Hearing loss treatment
There are treatment options for every type and degree of hearing loss. Whether you have just been diagnosed with hearing loss or want to change your hearing technology, acting early has the potential to transform your life.
Content courtesy of HearNet1
- Overview
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Treating hearing loss can affect every aspect of your life - enhancing your confidence and performance at work and restoring your ability to communicate with family and friends. It means you can once again hear important warning sounds and enjoy leisure activities such as listening to music, watching TV and going to the movies. The sooner you effectively treat your hearing loss, the sooner you can regain ease and enjoyment in your everyday life.
A hearing health specialist, such as an audiologist, will advise the best hearing loss treatment or treatments to manage your particular hearing loss. They may recommend hearing aids and/or an advanced hearing technology such as a cochlear implant or direct bone conduction system. There are also many assistive listening devices to help people with hearing loss hear better in specific situations.
Understanding hearing loss
Conductive hearing loss
Conductive hearing loss is caused by a problem in the ear canal, ear drum or middle ear. It results in sound being heard more softly or only hearing lower-pitched sounds.
Some conditions that are associated with conductive hearing loss are:
- Otitis externa and media (ear infections)
- Otosclerosis (abnormal bone growth in the middle ear)
- Perforated ear drum
- Wax blockage
- Ossicular chain discontinuity (separation of the middle ear bones)
- Cholesteatoma (a type of skin cyst located in the middle ear and skull bone)
Conductive hearing loss can be permanent or temporary, and some treatment options are:
Sensorineural hearing loss
Sensorineural hearing loss is caused by damage to the cochlea and/or auditory nerve. It results in some sounds being heard more softly or not at all.
Some conditions associated with sensorineural hearing loss are:
- Presbycusis (Age-related hearing loss)
- Ménière's disease
- Auditory neuropathy
- Noise induced hearing loss
- Ototoxic drugs
- Acoustic neuroma
Sensorineural hearing loss may be temporary (i.e. noise induced) but is usually permanent. Can be associated with tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
Some treatment options are:
- Cochlear implant
- Bimodal hearing (cochlear implant in one ear and a hearing aid in the other)
- Hybrid cochlear implant
- Auditory brainstem implant
- Middle ear implant
Mixed hearing loss
Mixed hearing loss occurs when both sensorineural and conductive hearing loss are present.
It can result from one cause such as otosclerosis or two different causes.
Some conditions associated with mixed hearing loss are:
- Conductive hearing loss
- Otitis externa
- Otitis media
- Otosclerosis
- Sensorineural hearing loss
- Ménière's disease
- Auditory neuropathy
- Noise induced hearing loss
- Ototoxic drugs
- Acoustic neuroma
Some treatment options are:
Central hearing loss
Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is an umbrella term for a variety of conditions that result in a breakdown in the hearing process. In short, the brain cannot make sense of what the ears hear because the auditory signal is distorted in some way. As a result, one of the biggest problems experienced by individuals with CAPD is difficulty listening in background noise.
Hearing loss problems related to CAPD do not show up on audiograms and are evaluated through additional hearing tests.
A condition associated with central hearing loss is Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). Some treatments options for central hearing loss are:
- Auditory integration listening and auditory simulation programs
- Portable sound field FM systems
Learn more about the basics of hearing loss
Learn more about causes of hearing loss
Learn more about the types of hearing loss
Learn more about the impact of hearing loss
Click here to download the CPAD factsheet - Treatment options
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Hearing technology
The following tables illustrate how the different kinds of hearing treatments interact with the ear to help manage the different types of hearing loss
Hearing aid
Key facts How it works Most common option to help people with hearing loss
Large range of brands with varying degrees of technology
Can be fitted in the ear canal, in the ear or behind the ear styles depending on hearing loss
Hearing aids pick up sound and increase loudness so they are both audible and comfortable to the listener.
Hearing aid features keep updating as technology improves.
Cochlear implant
Learn more about cochlear implantsKey facts How it works Surgically implanted
Used when hearing aids no longer meet personal communication needs
More than 450,000 people worldwide with cochlear implants
A cochlear implant has two parts, the internal cochlear implant and the externally worn sound processor. The sound processor has small microphones which pick up sounds, turn them into signals and sends them to the transmitter. The transmitter then sends the signals through the skin to the internal implant. These electrical signals are passed onto an 'electrode array' implanted into the cochlea that stimulates the hearing nerve cells directly and are recognised by the brain as sound.
Bone conduction hearing implant
Learn more about bone conduction hearing implantsKey facts How it works Suitable for permanent conductive or mixed hearing loss
Surgically attached to the skull
Suitable for single-sided deafness
The bone conduction sound processor captures sound via the microphone, the transducer in the sound processor sends vibrations to the implant and the vibrating transducer provides a direct pathway for sound to travel to the cochlea via the skull bone.
Hybrid cochlear implant
Learn more about bimodal hearingKey facts How it works Surgically implanted
Suitable for people with relatively good hearing (mild hearing loss) in the lower frequencies with more significant (severe) hearing loss in the higher frequencies
Combination of cochlear implant and hearing aid
A hybrid cochlear implant system works in the same way as a cochlear implant system. However the sound processor transmits the low frequencies to a hearing aid which amplifies the sound through the normal hearing pathways, and transmits the high frequencies to the cochlear implant which stimulates the hearing nerve. The brain combines these into perceived sound.
Learn more about cochlear implantsMiddle Ear implant
Learn more about middle ear implantsKey facts How it works Surgically implanted
Suitable for a limited range of hearing loss
Alternative to hearing aids
A middle ear implant picks up the sound, amplifies it and then transmits it as an electronic signal along a conductor link. This vibrates a transducer attached to one of the small middle ear bones located next to the cochlea.
Auditory brainstem implant
Learn more about auditory brainstem implantsKey facts How it works Surgically implanted
Uses cochlear implant technology
Suitable for people with substantial auditory nerve damage, resulting in total deafness
Gives the wearer sound awareness, so they can tell if sound is present or not
Suitable for special cases where an ordinary cochlear implant would not work, e.g. some cases of neurofibromatosis, type 2
An auditory brainstem implant system works in the same way as a cochlear implant system, however the electrical pulses are delivered to the auditory brainstem, bypassing the cochlea, and producing responses that can be interpreted by the brain as sound.
Disclaimer
The information on this website is for educational purposes, and is not intended to replace medical advice. Please consult a hearing healthcare professional to diagnose or treat a hearing or health problem.
