Hearing Health Resources
At Medpark Hearing Center, we talk about treating your hearing as part of a larger system. That’s one of the ways that being partnered with an ENT clinic allows us to help so many patients, especially those whose hearing loss needs a different treatment instead of, or in addition to, hearing aids.
Hearing and Cognition
Hearing is directly connected to the brain. In fact, we don’t hear with our ears, we hear when sound travels through the ear and up to the auditory cortex of the brain. When sound reaches the brain, it is transformed into information and stored into our memories. Healthy hearing is a crucial part of having an active and healthy brain. When you can’t hear well due to hearing loss, your brain doesn’t receive the proper stimulation it needs. Hearing loss makes it difficult for the brain to hear certain sound signals. As a result, your brain will work harder to pick up the sounds that it is missing, this can lead to mental strain, fatigue, and even memory problems.
Studies have proven there is a connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline. Hearing loss makes it harder to hear, which can often result in feelings of embarrassment. Those who have hearing loss may socially isolate themselves from other people because they are ashamed of their hearing loss and they don’t want anyone to notice. Without conversations and social interactions, you can develop feelings of loneliness, depression, and experience a decline in your cognitive abilities. Your brain needs your hearing to remain active and healthy.
One of the most effective ways to prevent dementia and cognitive decline is to manage your hearing loss with hearing aids. Hearing aids provide your brain with the proper stimulation it needs to process sounds and remain healthy. Hearing aids will also provide you with the confidence to rejoin the conversation and interact with your friends and family again. Don’t let hearing loss keep you from the ones you love. Contact us today to learn more about how hearing loss may be affecting your brain.
Types of Hearing Loss
To understand the treatment options for hearing loss, it’s important to first know how to categorize hearing loss. All hearing loss falls into one of several categories, which helps medical professionals and hearing aid specialists determine the best way to treat each person’s hearing loss. Most hearing conditions are either conductive or sensorineural.
- Conductive Hearing Loss: Conductive is temporary - it means there's a medical condition causing you not to hear; the sound is not being conducted to reach your brain or the inside of your ear. In these cases, there's either an obstruction (like earwax), an infection, or drainage built up in your middle ear. If you hear gurgling, for example, that means there's fluid in the middle ear. It's like trying to run with three or four feet of water; obviously, your legs are not going to be able to move as fast.
- With ears, it's the same thing: if the ossicles in the middle ear are under water, they will not be able to conduct high frequency sound as efficiently. That's why everything sounds muffled when you have a cold. If you have conductive hearing loss, we treat it medically. We can clear earwax or other blockages from your ear, or we can address the cause of the fluid in your ear - which in many cases means treating your allergies or an infection.
- Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Sensorineural is permanent hearing loss. It means the nerves in the inner ear have suffered actual damage, which could be caused by aging, ear infections, or prolonged exposure to loud noise. Unfortunately, sensorineural damage cannot be healed medically. But we can treat it, and the sooner we treat it, the better. Sensorineural loss responds well to hearing aids, which amplify the sound you hear to make up for the damage to your ears.
- Mixed Hearing Loss: Some patients experience a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. In those cases, we first treat the conductive loss (such as removing the obstruction) then bring in hearing aids as a possible solution for the sensorineural damage.
Our Office
2000 C Medical Parkway
San Marcos, TX 78666
F 813-558-1476
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