EAR ASSESSMENT

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EAR ASSESSMENT
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THREE PARTS OF EAR

• EXTERNAL
• MIDDLE
• INNER

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EXTERNAL EAR

• Called the Auricle or Pinna
• Consists of movable cartilage and skin
• Funnels sound waves into its opening (external
  auditory canal)
• Secretes cerumen
• Tympanic membrane (eardrum)- separates the
  external and middle ear
• - Oval shape and slightly concave
• - Translucent and pearly gray color

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MIDDLE EAR

• Tiny, air- filled cavity
• Inside the temporal bone
• Contains auditory ossicles-
• - Malleus
• - Incus
• - Stapes
• Eustachian tube- connects the middle ear with the
  nasophayrnx
• Eustachian tube allows the passage of air, opens
  with swallowing and yawning

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Middle Ear cont.

• Functions
• - Conducts sound vibrations
• - Protects the inner ear by reducing the
• amplitude of loud sounds
• - Eustachian tube allows equalization of air
• pressure on each side of the tympanic
• membrane, prevents rupture

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INNER EAR

• Parts
• - Bony labyrinth- important for hearing and
• equilibrium
• Labyrinth consists of
• Vestibule
• Semicircular canals
• Cochlea

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HEARING

• THREE LEVELS
• - Peripheral
• -Brainstem
• - Cerebral cortex
• Amplitude
• Frequency
• Basilar membrane
• Organ of Corti

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PATHWAYS OF HEARING

• Air conduction
• Bone conduction

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HEARING LOSS

• CONDUCTIVE- mechanical dysfunction of the
  external and middle ear
• SENSORINEURAL- perceptive loss, pathology of
  inner ear, cranial nerve VIII, or auditory areas
  of the cerebral cortex
• MIXED- combination of conductive and sensorineural

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EQUILIBRIUM

• LABYRINTH is responsible to convey information to
  brain about bodys position

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ADULT/ AGING ADULT CONSIDERATIONS

• Otoclerosis- common cause of conductive hearing
  loss in ages 20-40. Gradual hardening of foot
  plate of stapes
• Cilia lining the ear canal become stiff and cause
  decrease hearing
• Cerumen- accumulates and becomes drier, leads to
  hearing loss
• Presbycusis- gradual sensorineural loss caused by
  nerve degeneration in the inner ear or auditory
  nerve

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Aging Adult Cont.

• Ability to localize sound impaired
• Auditory reaction time increases- takes longer to
  process sensory info.
• Otitis media- more common in children in Native
  Americans, Alaskan and Canadian Inuits, Hispanics

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• Subjective vs Objective Data
• Using an otoscope