Symptoms of Hearing Loss

• asking people to repeat (more than once or twice in a conversation) 
 
• difficulty following more than one or two people
 
• difficulty understanding someone who is not facing you 
 
• feeling as if people mumble or speak too quickly 
  
 • difficulty understanding speech in crowded places like restaurants,   
         malls, and meeting rooms 
 
• difficulty understanding women and children
 
• increasing the volume on the tv 
 
• ringing or buzzing in the ears
                 
          Make an appointment today to find out more information about your hearing if you have noticed even a few of these symptoms.

                           Types of Hearing Loss

Sensorineural Hearing Loss, often called "nerve deafness," is associated with a lesion (damage) to the cochlea and/or the eighth (auditory) nerve. Sensorineural hearing loss is one of the most common types of hearing loss, particularly in adults. 
    • The cochlea is the sensory organ of the inner ear that looks similar to a snail 
        shell. It houses the cells responsible for converting movement of the body and 
        sound into electrical signals. The eighth (auditory) nerve is responsible for 
        sending those electrical signals of balance and hearing to the brain to be 
        processed. 
    • When there is a lesion (damage) to the balance portion of the cochlea a person may 
        experience vertigo as the transmission of movement is disrupted. When there is a 
        lesion (damage) in the hearing portion of the cochlea the sound cannot be 
        converted into an electrical signal and therefore cannot be transmitted to the brain. 
    • The neural part of sensorineural hearing loss occurs when there is a lesion in the 
        eighth (auditory) nerve, again disrupting transmission of sound to the brain.

Conductive Hearing Loss, most commonly seen in children, occurs when there is a disruption in the conduction of sound from the outer portion of the ear, through the middle portion of the ear and into the inner portion (cochlea) of the ear. Conductive hearing loss can often be corrected through medical and/or surgical intervention.