Top 3 Hearing Loss Disorders

Many individuals believe that if someone is suffering from hearing loss that person is simply deaf. What many people fail to realize is that there are various problems that can cause hearing loss. This includes everything from the brain being unable to identify what and where the sound is coming from to a damaged hearing organ. These varying causes for hearing loss require different approaches for treatment. It is up the audiologist to identify and accurately treat these issues to aid their patient in living with their disorder.  Here we discuss the top 3 most common hearing loss disorders.

Conductive Hearing Loss

An individual experiencing conductive hearing loss has a problem with their outer or middle ear interfering with the sound passing through to the inner ear. This type of hearing disorder can be caused by:

  • Excessive earwax
  • Ear infections
  • Fluid build-up
  • Punctured eardrum
  • Otosclerosis

Conductive Hearing Loss is most common in indigenous populations and young children. There are a few technologies such as bone conduction hearing aids and bone anchored hearing devices that can be used to treat this disorder. In more complex cases a middle ear implant may be the only effective treatment.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Sensorineural Hearing Loss is permanent in most cases and occurs when the auditory nerve or the cochlea cannot successfully transfer electronic information from the ear to the brain. This hearing disorder can be genetic or the result of:

  • Aging
  • Loud-noise exposure
  • Diseases
  • Accidents

Hearing aids and various implants have been successfully used to reduce the impact of sensorineural hearing loss.

Auditory Processing Disorders

Auditory Processing Disorders (ADP) is a term used to describe all disorders that have to do with the brain’s inability to hear and process sound. Simply put, the brains of the individuals with ADP are unable to decipher the information embedded in the sound itself. The most common of these is Spatial Processing Disorder. This frustrating disorder hinders an individual’s ability to locate and hear sounds coming from various directions in their immediate environment. Contrary to many other hearing disorders, ADP can be sporadic. This means that a person can hear perfectly fine one day and have the most difficult time processing sounds the next.

The individuals suffering from these various disorders are in need of help so that they can lead a seemingly normal life. That is where the services of an audiologist come in. As an audiologist, you will analyze and evaluate a patient’s hearing and outline the necessary plan of action. Ardor Health Solutions can get you started on the road to this rewarding career. Visit our job listings page to search audiology jobs across America or give us a call at (855) GO-ARDOR.