for Americans
Scientists work hard to resolve the issue of restoring lost hearing. However, no one can say for sure when scientific discoveries will take their place in medicine. Therefore, the use of hearing aids will be relevant for a long time to come.
Our hearing care professionals have extensive experience with these devices. We have selected and tuned hearing aids for hundreds of patients who have come to us for help and are successfully continuing to do so. Here you will find the latest models from the best manufacturers at the most affordable prices.
Our main goal is to help people. Our customers will always be able to receive excellent quality services. The most important thing is to get rid of hearing issues to start living a full happy life.
About Dr Stella Fulman
Dr. Stella Fulman, AU.D., CCC-A received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Audiology from Brooklyn College in 2004 and her Doctorate of Audiology from Salus University in 2008. [ Learn More ]
