The different types of hearing loss

There are different types of hearing loss, depending on their severity and origin. Hearing loss can be due to dysfunctions in the outer ear, middle ear or inner ear. Broadly speaking, if the hearing organ is healthy, but the sound does not reach it correctly, we talk of transmission loss. If the sound transmission chain to the hearing organ is intact, but the problem is in the inner ear, we speak of perceptual loss.

In the outer ear, the loss is often temporary and results either from a simple earwax plug or an ear canal infection. In this case, medical treatment is often effective, and the patient can regain satisfactory hearing.

In the middle ear, the causes of hearing loss are generally perforation of the eardrum, infection or simple accumulation of fluid due to serous otitis. In all three cases, medical treatment and optimal hygiene of the ear enable good hearing to be restored.

When hearing loss occurs in the outer or middle ear, it is called “conductive hearing loss” because sound is no longer carried to the inner ear, which is responsible for processing it and transmitting it to the brain.

If a lesion permanently affects the outer or middle ear, resulting in permanent hearing loss (following an injury, for example), hearing aids are the essential complement for restoring satisfactory hearing.

The most common hearing losses are in the inner ear. The main cause of these deficiencies is ageing. Just as eyesight is affected from the age of forty onwards, hearing changes physiologically from the age of sixty onwards. This is a natural phenomenon known as presbycusis.

Constant exposure to noise, taking medication with undesirable side effects or a head injury can also impair the functioning of the inner ear and lead to more or less significant hearing loss. e perte auditive plus ou moins conséquente.

Whatever the cause, hearing loss in the inner ear results from an alteration in the proper functioning of the hair cells: all or part of the sound waves are no longer transformed into electrical impulses and all or part of the information is no longer transmitted to the brain. The result can be relative or even total deafness. This is known as sensorineural hearing loss.
Damage to the hair cells is irreversible, but a quality hearing aid can restore satisfactory hearing if both ears are fitted. A stereophonic hearing aid is the solution that can restore hearing close to natural hearing.