Unfortunately, hearing problems are increasingly common not only in adults, but also in babies. And if the most common in children are congenital and hereditary forms of the disease, then adults usually refer to acquired hearing loss caused by a variety of reasons. The first question the doctor is asked is whether it is possible to restore hearing with hearing loss. The answer to it depends on both the causes and the type of disease.
Conductive hearing loss
The answer to the question of how to restore hearing with conductive-type hearing loss directly depends on the reasons that caused the disease. The main one is damage or underdevelopment of one of the organs of the sound-conducting system:
- blockage of the ear canal;
- rupture of the tympanic membrane;
- accumulation of fluid in the middle ear;
- acute inflammatory processes.
The most common cause of the disease is sulfur plug, after removal of which the hearing is immediately restored. If the hearing loss has developed due to acute or purulent otitis media, a course of antibiotic therapy and pumping out the accumulated pus and fluid helps well.
Can conductive type hearing loss be cured? It only depends on whether the disease is congenital or acquired. Acquired disease in most cases in the early stages is fairly easy to treat. In the case of congenital or hereditary hearing loss, surgery is usually required.
Sensorineural hearing loss
Initial treatment of sensorineural hearing loss is usually conservative. With this type of disease, the patient's perception of sound is impaired, which happens when the inner or middle ear, ear nerve endings, or the area of the brain responsible for sound perception is affected. After the initial examination, the doctor determines the causes of the disease and determines what drugs to treat hearing loss.
It is very important here to take a responsible attitude to the selection of antibiotics. On the one hand, it is necessary to stop inflammatory processes, which are often one of the main causes of the disease. On the other hand, most antibiotics are ototoxic drugs, and they can only worsen the situation.
Physiotherapeutic procedures, such as electrophoresis, ultrasound, acupuncture therapy, have a very positive effect on the restoration of hearing in sensorineural hearing loss. If the disease is diagnosed at an early stage, intensive care can stop or significantly restrain its progression. One of the most modern techniques is laser irradiation of blood, which saturates it with antioxidants and enhances immunity.
Treatment of chronic sensorineural hearing loss does not produce tangible results. However, with such a diagnosis, it is necessary to repeat the prophylactic course of treatment 1-2 times a year. This will prevent the transition of the disease to the next stage. If sensorineural hearing loss is not treated, complete deafness may occur.
Senile hearing loss
Most often, elderly people turn to doctors with complaints that their ears are hard of hearing - what to do? Unfortunately, senile hearing loss cannot be treated. It is caused by degenerative changes in the tissues of the ear, which lead to hearing loss. Modern medicine is not even able to significantly slow down this process. Therefore, the only thing that remains is hearing compensation with acoustic devices.
Alas, senile hearing loss is getting younger. If earlier people suffered from significant hearing loss after 65-70 years, now the disease begins almost a decade earlier. However, if you start taking preventive measures in a timely manner, you can prevent and significantly delay the onset of the disease. Necessary:
- protect ears and body from hypothermia;
- wear a hat in cold and windy weather;
- it is imperative to completely cure viral and infectious diseases;
- see a doctor at the first sign of hearing loss;
- do not listen to music and TV through headphones at high volume;
- singing, playing musical instruments.
Because treatment is mostly ineffective in older people with hearing loss, it is easier to prevent the problem than to solve it. This means that we need to take care of prevention at a young age.
Surgical intervention
Surgery remains the only way to restore hearing in case of hearing loss, if other methods of treatment have not yielded significant results. Operations are effective for any type of hearing loss, but are used only as a last resort. The surgeon's help is needed for:
- otosclerosis;
- ear and skull injuries;
- damage to the organ of Corti;
- ruptured eardrum.
At stage 3-4 of the disease, when the hearing aid is no longer able to compensate for the hearing loss, in the absence of medical contraindications, implantation operations are performed. And sometimes in this way it is possible to significantly improve hearing.
Home treatment
How to treat hearing loss at home, the doctor must also decide. And it has nothing to do with self-medication. Even if someone close to you advises on how to get your hearing back, proven methods may not work in your case. Folk remedies should be used only as part of complex therapy and certainly not at the acute stage of the disease.
Therefore, after all, the first thing to do if the ear is hard of hearing is to visit a doctor and undergo a qualified diagnosis. The only reliable way to treat hearing loss at home is to strictly follow all the doctor's recommendations. The human ear is a complex acoustic system that should only be handled by an experienced specialist. Otherwise, the most sad consequence of self-medication can be complete deafness.
