Hearing loss – 5 common causes

Hearing loss or significant hearing loss can be caused by damage to the inner ear.

This damage can be the result of mechanical injury, such as trauma after an accident or exposure to extremely loud noise.

Major causes of hearing loss

Also, damage can be due to the natural aging processes that can lead to wear and tear on the cells in the ear responsible for converting sound waves into electrical signals that the brain understands as sound.

In addition, hearing loss can also be caused by a number of environmental factors.

This includes prolonged exposure to loud noise such as traffic noise, construction noise or even loud music. Such noises can cause gradual hearing damage leading to hearing loss.

Here’s what we can do to protect ourselves from hearing loss.

1. Ear wax build-up

Ear wax build-up can be caused by a number of factors, including improper ear cleaning, wearing headphones for a long time, or even genetic predispositions.

This complicates the self-cleaning process of the ear and can lead to hearing loss.

There are various methods to safely remove earwax at home, such as using special ear canal drops or home remedies such as mineral oil.

However, if you have symptoms such as ear pain, hearing loss or inflammation, you should seek medical attention.

We should check whether there is too much earwax in our ear canals if we notice that our hearing is getting progressively weaker or we no longer hear anything at all.

To see if this is really the case, we can take a close-up picture of our ear with a phone or camera, since we cannot see for ourselves or ask someone to look in our ear with a flashlight to see if earwax has accumulated.< /p>

If you notice that there is so much earwax that it has actually blocked your ear, then under no circumstances touch the accumulated and hardened earwax, and even more so do not try to remove it with your finger, as as you push it further in and the removal will become even more difficult.

If the hardened earwax is not too much, try to wash it out.

Note: You can only do this if your eardrums are not inflamed or ruptured.

Use a dropper and put a few drops of baby oil, mineral oil, or hydrogen peroxide in your ear to soften hardened earwax. After a day or two, using a syringe with a rubber bulb, put some warm water in your ear (35-40 degrees).

Tilt your head so that the warm water and earwax can flow out and thus rid your ear of it and restore your hearing. This procedure will not be able to help you if the hardened earwax is too much and then it would be best to consult a doctor to remove it.

2. Ear Infection

There are different types of ear infections, including outer, middle, and inner ear infections. They can be caused by bacteria or viruses and are common in children.

Symptoms can include ear pain, difficulty hearing, headache, high fever and even nausea or dizziness.

Treatment usually involves the use of antibiotics and pain relievers. Untreated ear infections can lead to serious complications, including hearing loss.

Make sure you don’t have any ear infection. If you feel severe pain in your ears, you should immediately see a doctor to make sure you don’t have an ear infection or a perforation of one or both eardrums.

If you don’t get treatment right away, you are very likely to permanently damage your inner ear.

3. Inner Ear and Eardrum Damage

Inner ear and eardrum damage can be caused by trauma, infections, exposure to loud noise, or even aging.

These injuries can lead to hearing loss that is often irreversible without medical intervention.

However, modern medicine offers various treatment options, including surgical procedures to repair the eardrum and the use of hearing aids or cochlear implants to improve hearing.

You should know that the weakening or complete loss of hearing due to damage to the inner ear cannot be cured without medical intervention, and you have no way to carry out the treatment yourself.

You can, however, take advantage of advances in medicine and technology and, for example, in the case of a ruptured eardrum, it can be properly treated so that it can heal in an absolutely routine intervention.

4. Injuries and Age Predisposition

Aging is a natural process that can lead to hearing loss due to a decline in inner ear function.

Injuries, on the other hand, can be caused by accidents, exposure to loud noise, or even certain types of medication.

If your hearing loss or weakening is due to disabilities, the result of aging, trauma or some other disease, then it would be best to consult an ear-nose-throat specialist, who will guide you which are the best means for you to restore your hearing to the level of a healthy person, whether you are better off with a hearing aid or a cochlear implant.

5. Exposure to loud noise

Exposure to loud noise is one of the most common causes of hearing loss. This could include working in a noisy environment, listening to loud music, or even living near a busy thoroughfare.

You should take steps to prevent further deterioration of your hearing. Although it would be difficult to prevent the hearing loss that you have already suffered, you can at any time, and it is best to do so immediately, take steps to prevent your hearing from continuing to deteriorate in the future. aggravates.

Reducing the amount of time you are exposed to loud and constant noise is a good start.

If the high level of noise is inherent in the work you do (say you are a construction worker or a concert hall employee), you should consider starting to wear special earplugs during work or change your workplace. because health comes before work.

For those of you who like to listen to loud music, it is best to try to wean yourself off this habit by gradually reducing the volume so that you can create a lasting habit of listening to music at a moderate volume. sound.

If you listen to music with headphones, don’t turn up the volume all the way, it should be mostly in the middle range, so you don’t damage your hearing and become deaf over the years just because you listened to music with the volume turned all the way up – just not worth the risk.

Try to reduce your exposure to loud noises and if possible spend more time in quiet places – this will avoid the risk of gradually weakening your hearing.