- Hi guys, in this video,
I'm gonna teach you about
the three different types of hearing loss,
and what causes them.
Comin' up.
(upbeat rock music)
I'm Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology,
and founder of applied hearing solutions.
And on this channel, I cover everything you need to know
about hearing loss, and your treatment options.
So if you're into that,
consider hitting the subscribe button.
As an audiologist, I spend all day, every day,
testing and treating individuals who have hearing loss.
Nearly 50,000,000 people in the United States alone,
have hearing loss.
Of these 50,000,000 cases,
there's only three general classifications,
but many conditions that can cause each type.
Some of these are common, some of these are not so common.
Nonetheless, I wanna share with you,
the three classifications of hearing loss,
and some potential causes of each type.
The first type, is sensorineural.
Despite what the name says, most of the time,
it isn't the auditory nerve itself that has the problem,
but it's the little tiny hair cells
that are inside your hearing organ,
otherwise known as your cochlea.
These hair cells, flex and move
when sound comes into the ear.
Their movement sends a signal through the auditory nerve,
to the brain, causing you to hear.
If these hair cells don't work right,
you'll have a hearing loss.
Some of the most important causes
of sensorineural hearing loss, is noise exposure, and age.
If these hair cells sustain a lot of damage
from excessive noise exposure,
either from impact sounds like a firecracker,
or long-duration sounds like a motorcycle engine,
you could sustain a sensorineural hearing loss.
The good news is, is that this type of hearing loss,
is preventable.
Just wear hearing protection.
On the other hand, if age is the culprit,
there's little you can do
to prevent this type of hearing loss.
Nearly everyone will develop this type of hearing loss
if they live long enough.
Sensorineural hearing loss is treatable by hearing aids,
when the outer hair cells are the ones that are damaged.
If too many inner hair cells are damaged,
it prevents the proper transmission of sound to the brain,
and will limit the hearing aid benefit.
Other less common causes of sensorineural hearing loss,
are sudden hearing losses, and acoustic neuromas, or tumors.
Both of which generally occur in only one ear at a time.
If you ever experience hearing loss in only one ear,
get to your doctor immediately.
Sudden hearing losses are generally caused by a virus
attacking the hair cells of your cochlea
that we just talked about.
Treatment includes steroids,
but success with treatment depends
on how quickly you receive it.
And acoustic neuroma, or tumor
can also give you a sudden hearing loss, but not always.
This is when a tumor is growing on your auditory nerve,
and blocks sound from making it to your brain.
Obviously, anytime a tumor's involved
it becomes more serious.
The second type is a Conductive hearing loss,
or mechanical hearing loss.
A conductive hearing loss,
is one that's caused by something preventing
the proper transmission of sound to the cochlea.
In this case, there is nothing wrong with your cochlea,
or auditory nerve, just the sound can't make it
from your outer ear all the way to your inner ear.
Sound has to travel through the ear canal,
vibrate the ear drum, which causes the ossicles,
otherwise known as the hearing bones, to move,
and then they move the fluid inside the cochlea
to cause that neural impulse.
If any link in that chain has a problem doing its job,
you'll have a conductive hearing loss.
There are many causes of conductive hearing loss.
Some of the most common are earwax,
which block the vibration of sound,
an eardrum with a hole in it, fluid behind the ear drum,
disconnected ossicles, or even fused ossicles.
A simple hearing test is able to identify
exactly where the problem is.
Conductive hearing losses
often require medical intervention,
and sometimes require surgery to correct.
The third type is a mixed hearing loss.
This is when there's a component
of a sensorineural hearing loss,
combined with a conductive hearing loss.
This type of hearing loss is not common,
and require multiple types of treatment.
That's it for this video.
If you learned something new, and enjoyed this video,
please share it with someone you know.
Take care,
and I'll see you next time.
(upbeat electronic music)