Treatments for Hearing Loss

Though many people view hearing loss as a natural part of aging, hearing loss can affect a person’s ability to interact with the world around them. A person who experiences hearing loss may lose independence and can miss out on social activities.  For a person who experiences hearing loss, communicating, watching television, or even enjoying music can be difficult. However, there are several treatment options for hearing loss that can help make these daily activities and social interactions much easier and more enjoyable.

Hearing loss treatment depends on the cause for the loss. If the hearing loss is caused by reversible conditions or viruses such as middle ear infection, injury, ostosclerosis, acoustic neuroma, Ménière's disease, earwax or other reversible conditions, medications including antibiotics or surgery can help a person recover from the illness or injury and restore hearing.

Irreversible hearing loss such as loud noise-related or age-related hearing loss requires the use of hearing devices to improve how well a person can hear and communicate:

 

Hearing aids: Hearing aids work by amplifying sounds (making sounds louder) but do not restore hearing. However, they can help individuals with hearing loss function and communicate more easily. There are several types of hearing aids:

Behind the Ear Hearing Aids: Behind the ear hearing aids are connected to a plastic ear mold that fits inside the outer hear. The hearing aid components sit in a case behind the ear. These hearing aids work by transferring sounds through the ear mold into a person’s ear. Behind the ear hearing aids are durably designed, appropriate for people of all ages, and offer good amplification for people with mild or even advanced hearing loss.

 

In the Ear Hearing Aids: These hearing aids fit inside the outer ear and are appropriate for people with mild to severe hearing loss. The hearing aid case holds the device components and can accommodate technical mechanisms such as a telecoil (a small magnetic coil that improves sound transmission from telephone calls). In the ear hearing aids are smaller than behind the ear hearing aids and may not be best for children.

 

Canal Hearing Aids: Canal Hearing aids fit inside the ear canal and are customized to fit the shape and size of the ear. A canal hearing aid is usually concealed in the ear canal. These aids are small, are not capable of large amounts of sound amplification, and are best for mild or moderate hearing loss.

 

Body Hearing Aids: Body aids are appropriate for individuals with severe hearing loss because of their ability to loudly amplify sounds. A body hearing aid is attached to a person’s belt or held in the pocket. The device is connected to the ear by a wire. The device is able to incorporate many sound waves and process many sounds of different amplifications.

 

Assisted listening devices: Assistive listening devices can be used in addition to hearing aids to overcome the effects of background noise, distance, or poor acoustics. Certain assisted listening devices are used in different situations such as listening to music in an auditorium or having a conversation in a loud environment. Other devices include telephone amplifiers and hearing aids that directly connect to a stereo, television, microphone, or radio to amplify the sounds coming from these devices.

 

Alerting devices: These devices use alternative notification methods to alert someone of a particular sound such as the door bell, telephone, or a baby crying. The devices detect the sounds and use flashes of lights, vibrations, or even louder sounds to alert a hearing impaired person. Alerting devices may attach to the wiring of a door bell, telephone, or other devices to detect the sound and then signal a person of an event.

 

Closed-captioning: Closed-captioning on television displays words and dialogue from the television program so a hearing impaired person may watch television and better understand the auditory portion of the show.

 

Text telephone: Text telephone is a telecommunication device that allows hearing impaired people to type and receive written messages on the telephone instead of talking or listening. A message is typed on a keyboard and the information is sent over to the phone receiving the signal. The text is displayed on either a phone screen or a digital voice reads and interprets the message for a listener on the other end to understand the message. As more people use e-mail and text messaging as a form of communication, the use of text telephone has become less common.

Irreversible hearing loss may get worse if the condition is not treated. If a person is continually exposed to harmful noise levels, his or her hearing may continue to degrade.

Individuals with severe hearing loss may be candidates for cochlear implants. Cochlear implants are small electronic devices that help people sense sounds. The implant works in replacement of damaged nerve cells that help process sounds so a person can hear.