Hearing Loss Solutions with Advanced Audiology Technology

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Hearing Loss Solutions with Advanced Audiology
Technology
Hearing is as important a daily activity as
eating, seeing, touching and speaking. But even
if you suffer from hearing loss, it may take 6 to
8 years for detecting the same. It may then be
too late for you to take any immediate preventive
measure. But the modern audiology provides you
with a number of ways and means for timely
testing, prevention and cure of your hearing
loss. If you have problems in proper hearing,
pain in the interior of your ear, tinnitus in
your ear, dizziness or vertigo it is high time
you consult an experienced audiologist for
getting your ear tested. This may involve visual
examination of ear canal and ear drum and the
following hearing tests depending upon the
severity of the case.
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A hearing test consists of two methods- the first
one to know how you respond to tones of varying
volume and pitch and the second, to test your
understanding speech by the use of different
words. Another test known as Immitence test
automatically determines the mobility of your ear
drum and the related functioning of the space
surrounding the middle ear. In addition to these
tests, you may be required to undergo other
specialized tests depending upon the findings of
the earlier findings and your age.
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Your ear is constituted of three layers namely
the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.
The outer ear or pinna includes the ear canal and
is located to the side of your head. It receives
the sound waves and feeds into the ear canal. Ear
drum is a tympanic membrane and is attached to
the end of ear canal.  The sound waves vibrate
the eardrum, beyond which exist three tiny bones
called ossicles that transmit the sound to the
inner ear. The movement of ossicles make the
fluid within the inner ear or cochlea to move
thus stimulating tiny nerves called hair cells to
send electrical impulses to your brain. This
creates the sense of your hearing.
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Hearing loss is of different types. Sensor neural
hearing loss arises when the tiny hair cells in
the cochlea or hearing nerve to your brain are
damaged. This may be caused due to age,
consistent exposure to noise or genetic effects.
It can be treated by amplification of hearing.
When the outer or middle ear is not functioning
properly, you are subjected to conductive hearing
loss. It is caused due to infection, holes in the
ear drum or impacted wax and can be treated by
medication or surgery. Mixed hearing loss is a
combination of both of the types and can be
corrected by either amplification or by
medication/surgery
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There are audiologists who can undertake up
hearing tests of infants and children of varying
ages through a number of tests such as
Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE), Visual Response
Audiometer (VRA), Conditioned Play Audiometer
CPA), Conditional Audiometric (CA),Auditory
Processing Disorders (APD) or Tympanometry. Adult
hearing can be evaluated by tests such as
Diagnostic Hearing Evaluation (DHE), Balance
Function Testing (VNG), Tinnitus Assessment and
Retraining Therapy (TART) and Personal
Amplification Devices and Accessories (PADA).