HOW IS IT TREATED?

The treatments of hearing loss depends on the cause. Some types of hearing loss can get better on its own or can be treated with medicine or a simple procedure. Some cases of sudden hearing loss may be treated using steroids.

Hearing impairment can be treated in a range of ways such as removing wax blockages, this can be conducted by a doctor using suction or a small tool with a loop on the end. It can also be treated is via a surgical procedure, some types of hearing loss can be treated with surgery, including abnormalities of the ear drum or bones of hearing (ossicles). The most well-known treatment of hearing impairment is the use of hearing aids. Hearing aids are used if your hearing loss is due to damage to your inner ear. Cochlear implants are given if you have a severe hearing loss and the conventional hearing aids only gave you limited benefits. These implants work by directly stimulating the hearing nerve and bypassing the damaged or non-working parts of your inner ear.

TYPES OF HEARING LOSS TREATMENTS

Hearing aids and how they work

Hearing aids are small electronic devices worn in your ear that make sounds louder and clearer, although they won't give you back your full hearing.

There are many different types of hearing aid, including:

behind the ear hearing aids (the most common type) – hearing aids that go around the top and back of the ear
in the ear hearing aids – small hearing aids that fit in the opening of the ear
in the canal hearing aids – very small hearing aids that fit a bit further into the opening of the ear, so they're just visible.

Microphones pick up sounds

Sounds are analysed by the processing chip

Processed sounds are sent to the amplifier

Amplified sounds are sent to the loudspeaker

Sounds are transmitted by the loudspeaker into the inner ear, via tubing in an ear mould in the ear canal, or via a thin wire to a receiver in the ear

In the inner ear the sounds are transformed into electrical impulses

Impulses are picked up by the brain where they are processed

hearing implants

Common types of implant  include  bone anchored hearing aids, cochlear implants, auditory brainstem implants and middle ear implants. A bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) may be an option if you have hearing loss caused by sound being unable to reach your inner ear.

This type of hearing aid is attached to your skull during a minor operation. It picks up sound and sends it to the inner ear by vibrating the bones near your ear. It can be clipped on and off – for example, it's removed at night and when you swim or take a shower. Some newer types are held onto the head with magnets instead of a connector through the skin.

A cochlear implant may be an option if you have severe, permanent hearing loss that isn't helped by hearing aids. 

They work by turning sound into electrical signals and sending them to part of the inner ear called the cochlea. From here, the signals travel to the brain and are heard as sound.

The implant has 2 main parts:

a microphone behind the ear that picks up sound and changes it into electrical signals, which are sent along a wire to a device on the skin
a  device  placed inside the skull  that picks up the electrical signals from the  device on the skin  and sends them along wires to the cochlea

Before having a cochlear implant, you'll have an  assessment to find out if it will help. The implant will only work if  the nerve that sends sound to the brain (auditory nerve) is working properly.

COCHLEAR IMPLANT

AUDITORY BRAINSTEM IMPLANT

An auditory brainstem implant (ABI) may be an option if you have severe, permanent hearing loss and a problem with your auditory nerve.

An ABI works in a similar way to a cochlear implant, but the electrical sound signals are sent directly to the brain along wires, instead of the cochlea.

An ABI won't usually fully restore your hearing, but it can usually improve it to some degree.

MIDDLE EAR IMPLANT

A  middle ear implant (MEI) may be an option if you can't use a regular hearing aid – for example, because you're allergic to the materials they're made from or they don't fit in your ear correctly.

A MEI  has 2 main parts:

a device attached to the skin that picks up sound and turns it into an electrical signal
a device under the skin that picks up these signals and sends them along a wire to the small hearing bones deep in the ear, which causes them to vibrate

Vibrating the hearing bones means that sound can travel into your inner ear and brain. This won't fully restore your hearing, but it can help make sounds louder and clearer.