Hearing loss
specialists
equipment
treatment
Causes of hearing loss
The main cause of hearing loss is the inevitable age-related changes in the human body; this is as natural as graying hair and decreasing visual acuity.
Unfortunately, the age at which this disease is detected is decreasing, and more and more young people are turning to specialized clinics. The reasons for this fact are inflammatory processes in the outer and middle ear: otitis externa, otitis media and others.
Other causes of hearing loss:
- the eardrum is injured (loud sounds, deep dives when diving);
- presence of sulfur plug;
- entry of a foreign body into the external auditory canal;
- presence of fluid in the middle ear;
- impaired functions of auditory receptors due to infectious diseases;
- side effects of potent drugs;
- head injury.
Many other reasons, which need to be diagnosed only in specialized medical centers, self-medication or turning to traditional healers are fraught with complete hearing loss, when specialist help may be late.
In children
Unfortunately, various pathologies can occur during pregnancy, which can later lead to hearing loss in the newborn. This disease is also facilitated by various birth injuries, when the child’s head is injured. Older children, under the age of seven, may also experience hearing problems due to previous diseases of the nasopharynx, ear or nasal cavity.
Main diseases that can lead to the development of hearing loss in children:
- infectious diseases;
- maternal illness during pregnancy with rubella, influenza, herpes, measles;
- use of strong antibiotics (monomycin, netilmicin, neomycin and others);
- maternal bad habits (alcohol, smoking);
- the effect of toxic drugs on the mother’s body.
In pregnant women
The formation of the child’s organs responsible for hearing occurs in the fetus at 3–4 months of pregnancy, it is during this period that the following diseases are dangerous: rubella, meningitis, syphilis, chicken pox, this can lead to hearing loss for both the mother and the unborn still a child. The consequences of diseases that affect blood vessels can also have a detrimental effect on the hearing aid of either the mother or the child. Even the use of anesthesia during childbirth is fraught with the development of the disease.
Degrees of hearing loss and diagnosis
The range in which a person does not perceive sound, depending on the degree:
- 1 degree – no more than 26-40 dB
- 2nd degree – no more than 41-55 dB
- 3rd degree – no more than 56-70 dB
- 4th degree – no more than 71-90 dB
- Deafness - lack of response to sounds with a power of more than 90 dB
During diagnostics at the medical center, specialists will help identify the degree of disorder and the cause, which is important in subsequent treatment. Preliminary diagnosis is carried out by an otolaryngologist (audiometry). When hearing loss is diagnosed, a consultation with an audiologist will be scheduled, who, using special equipment, will conduct a detailed diagnosis of the patient’s hearing.
Classification of hearing loss
Sensorineural hearing loss
Conductive hearing loss
Mixed hearing loss
Sudden deafness
Acute hearing loss
Chronic hearing loss
Price
Appointment to the doctor
About the disease
First, you need to understand what hearing loss is in its essence - it is a decrease in the perception of sounds that fill us in the world around us, a violation of speech communication. It is necessary to distinguish between hearing loss (speech communication is difficult) and deafness, when a person does not hear any sounds played loudly near the ear.
Diagnosis, selection of treatment and prescription of medications are carried out by narrow specialists: otolaryngologist and otoneurologist. Treatment methods can be used as classical, conservative, namely:
and surgical:
There are early (diagnosed from the moment of birth, as well as before the moment when the child should speak) and late hearing loss.