Understanding Hearing Loss and How Hearing Aids Work

The hearing-impaired and their families face struggles with everyday communication. In America alone, about 28 million individuals suffer from hearing loss. Through northcountyaudiology technology, hearing-impaired individuals can now restore most of the sounds they have been absent. Hearing aids are electronic devices, which help an individual hear. While this device is considerably affordable and almost hidden from other people’s view when worn, only a few hearing-impaired people use them. This is due to their misconceptions that all hearing aids are expensive and that they are extremely obvious when worn.

San Diego Ringing In EarsHearing can be lost due to two reasons. First, the conductive hearing loss, when either of the following happens: the eardrum is perforated, infection, genetic illness, or a blockage by earwax. These causes the sound to have irregular movement through the ear canal, eardrum, and inner ear. In turn, this inflicts an individual of a plugged sensation in his ears. While this seems highly difficult to address, it can be treated through surgery. The other type of hearing impairment is called the sensorineural hearing loss. It is more common than conductive hearing loss. In this case, the leading causes of the impairment are infection, head trauma, aging, genetic composition, ear fluid buildup, and prolonged exposure to high decibels of sound. This condition can be tackled through using the best hearing aids san diego.

Hearing aids are composed of four main parts namely, the microphone, amplifier, speaker, and battery. The microphone gathers sounds from the environment then turns it into an electric signal, which is sent to the amplifier. The degree of the sound is intensified by the amplifier then directs it to the speaker or receiver. The electric signals are then converted back into sound for transmission to the ear. As impulses are formed, they are now sent to the brain, where they can now be interpreted. In order for these three parts to function, they need the energy supplied by the battery.

Hearing aids can be made specifically for the needs of a patient. An audiologist, who is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment auditory disorders, makes a silicone imprint of the patient’s ear. This is then sent to the manufacturer to create a device based on the characteristics of the imprint. The electrical components are drilled into the hearing aid. Once all the components have been assembled, it will be sent to check if it suits the hearing prescription of the patient.

Leave a comment