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 Being one of the basic senses, hearing is an essential part of communication and understanding. Hearing can alert you of danger approaching or put a smile on your face when you are listening to a favorite song. Hearing loss can affect lives in many ways, so it is important to understand hearing loss in depth.
Hearing loss, or hearing impairment happens when there is a problem with one or more parts of the ear or ears. Someone who has hearing loss or impairment may be able to hear some sounds or nothing at all.
To understand how and why hearing loss happens, it helps to know how the ear works:
The ear is made up of three different sections: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. These parts work together so you can hear and process sounds.
The outer ear, or pinna picks up sound waves and the waves then travel through the outer ear canal. When the sound waves hit the eardrum in the middle ear, the eardrum starts to vibrate. When the eardrum vibrates, it moves three tiny bones in your ear. These bones are called the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and stapes (stirrup). They help sound move along on its journey into the inner ear. The vibrations then travel to the cochlea, which is filled with liquid and lined with cells that have thousands of tiny hairs on their surfaces. There are two types of hair cells: the outer and inner cells. The sound vibrations make the tiny hairs move. The outer hair cells take the sound information, amplify it and tune it. The inner hair cells send the sound information to your hearing nerve, which then sends it to your brain, allowing you to hear.
There are a three main types of hearing loss:
 Conductive hearing loss. This happens when there is a problem with a part of the outer or middle ear. Most people with conductive hearing loss have a mild hearing loss and it is usually temporary because in most cases medical treatment can help.
- Sensory hearing loss. This happens when the cochlea is not working correctly because the tiny hair cells are damaged or destroyed. Depending on the loss, a child or adult may be able to hear most sounds (although they would be muffled); may be able to hear in quiet but not in noise; only some sounds; or no sounds at all. Sensory hearing impairment is almost always permanent.
- Neural hearing loss. This happens when there is a problem with the connection from the cochlea to the brain. Neural means related to nerve, so neural hearing loss means the nerve that carries the messages from the cochlea to the brain is damaged.
Treatment Options for Hearing Loss:
 There are three main treatments for hearing loss. The first, assisted listening devices, involves many different devices that may assist you in your hearing loss problems. Some sample devices include:
- Personal Amplifiers - portable amplifier that fits in one's pocket that can help raise the level of sound in the users immediate area.
- Television Listening Systems - Allow you to listen to TV at a tolerable volume for you, without distracting others in your surroundings.
- Amplified Phones - Allow you to increase the volume on your home phone.
- Other Alerting Devices - Many household products are available with amplifiers to assist you and your hearing loss.
 The second, and most common, treatment for hearing loss is hearing aids. Hearing aids come in many different forms and sizes. By visiting the professionals at Kenwood Hearing Center for an evaluation they can recommend a type and size that will fit your hearing loss needs.
The third treatment for hearing loss is medical treatment. There are many different medical treatments for hearing loss that you can implement. The experts at Kenwood Hearing Center can suggest which action is best for your condition if your condition is too severe for a hearing aid.
A thorough history and a careful physical examination are essential to the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss. The audiologists at Kenwood Hearing Center in Toledo can test you or your child for hearing loss.
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