Hearing Loss
- Hearing Loss Overview
- Hearing Loss Causes
- Hearing Loss Symptoms
- When to Seek Medical Care
- Exams and Tests
- Hearing Loss Treatment
- Self-Care at Home
- Medical Treatment
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Hearing Loss Overview
To understand hearing loss it is important to understand how normal hearing takes place. There are 2 different pathways by which sound waves produce the sensation of hearing: air conduction and bone conduction.
- In air conduction, sound waves move through the air in the external auditory canal (the "ear canal" between the outside air and your eardrum). The sound waves hit the tympanic membrane (eardrum) and cause the tympanic membrane to move.
- The bones in the middle ear are connected to the tympanic membrane. When the tympanic membrane moves, this movement is transmitted to the bones. These 3 bones are called the malleus, the incus, and the stapes. Movement of the stapes causes pressure waves in the fluid-filled inner ear.
- The cochlea is an inner ear structure surrounded by fluid. It contains multiple small hairs. Pressure waves in the fluid cause the hairs to move. This movement stimulates the auditory nerve. Different frequencies of noises stimulate different hairs on the cochlea, which translate to the sensation of sounds of different pitch.
- Hearing by bone conduction occurs when a sound wave or other source of vibration causes the bones of the skull to vibrate. These vibrations are transmitted to the fluid surrounding the cochlea and hearing results.
Next: Hearing Loss Causes »
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Hearing Loss
Perforated Eardrum Overview
The eardrum (tympanic membrane) is a thin, oval layer of tissue deep in the ear canal. It helps protect the delicate middle and inner ear from the outside.
It is called an eardrum because it looks and acts like a drum. The eardrum receives vibrations from the outer ear and transmits them to the small hearing bones (ossicles), of the middle ear.
Because it is so thin, the eardrum can be ruptured or punctured. The hole exposes the middle and inner ear to damage or infection.
Picture of the inner and outer structures of the ear
Perforated Eardrum Causes
Infection of the middle ear is the most common cause of a ruptured eardrum.
- Infections can be caused by
viruses,
bacteria, or
fungi.
- Infections increase the pressure behind your eardrum, stretching the drum and causing
pain.
- When the ...
Read What Your Physician is Reading on eMedicine
Inner Ear, Sudden Hearing Loss »
Definitions of sudden hearing loss have been based on severity, time course, audiometric criteria, and frequency spectrum of the loss.
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