Hearing Loss Explained
The Types and Causes of Hearing Loss in Ireland
How You Hear
How The Ear Works
The Outer Ear
Hearing begins when sound waves enter the outer ear (the visible portion of the ear located on the outside of the head) and are channeled down the auditory or ear canal, a tube-like passageway lined with tiny hairs and small glands that produce earwax.
The Middle Ear
At the end of the auditory canal lies the ear drum (tympanic membrane) and the middle ear. Within the middle ear cavity is contained the ossicles, the three small bones, known commonly as the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup. When sound waves hit the eardrum, it vibrates and, in turn, moves the hammer. The hammer moves the anvil, which moves the stirrup, transmitting and amplifying the vibrations into the inner ear. The middle ear functions to amplify sound, which is why significant hearing loss can result from any damage to any of its parts.
The Inner Ear
The inner ear consists of the cochlea and the vestibular (balance) system. The cochlea is the organ that converts sound waves into nerve impulses that the brain can understand. Those nerve impulses travel to the auditory centre of the brain, it is the brain that allows you to hear. It is in fact within the brain that we really hear, the auditory system is just a conduit that channels exterior sound to the brain. Hearing loss typically occurs when some part of this conduit is damaged.
Hearing Loss Explained
Many people suffer from hearing loss, not just people whose ears are affected. Hearing loss affects friends, family, co-workers, business associates, and everyone a person with a hearing problem comes into contact with. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises and labels these frequent communication partners as having a third-party disability. Permanent acquired hearing loss of a significant degree affects one in 12 of the adult population in Ireland. In the over 70-age group this rises to some 50%. Thus, about a quarter of a million adults in Ireland will have a permanent hearing impairment, due mainly to ageing and/or noise exposure, which affects their quality of life, communication, social activity and participation to varying degrees.
Are you someone who no longer hears as well as you once did? If so, you are certainly not alone.
Consider these statistics:
- 50% of people over age 70 in Ireland have hearing loss
- 1 in 6 baby boomers (ages 41-59), or 14.6%, have a hearing problem
- 1 in 14 Generation Xers (ages 29-40), or 7.4%, already have hearing loss
- At least 3,500 children (18 or younger) have hearing problems
- Estimates say 3 in 1,000 infants are born with serious to profound hearing loss
In addition, studies have linked untreated hearing loss to emotional, physical, mental, psychological and even economic disadvantages.
Having a hearing loss or hearing impairment means that your ability to hear has been diminished. There are many causes of hearing loss but it is commonly believed the most common cause is the ageing process. Although recently that assumption has begun to change. The name given for age related hearing loss is presbyacusis or acquired hearing loss. Presbyacusis is a subset of what is known as Sensorineural hearing loss. What is commonly called Nerve Deafness.