Medical Information

Learning about ear or hearing problems is helped with an understanding of the parts of the ear and how they function together. These articles describe what is needed for hearing, and how they are tested to identify the cause of hearing loss.

As the name suggests, conductive hearing loss derives from a deficit in the ability to conduct sound from the outer ear into the inner ear. Thus, a problem can affect this conduction of sound from the outer ear into the middle ear.

Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when the neural pathway from the brain to the inner ear is altered. Therefore, this can be a problem beginning in the brain, the auditory nerve, or the inner ear itself. The most common site of the problem is the inner ear. It can be congenital, or present at the time of birth. Otherwise, it is acquired during life.

The inner ear is the organ not only of hearing, but of balance. Problems in the inner ear can therefore manifest themselves with loss of balance or feelings of dizziness or vertigo.

The first determination is the kind of hearing loss that you have, whether the hearing loss is problem with sound conduction into the inner ear or with sound conduction from the inner ear to the brain. Once this is deciphered, it must be determined why you have that hearing loss.

For those with a problem with the conduction of sound from the ambient air to the inner ear itself, the option of a hearing aid to amplify sound to the inner ear is available. Surgery may also be an option and is determined in the office.