Understanding the Types and Causes of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is the third most common problem, affecting more than 36 million people in the country. The loss of hearing has a significant effect on the quality of life. Every individual needs to understand the types of hearing problem and the basic reasons that lead to the problem. The blog discusses the causes of the problem, its types, and possible treatment audiologist in Houston, TX or any other area recommends:

Causes of Hearing Loss

Physical Condition

Age, genetics, and illness are certain conditions that may lead to hearing loss. Advanced age is a another common cause of the problem. One out of three individuals aged 65-74 have some type of hearing loss, and the ratio increases with the age group.

Noisy Environment

Loud noise and lots of medications are two common reasons of hearing loss. Continuous exposure to loud noise affects the hearing ability of an individual. Those working at noisy workplaces or involved in noisy lines of work such as mining, transportation, and military are more prone to suffer from the problem.

Medications

There are more than 200 medicines and chemicals with the record of triggering hearing side effects. Some of the medications include loop diuretics (drug to treat malaria), chemotherapy drugs, several erectile dysfunction treatment drugs, and aspirin.

Types of Hearing Loss

Conductive Hearing Loss

Problems in the ear drum, middle ear, ear canal, and little bones cause hearing loss.

Causes: Malformation of the ear canal, outer ear, or middle ear structure, fluid in middle ear because of cold, ear infection, allergy, poor eustachian tube function, benign tumor, perforated eardrum, impacted earwax, infection in the ear canal, and otosclerosis.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Problems in the inner ear cause sensorineural hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss is also known as the nerve-related hearing loss.

Causes: Head trauma, exposure to loud noise, virus or disease, hereditary hearing loss, autoimmune inner ear disease, aging, Meniere's disease, tumor, otosclerosis, and malformation of the inner ear.

Mixed Hearing Loss

It is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. There is a possibility of damage either in the outer or middle ear and inner ear or auditory nerve.

Causes: Mixed hearing loss could be because of any of the above-mentioned reasons behind hearing loss.

Last Few Words

Seeking the consultation of an audiologist is advisable upon noticing hearing problem. There are certain medications and devices available to bring relief to the patient, improve the lifestyle, and treat the problem.