Monday, October 18, 2010

Hearing Loss Treatment - A Comprehensive Guide

There are different causes of hearing loss but whatever it is, it is important to acquire proper hearing loss treatment. A person who experiences hearing loss may suffer from loneliness, depression and loss of independence and confidence. The hearing may not be totally recovered but treatment can make a person interact, communicate, work, and perform daily tasks more easily and comfortably. Here are some hearing loss treatment methods that you can try.

Reversible Hearing Loss Treatment:

Treating reversible hearing loss mainly depends on the cause but most of the time, the treatment is successful. Here are some of the causes of reversible hearing loss along with the method of treating them.

1. Intake of ototoxic medicines – treated by changing or stopping the medication

2. Ear Infection – antibiotic can help solve the problem although this can heal on its own

3. Injury on the head or ears - your doctor may advise you to undergo surgery although this will also clear up on its own over time

4. Otosclerosis, Meniere’s disease, or acoustic neuroma - the problem may be solved by surgery or medicine consumption

5. Impacted earwax – treated by wax removal.

Permanent Hearing Loss Treatment:

For age-related, noise-induced, and other permanent hearing loss, hearing loss treatment is possible through the use of hearing devices, which include:

1. Hearing aids – hearing aids function by amplifying or making the sounds louder. They may not be able to completely restore the hearing sense of the afflicted person but they can make communication and functioning much easier.

2. Alerting devices, communication aids, and assistive listening devices.

Constant Hearing Loss Treatment:

Reversible hearing loss is generally cured after the cause has been treated. However, if hearing loss persists, it is necessary that you consult with your doctor. You may also need to take medicines or undergo surgery, depending on what’s causing your hearing loss. However once again, these may not totally restore your sense of hearing especially for those with permanent hearing loss, like noise-induced and age-related hearing loss. In such case, the use of hearing aids must be continuous. While doing so, your doctor may also suggest you to take occasional hearing tests to check if your hearing has improved. If there’s any improvement, then the hearing aid you are using may need to be adjusted.

Here’s a list of the hearing devices you can use for your hearing loss treatment:

1. Assistive listening devices - these hearing devices are used to make sounds louder through directing the sounds to the ears. A special type of device is used for every situation such as in one-on-one conversations, auditorium or classroom settings. Some of the most common assistive listening devices are telephone amplifiers, personal listening systems, and hearing aids directly attached to a microphone, television, radio, or stereo.

2. Alerting devices – these devices are used to alert you that there is a particular sound. This is done through the use of louder sounds, vibrations, or lights to alert you or get your attention.

3. Telephone-closed captioning - telephone-closed captioning devices are used to show subtitles or words at the bottom of the TV screen so that the user will be able to understand what he/she is watching.

4. Telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) - this is one of the most common hearing loss treatment devices as it allows a person to use the telephone without having to listen to the person on the other line but rather to read the messages shown on the TDD keyboard.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing the information regarding hearing loss.Basically it is a conditions in which individuals are fully or partially unable to detect or perceive at least some frequencies of sound.Hearing aids are primarily useful in improving the hearing and speech comprehension of people who have hearing loss that results from damage to the small sensory cells in the inner ear,called hair cells.

    Hearing Aids

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