Explore Effective Treatment of Hearing Loss at Hearing Plus

1. Treatments of Hearing Loss

2. What is hearing loss? • Hearing loss or hearing impairment is the partial or total inability to hear in either one or both of the ears • Hearing loss can be either temporary or permanent • A deaf person has little or no hearing • Hearing loss occur in both adults and children (including newborns)

3. How can hearing loss be treated? There are many treatments of hearing loss, namely - • Hearing aids • Surgery • Cochlear implant • Medication • Assistive listening devices

4. Treatments of Conductive Hearing Loss • Depending on the status and degree, surgery and some types of implantable devices can be used to treat Conductive Hearing Loss such as - • Bone Conduction Hearing Aids, • Bone Anchored Hearing Devices, • Surgically implanted Osseointegrated Device and • Middle Ear Implants. • If, however, some infection is the cause of Conductive hearing loss, then certain antibiotics or antifungal medications can be used as treatments.

5. Treatment of Sensorineural Hearing Loss • The following technologies can help reduce the effects of having Sensorineural Hearing Loss - • Hearing Aids, • Cochlear Implants and • Hybrid Cochlear Implants • However, Cochlear Implants are recommended only when all other options have failed.

6. Treatment of Mixed Hearing Loss In case of Mixed hearing loss, it is most often recommended to treat the Conductive part first, because there have been times when treating only this component made the person hear better when accompanied with hearing aids.

7. Do these treatments of hearing loss have any side effects? • Generally these treatments of hearing loss do not have any side-effects, as they are prescribed by certified Professionals. • However, certain medications can show minor side-effects sometimes, if the patient has any previous medical complications. • Therefore, it is advised not to decide all by yourself. Not all hearing loss treatments suit everybody, even if two persons have the same hearing problems.

8. What are the types of hearing aids? • There are various types of hearing aids, starting from the large and visible ones, to extremely miniscule ones. • Hearing aids can be classified based on the design, size, technology used, features and lifestyle of the user. • The commonly known hearing aids are - • Body-Worn • BTE or behind-the-ear • ITE or in-the-ear • ITC or in-the-canal • CIC or completely-in-the-canal • IIC or invisible-in-the-canal

9. What are the types of hearing aids? (contd.) • Based on the technology used hearing aids can be divided into two types - • Analog hearing aids • Digital hearing aids • Analog hearing aids amplify all sounds equally without distinguishing between speech and noise. • Digital hearing aids can distinguish between different sounds, and can amplify only the speech by reducing or cancelling background noise. In digital hearing aids, the sound signals are converted into digital signals, thus increasing the flexibility of the devices.

10. Which hearing aid would best suit me? • There are many hearing aids today that are technologically much advanced. • These devices are not only easy to use, but have no side-effects at all. • However, you must keep in mind that every hearing aid would not suit you, or cure your hearing problems. • Therefore, you must always consult an expert Audiologist before taking any decision for yourself.

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