[20.1] Hearing

• Hearing loss

  • fully or partially unable to detect frequencies of sounds
  • permanent or temporary
  • congenital or acquired
• deafness

  • profound total loss of hearing
  • more severe type of hearing loss
  • d - cochlear implant
  • D - Sign language
• conductive hearing loss

  • outer or middle
  • temporary and successfully treated in most cases
• sensorineural hearing loss

  • inner ear: cochlea not working properly
  • usually permanent
  • damage to nerve pathways from inner ear to brain
• mixed hearing loss: both sensorineural and conductive
• retrocochlear hearing loss

  • problems in auditory nerve
  • problems in transmitting the signals to brain
• clinical audiologist: assesses and determines one's hearing level
• ASHA degree of hearing loss

  • Slight: 16 - 25
  • Mild: 25 - 40
  • Moderate: 41 - 55
  • Moderately Severe: 56 - 70
  • Severe: 71 - 90
  • Profound: 90+
• WHO degree of hearing loss

  • Slight/Mild: 26 - 40
  • Moderate: 41 - 60
  • Severe: 61 - 80
  • Profound: 80+
• Outer Ear Problems

  • atresia: opening of outer ear
  • stenosis: narrowing of ear canal
  • treacher - collins syndrome: association with other malformations
• Other conditions of outer ear

  • osteoma: slow growing, benign tumor
  • hyperostosis and exostosis: surfer's ear
  • cancerous tumors (basal and squamous): prolonged exposure to the sun
• middle ear conditions

  • accumulation of fluid
  • otitis media: glue ears
  • common childhood infections
• otosclerosis (middle)

  • new bone deposited in the middle ear (footplate of the stapes)
• tympanic membrane perforation

  • otitis media, trauma, foreign object
• Eustachian Tube Dysfunction

  • Eustachian tube is not working properly due to negative or positive pressure
  • enlarged adenoids
• tumors

  • cancerous
  • noncancerous
  • glomus: pulsating ear noises
  • cholesteatoma: grows slowly and dissolve adjacent bones
  • accumulation of fibrous material
• inner ear problems

  • otosclerosis
  • presbycusis: natural aging
  • fistula: abnormal connection of inner and middle ear
  • head injury
• Meniere's Syndrome

  • fluid overload in the middle compartment of middle ear (endolymphatic hydrops)
  • fluctuating hearing loss in lower frequencies
• inner ear other conditions

  • noise-induced: permanent cochlear damage
  • neural problem: nerve, acoustic, multiple sclerosis
  • autoimmune inner ear disease: antibodies of immune cells
• • ototoxicity: side effects of drugs to inner ear
  • vascular disease: cerebrovascular
  • congenital ear anomalies
  • scheibe dysplasia
  • mondini dysplasia
  • enlarged vestibular aqueducts
• auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder

  • damage to the connection of cochlea and nerve (VIII)
  • neuropathy: nerve itself
  • dyssynchrony: nerve and cochlea
• Prevalence of Hearing Loss

  • 900 million in 2050
  • 1 in 10 individuals
  • common in low to middle income classes
  • 15% in the PH, 6.7% are children
  • 5% in the world
  • 466 million in total
  • 34 million children
  • 432 million adult
• Degree of Hearing Loss

  • Slight: faint sounds
  • Mild: consonant, background noise & faraway speakers
  • Moderate: can hear in normal conversation but vocabulary is limited
  • Moderately Severe: difficult in normal setting & group setting
  • Severe: needs amplification
  • Profound: cannot hear; visual cues
• non-government organization

  • HearLife Verein
  • Cochlear Implant Support Group