Hearing impairment can be caused by various factors such as aging, accidents, or birth defects. It can be categorized into conductive, sensorineural, central, or mixed hearing loss. Symptoms may include difficulty understanding words or poor academic performance. Treatment may include therapy or hearing aids.
Hearing impairment is a broad term that describes problems with hearing and properly understanding auditory information or sound. An individual may be born with a hearing impairment or may acquire one from some form of accident, such as a head injury or exposure to extremely loud noise. Sometimes the ailments can develop naturally as a result of aging. Hearing disorders can come in many different forms; some are related to one or more parts of the ear itself and others are related to the brain and auditory nerves. Hearing problems are typically detected through various hearing screening procedures and can sometimes be treated through therapy or the use of hearing aids.
A particular variety of hearing impairment will typically fall into one of a variety of different categories. A conductive hearing disorder, or conductive hearing loss, is a problem with the inner or middle ear that is usually caused by a blockage of some form. A buildup of earwax, for example, can lead to conductive hearing loss. In some cases, the bones in the ear stiffen and lead to conductive hearing loss.
A sensorineural hearing disorder, on the other hand, is related to problems with the inner ear or with the auditory nerves, which carry sound information from the ear to the brain. This type of hearing problem is much more likely to be permanent. Unlike conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss generally affects some sound frequencies more than others. This often cannot be corrected by hearing aids.
A central hearing disorder is a disorder in which there are problems with the nerves between the inner ear and the brain. Sometimes, the problem is with the brain itself. These types of hearing disorders tend to be very difficult to treat or even diagnose correctly.
In some cases, an individual will have several types of hearing impairments. In this case, you are said to have mixed hearing impairment or mixed hearing loss. This can also be difficult to diagnose as the symptoms of some of the other types of hearing disorders tend to overlap somewhat.
A hearing impairment can have many different symptoms that are not limited to just hearing loss. Sometimes, difficulty remembering conversations or understanding words can indicate that you have some form of hearing impairment. Difficulty speaking or poor academic performance may also indicate the presence of one or more hearing disorders.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
