OrganizedWisdom Health - Hearing Loss

How to Insert a Hearing Aid

KevinB — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:37:15 GMT

A hearing aid is a device that is inserted into the ear to increase the ability to hear for the hearing impaired. Before inserting the hearing aid, ensure that the gain is turned down. Hold the aid between your thumb and forefinger, and with the gain control on the top side, slowly insert the hearing aid into your ear.

Fast Facts:

Hearing aid batteries need to be replaced every one to three weeks.
The gain control, or volume control, adjusts how loudly the sound is amplified into your ears.
Adjust the gain with your first finger.
When using a telephone, hold the receiver close to your ear without it touching the hearing aid.

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Digital Hearing Aids

Steve40004 — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:42:39 GMT

Digital hearing aids are a far cry from the days when cartoons of old people holding horns to their ears and saying, 'eh?' were a common sight; not only in newspapers, but in medical advertisements, too. Today's patient with hearing loss has better choices. There are two kinds of hearing aids: analog and digital. Both have advantages and disadvantages; for instance, the digital costs more.

Fast Facts:

Digital hearing aids were first introduced in the 1980s but soon abandoned because they were too big and used up batteries too fast.
Many digital hearing aids have a directional microphone option which helps pick up the voice you are trying to listen to, instead of the background noise around you.
Hearing aids cost money, an analog hearing aid can cost from $900 to $1,200. Digital hearing aids cost about $1,300 to $3,000. Talk to your audiologist to find the right one for you.

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Guns and Hearing Loss

Hauntedmatthew — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:19:45 GMT

Exposure to gun shots can damage the inner ear without protection. The inner ear contains delicate hearing mechanisms including the ear drum and the cochlea. A rifle shot will cause more trauma to the ear than an equivalent pistol shot due to the closer proximity of the "boom" to the shooter.

Fast Facts:

Average gun shot produces over 100 decibles.
A human whisper produces 25 decibles.
Over the ear cups are one of the best methods of protecting a person's hearing.

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Ear Infection and Hearing Loss

CatherIN — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:55:35 GMT

Ear infections can cause problems with hearing. Normally it is a temporary, conductive hearing loss due to sound vibrations not being able to travel from the ear drum to the inner ear. In these cases, hearing usually returns to normal after the infection clears and any lingering fluid subsides.

Fast Facts:

Doctors may recommend tubes for recurrent infections or fluid that doesn't clear.
Hearing problems can lead to speech and language problems.
Repeated ear infections can eventually cause permanent damage of the eardrum, the bones of the ear or the hearing nerve.

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Semicircular Canal

MMunoz — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:43:54 GMT

Located in your inner ear, semicircular canals are three tiny liquid filled loops that are part of the vestibular system. They are responsible for the sense of balance and spatial orientation. The canals have no sensory themselves, they just allow the fluid to flow in the correct direction. Hair cells feel the fluid movement and send the information to the brain.

Fast Facts:

The horizontal semicircular canal detects rotation of the head around a vertical axis, like a dancer doing a pirouette.
The superior semicircular canal detects rotations of the head in the sagittal plane, like when you nod.
The posterior semicircular canal detects rotation of the head around an anterior-posterior axis, like when doing a cartwheel.

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Vestibule Of The Ear

MMunoz — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:17:33 GMT

The vestibule of the ear is located in the middle of the inner ear. It lies between the cochlea and semicircular canals. The ear vestibule's function is to sense movement.

Fast Facts:

Impulses travel over the vestibular nerve until they reach the brainstem.
Comes from the Latin word vestibulum meaning, literally an entrance hall.
Within the vestibule are the utricle and the saccule.

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Otolith

MMunoz — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:08:35 GMT

The otolith are small, white structures located in the inner ear. It senses gravity and linear acceleration. Otoliths are one of the first things formed in an embryo.

Fast Facts:

Unusually large otoliths help balance flying fish, allowing them to "fly" in the air.
People can hear ultrasonic speech using the saccule as a hearing organ.
Finfish have three pairs of otoliths.

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Cochlea

MMunoz — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:48:20 GMT

The inner ears auditory system is the cochlea. The cochlea is filled with fluid, vibrations cause tiny hairs to move within the fluid. The hairs then translate sound into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain.

Fast Facts:

From the Latin word for snail, which is from the Greek word kokhlias "snail, screw," from kokhlos "spiral shell".
Cochlea is a spiraled, hollow, conical chamber of bone.
Only mammals have the coiled cochlea.

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Auditory System

MMunoz — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:57:10 GMT

The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing. It is made up of the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. Sound vibrations are picked up and turned into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain to be translated into the sounds that we hear.

Fast Facts:

Fluid waves are turned into nerve signals in the organ of Corti.
The ear on the outside of the body that we can see is called the pinna.
The middle ear auditory reflex muscles help protect the inner ear from damage.

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Acoustic Neuroma Symptoms

Janet36603 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:46:01 GMT

Acoustic neuromas are rare, but they are one of the most common types of brain tumors. The tumor is usually found at the base of the brain. The first symptom of 90% of patients with a tumor is reduction or loss of hearing in one ear.

Fast Facts:

Because the tumors grow so slowly, symptoms usually start after the age of 30.
Many early symptoms mild enough to go unnoticed.
The sense of balance can also be effected.

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