During normal hearing, sound waves travel through the ear canal and strike the eardrum causing it to vibrate. The eardrum is attached to three tiny bones in the middle ear. The last bone, the stapes, pushes on a fluid-filled chamber in the inner ear, called the cochlea. The fluid movement causes sensitive hair cells within the cochlea to bend. When the hair cells bend, they generate an electrical signal that is sent to the brain. Age, disease, injury, or repeated exposure to loud noise can damage the various structures of the ear and interfere with one’s ability to hear.
Causes of Hearing Loss
- Malformation of the outer ear, ear canal, or middle ear structures
- Fluid in the middle ear
- Ear infection
- Allergies
- Poor Eustachian tube function
- Perforated eardrum
- Benign tumors
- Impacted earwax
- Infection in the ear canal
- Foreign body in the ear
- Otosclerosis
- Exposure to loud noise
- Head trauma
- Virus or disease
- Autoimmune inner ear disease
- Hearing loss that runs in the family
- Aging
- Malformation of the inner ear
- Meniere’s Disease
- Otosclerosis
Hearing loss can be caused by many different causes, some of which can be successfully treated with medicine or surgery, depending on the disease process.
Shea Clinic Ear Nose & Throat is world-renowned for its otologic expertise, but we are also a full-service Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic. Whether it’s a minor ear infection, a serious case of dizziness, ringing in your ears, hearing loss, chronic sinus problems, and allergies, or a need for facial cosmetic surgery, the Shea Clinic Ear Nose & Throat doctors can help. Give us a call at 1-800-477-SHEA and let our specialists help you or your loved one.