Free Article: Sensory Hearing Loss

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What is Sensory Hearing Loss?
By M. A. Fulmar

Hearing is an important sense for humans. We lack the sharp eyes of the eagle and the excellent sense of smell of dogs. While we can learn to live with some or total hearing loss, we prefer to live with good hearing. The human ability to hear is dependant on a complex physical system. A problem with any part of that system will result in some hearing loss. There are two types of hearing loss: conductive and sensory. The first occurs when there is something preventing the easy conduction of sound waves from outside the body to the inner ear. This can include a simple obstruction like earwax, infection, a stiffening of ossicles which should vibrate with sound, scarring, tumors and the perforation of the ear drum. Often if the cause is found, hearing can be restored. This is not true for sensory hearing loss.

Nerve Deafness

Sensor neural, or sensory hearing loss, is the result of damage to the auditory nerve or to the hair cells of the inner ear. The damage may be in the inner ear, in the nerve that runs from the inner to the brain or in the brain itself. Also called “nerve deafness,” sensory hearing loss is often the result of aging. It can also be caused by tumors, frequent exposure to loud noise, specific toxic medication, heredity or infection. Unlike conductive hearing loss, sensory hearing loss is usually non-reversible. There is hope for treatment in the future, however. Genetic causes of sensory hearing loss have been linked to the guilty genes and may become treatable by genetic therapy some day.

Sensorineural hearing loss can be divided into sensory and neural types. The strictly sensory hearing loss type is caused by damage to the cochlea. This damage might be caused by loud noise, infection, toxic medication or Meniere's disease. Neural loss is the result of damage to the auditory nerve, also called the eighth cranial nerve. This type of damage can be caused by tumors or neurological disorders. Tumors on the eighth cranial nerve can cause life threatening problems but are treatable, even curable. For this reason alone, any hearing problem should be brought to the attention of a doctor as soon as it is noticed. Most sensory hearing loss is the result of damage to the cochlea rather than by the neural type. In the rare cases where hearing loss is due to damage to the auditory center of the brain, sound may be heard at normal levels but the quality of the sound is poor and makes speech hard to understand.

Author Details:
M. A. Fulmar writes articles for various web sites in which he discusses health matters, such as hearing loss, and the various treatments and remedies available.

Article Source: Health Article Source

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