Degeneration of inner ear structures occurs over time. Risk factorsįactors that may damage or lead to loss of the hairs and nerve cells in your inner ear include: Please follow all recommended Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for masking and social distancing. Note: Items within this content were created prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and do not demonstrate proper pandemic protocols. For the Mayo Clinic News Network, I'm Vivien Williams. Once health care professionals figure out your type of hearing loss, they can tailor treatment that's best for you. For people with profound hearing loss, cochlear implants work by bypassing the hair cells and sending signals directly to the hearing nerve and brain. Vivien Williams: …become fewer or don't function well. Carlson: The hair cells, which are the end part of the inner ear that actually take the mechanical sound and turn it to electrical sound… Carlson says just about all types of sensorineural hearing loss have to do with the loss of the function of hair cells in your inner ear.ĭr. Vivien Williams: …or having a history of loud noise exposure.
The most common is probably just being over the age of 50… There are thousands of different causes of sensorineural hearing loss. Carlson: We call it sensorineural hearing loss. Nerve-related hearing loss is usually permanent.ĭr. Matthew Carlson says temporary hearing loss can happen when your ears are plugged with wax or fluid behind the ear drum, for example. Matthew Carlson, M.D.: There's a lot of different types of hearing loss. Vivien Williams: Hearing loss is very common.
Loud blasts of noise, sudden changes in pressure, poking your eardrum with an object and infection can cause your eardrum to rupture and affect your hearing.
There, the vibrations pass through fluid in a snail-shaped structure in the inner ear (cochlea).Īttached to nerve cells in the cochlea are thousands of tiny hairs that help translate sound vibrations into electrical signals that are transmitted to your brain. The eardrum and three small bones of the middle ear amplify the vibrations as they travel to the inner ear. Sound waves pass through the outer ear and cause vibrations at the eardrum. Your ear consists of three major areas: outer ear, middle ear and inner ear. The cochlea, a snail-shaped structure, is part of your inner ear. The middle ear is separated from your external ear by the eardrum and connected to the back of your nose and throat by a narrow passageway called the eustachian tube. The middle ear includes three small bones - the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes).