Causes of permanent hearing loss

The Importance of Hearing

Hearing is one of our most important senses. Besidesallowing us a capability of sound reception, it provides us with additionalorientation, balance and numerous other benefits. However, our ears are verysensitive organs and we must take good care of them so as not to lose thisblessing they provide us.

Characteristics of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss results in our inability to perceive sounds. Itmay be caused by numerous different factors. First of all, hearing loss can bepermanent or temporary. The former leaves one deprived of this sense forever,while the latter one may be treated through surgical procedures, specificmedications or different therapies.

Also, the severity of our hearing loss depends greatly uponthe part of our ear exposed to certain injuries or dysfunctions. Thus, if ourouter or middle ear is malfunctioning or is damaged, we may experience hearingloss. However, this loss may not be complete since we are likely to be able tohear still, with many difficulties. Injuries affecting our inner ear result incomplete hearing loss due to this organ’s inability of sending hearing signalsto the brain. Finally, we may lose or sense of hearing due to mixed factors,combining some or all of the above mentioned.

Reasons behind Permanent Hearing Loss

The reasons may be many, involving diseases, physicalinjuries, bacterial or viral infections etc. Also, exposure to extremely loudnoises may cause permanent or temporary hearing loss. You might directly injureparts of your ear like your eardrum, by inserting foreign object in your ear orhaving some kind of an accident resulting in this head trauma. Moreover, thebones inside your ear may be prone to growing larger, becoming less mobile and causinghearing impairment.

As for diseases and infections, certain antibiotics may leadto the development of this condition. Alternatively, people who suffer fromdiseases which affect their neurological system or their ears, have a highlikelihood of permanent or temporary hearing loss.

The antibiotics mentioned above are claimed to be one of themain reasons behind hearing loss in babies. Misdiagnosis leads to giving wrongmedications to babies, in order to treat some ear infections, causing theirpermanent hearing problems.

Whichever the reason may be, the doctor in charge must findit and establish a proper diagnosis in order for the adequate treatment to bestarted. Then, the patient may be recommended some hearing aids, medicationtreatment or other types of therapy.