My name is Emily and I have had hearing aids since I was four months old. I created Definite Hearing
as a way to increase awareness for the deaf and hard of hearing, one of the most common questions
I get is, is there a cure for hearing loss? I'm going to talk about this in today's video.
Welcome to my channel today. Before we start talking about if there's a cure for hearing
loss, we've got the first talk about the three different types of hearing loss: conductive sensorineural
and mixed hearing loss, well, you're going to ask me what these mean. Let's talk about this,
I hope you stick around to the end of this video, because if you do, I'm going to share what I think
about these hearing loss cures. If you haven't already please like this video and subscribe
my channel. Let's talk about some hearing loss cures, I just want to start out by saying there
is not a cure for sensorieural hearing loss. This is really disappointing for many,
but let's chat, I mentioned the three different types of hearing loss conductive hearing loss
means that there is something wrong with the outer and middle ear. This is the outer part of the ear.
The ear canal. The eardrum, and the three little bones are right behind the eardrum, the malleus,
incus, and stapes If someone is dealing with a conductive hearing loss, there is something
wrong with those parts of the ear and it blocks the sounds ability to go into the ear
and connect to the brain. A sensorieural hearing loss means that something is wrong with a person's
inner ear, this could be something wrong with the inner ear cells of the hair cells of the cochlea,
or the cochlea cells in general, I have a sensorineural hearing loss, we don't know exactly what
is wrong. We know that it's a genetic cause, but there's something wrong in my inner ear
that prevents sound from fully and effectively getting from my inner ear to my brain. And last
but not least, is a mixed hearing loss. This is a combination of problems in the outer, middle
and inner ear conductive and mixed ear hearing losses can be due to ear malformations microtia,
and sensorieural hearing loss, like I said earlier, is due to the malfunction of the inner
ear cells. A mixed hearing loss and conductive hearing loss could also mean that a person has
a viral infection, an ear blockage or something like that. So let's talk about hearing loss cures
for a conductive hearing loss sometimes surgery is an option. Surgery can be performed to remove
any obstruction or reconstruct parts of the ears that prevent the sound from moving through the ear
properly. Another solution to a conductive hearing loss at times can be a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid,
or a BAHA for short. A BAHA, is put into the ear bone right here. And it bypasses the outer and middle
ear, and vibrates the cochlea, which communicates with the brain. Essentially a BAHA circumvents
the outer, middle ear to help someone hear this particular hearing device, like a cochlear implant
must be surgically implanted. Now, a BA has not a cure but it certainly is a strong solution.
Next, let's talk about sensory neural cures. These are the most difficult and I would say science is
working very hard to cure sensorineural hearing loss. This is the particular hearing loss that
there still is no all end all cure for, there are a few different approaches that scientists
are working on right now. Number one is progenitor cell reactivation. What is this? Progenitor cells
in the inner ear of the cochlea, are cells that are seen they're essentially dormant, not working
properly, there's a drug test called FX 322 that's going on right now, it's an injection into the
tympanic membrane, or eardrum, of the ear. It goes into the inner ear cells and rejuvenate, or
jumpstarts these progenitor cells that are sitting dormant in the inner ear, FX 322 has seen success.
It has also seen setbacks, it will probably be about five to 10 years, until that drug
is available for use if it continues to pass its tests. Sensorieural hearing loss cure number two
is stem cell research, stem cells are cells that are very very basic beginner cells,
the cells typically come from the early on stem cells or cells of an embryo. These are unassigned
cells. This means that these cells can still be assigned as specific cells so stem cell research
with regards to sensorieural hearing loss is trying to figure out how do we assign an
unassigned blank cell to build into a sensorineural cochlea cell, so that we can cure this
sensorineural hearing loss. Essentially, imagine that they could take these unassigned cells
regrow a cochlea and put that surgically into someone's ear. I don't know if that would work.
It's a hypothesis, it's an idea, but that is kind of the thinking of the stem cell research. Last
but not least, another key to curing sensorineural hearing loss has been discovered.
Scientists have found that in certain genetic hearing losses, there has been an omission of
the GSI1 protein, this protein is required in embryonic cells to fully develop the cochlea cells
without this GFP one protein, the cochlea cells cannot develop fully and properly. Therefore if
scientists can understand more about this GFI1 protein, they could use this information to be
able to fix and replicate sensorineural hearing loss, to allow those cochlea cells to develop
fully and properly. Isn't this amazing? Science is incredible. It's amazing that we have
so many different routes to be able to cure this hearing loss, we just still have yet to do it. So
like I mentioned earlier for conductive hearing lossm surgery can be a cure, and a Bone Anchored
Hearing Aid can be a solution for sensorineural hearing loss, hearing aids and cochlear implants
can be solutions, hearing aids, like I wear like these amplify sound, so that it boosts the sound,
so that my brain can understand sound better, a cochlear implant on the other hand, bypasses
the ear. The outer ear, middle ear and inner ear and goes straight to the auditory nerve,
the cochlear implant is implanted at the back of someone's head, the wire or the electrode
is connected straight to the auditory nerve, which talks to the brain. It bypasses the ear.
Altogether, it is miraculous and incredible. My sister has one herself. My hearing loss is
not severe enough for me to get a cochlear implant but I love hearing so much that if my hearing loss
got to that point that it was that bad, I would try it, I'd have nothing to lose at that point,
I love my hearing devices, they are an incredible solution for my hearing loss, they're like my
glasses. I have horrible vision, like, negative 5.5 and negative 5.75! I cannot see
well at all, unless something is about five inches from my face. So when I get up in the morning and
I put my glasses on, or my contacts in, and I put my hearing aids on, I go from blurry to clarity,
obviously, hearing aids aren't perfect, there are things that like, I can't always hear,
but it is way better than living without hearing aids, because I can't understand anything
without my hearing aids. I love being able to hear, I am so grateful for my hearing aids.
So there you have it. Now you know the different types of hearing losses and potential cures for
hearing loss. What kind of hearing loss, do you have, I would love to hear in the comments below.
In addition to that, what solutions or cures do to use so that you can hear? I would love to hear in
the comments below. If you haven't already, please like this video and subscribe to my channel. I
look forward to making more great hearing loss related content for you. Have a great day! Bye.