Hearing

Hearing problems

Elderly people often with difficulty catch a witty line in the theater or in a conversation at a noisy reception. The letter "c" sounds like "w", and, conversely, the keywords disappear - all in that spirit. Such a hearing loss is called neurosensory , or, as it is more known, nervous deafness . By the age of 55, one in four people can not boast of a perfectly normal hearing. But do not panic. This condition rarely progresses to complete deafness, and new hearing aids can greatly help. The onset of nervous deafness is gradual, here we will pay attention to what so often frightens the patient - the realization that he not only hears badly, but is deaf to one or both ears. In order to understand the meaning of these symptoms, you must first understand how we hear.

Sound waves enter the auditory canal and strike the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. Three small bones are attached to the inner surface of the membrane, which move in response to this oscillation. Their movement, in turn, stimulates tiny nerve receptors that send information about noise through acoustic, or auditory, nerves to the brain. In order for the hearing to be normal, the auditory passageway must be clean, capable of letting out sound waves. Consequently, the most common cause of deafness in adults is the accumulation of earwax in it. In children, hearing impairment can be due to the fact that they stuck in the ear something that went very well there and left: a small toy, a bean or peanuts. In both adults and children, a chronic disease and infection in the skin of the ear canal can lead to swelling and hearing impairment.

Further, troubles can begin with the membrane itself. It can be scarred or perforated as a result of infection or trauma (for example, when you use a toothpick or a pin to extract sulfur) or after a sudden sharp change in pressure unless you "blew out" the ear (as happens with a quick landing of an airplane or Diving deep into the water). A membrane with a scar or hole, whatever the cause, vibrates poorly and, therefore, does not transmit a sound signal, as it should.

There may also be a problem with tiny bones behind the tympanic membrane. In the elderly, they are fused and are no longer able to move independently of each other and stimulate nerve endings.

But even when the auditory passage, the membrane and the bones are intact, the sound signal does not enter the brain if anything happens to the neural transmission mechanism . It can be damaged when the blood vessels that feed it become stiffer due to arteriosclerosis (as happens in the elderly) or squashed by the tumor . Finally, if everything else is in order, the brain itself can be damaged and unable to rework the signal it receives.

There are also states that are not directly related to hearing, which can cause a certain degree of deafness. Patients with severely reduced thyroid function usually do not hear very well. The substitution of thyroid hormones restores their hearing. Rheumatoid arthritis can also be accompanied by a decrease in hearing. As a rule, we think about this disease only in the presence of inflamed joints, stiffness and pain, however, rheumatoid arthritis affects many other organs and systems, including the mechanism of hearing. So, with an acute attack of rheumatoid arthritis you can feel an unhealthy feeling of hearing loss.

Diabetes is another "nonsurgical" disease, in which hearing is disturbed. While normalization of the sugar level improves vision, it does not always restore the acuity of hearing in diabetics.

If the cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood are too high , especially if you are overweight, your hearing may be damaged. Kidney disorders can also cause deafness, like nicotine abuse, allergies, aspirin in high doses, some antibiotics and sensitivity to other medications.

Here are some symptoms, understanding which will help you find the cause of your deafness.

According to statistics, the most common cause of sudden painless hearing loss (you or your child) is occlusion of the ear canal with a gray or foreign object.

What medicines do you take? Large doses of aspirin, antibiotics (especially streptomycin, kanamycin), diuretics (ethacrynic acid), and cardiac like quinidine, can impair hearing.

If your ears hurt and you do not hear well, it is probably an infection either in the ear canal itself, or inside, behind the membrane.

If you have a runny nose , your ears can be laid and your hearing will get worse for a few days. And it will worsen even more if you have negligence to fly on a plane with a cold, because the Eustachian tubes going from the back of the throat to the middle ear will become clogged up. In the normal state, they serve to equalize the pressure between the ear and the external environment. When the plane goes down, the pressure on your webs will increase. In most cases, you will have pain for several days, but your ears will be cleaned and hearing will be restored (unless, of course, the membrane burst as a result of the pressure drop).

If you are concerned about tinnitus in combination with deafness, you may have Ménière's disease , labyrinthitis - an inflammation of the inner ear, which affects the sound and vestibular analyzers.

Some people with migraine , hear a noise and lose their hearing before, during or after an attack due to a spasm of the arteries inside the ears. Similar symptoms without migraine indicate arteriosclerosis and / or high blood pressure .

If you progressively lose your hearing and at the same time feel noise in one ear, immediately show your doctor. You may have a tumor of the main auditory nerve ( acoustic neuroma ). It is cured by surgery.

If you are diabetic and suddenly deaf in one ear, diabetes probably hit your auditory nerve.

If you have a head injury that leads to complete deafness, dizziness with noises in your ears, your internal hearing mechanisms are damaged.

Most cases of hearing impairment are related to work. If your workplace is noisy , or use ear plugs, or change jobs. Do not expect that your ears will adapt to this rumble - they will not adapt. Speaking of the rumble, pay attention to your sound equipment and count the number of nights spent listening to your favorite rock record.

Deafness, sudden or gradual, frightens. If you can establish the cause, it can be reversible, controllable, it can be avoided or cured.

Symptom: hearing loss

What can it mean? What to do with him?
Nervous deafness: associated with age. Hearing aid.
Sulfur or foreign matter in the ear canal. Remove.
A tympanic membrane with scars or perforations. Hearing aid.
The fusion of the auditory ossicles. Operation.
Arteriosclerosis of auditory arteries. A diet low in fat.
Lowered thyroid function. Substitution of thyroid hormones.
Rheumatoid arthritis. Anti-inflammatory drugs.
Diabetes. Control of sugar level.
Kidney disease. Medicines.
Strong smoking. Throw.
Reaction to medicines. Reduce the dose or replace.
Eruption of Eustachian tubes. Nasal drops.
Ménière's disease. It is treated with difficulty.
Auditory neuron. Operation.
Noise trauma. To avoid. Prevention is more effective than cure.