Download Can you hear me now?

By
James M. O’Day, Au.D.
CONDUCTIVE
SENSORINEURAL
MIXED
In general it can be described as a physical blockage of
sound getting to the inner ear
This blockage occurs in either the outer ear canal
or the middle ear or both areas.
Is damage to the cochlea (inner ear)
and/or the 8th , where sound reaching
the cochlea or 8th nerve is not
processed properly.
Cochlea

A sensorineural hearing loss can be due to
exposure to loud noise, aging injury,
disease, toxic drugs and chemicals,
inherited conditions, or any combination of
the above.
Is a combination of conductive and
sensorineural hearing loss
In general conductive hearing loss is
treatable by medicine or surgery. Whereas,
sensorineural hearing loss is treatable by
hearing aids. Mixed hearing loss may need
a combination.
 People
with hearing loss are
more likely to report symptoms of
depression, dissatisfaction with
life, reduced functional health,
and withdrawal from social
activities.
 Although
most people with
hearing loss can be helped with
hearing aids, 4 out of 5
Americans with hearing loss do
not use a hearing aid.
•In
a study of 350 newborn baby
girls and boys, it was found that
the girls hearing was substantially
more sensitive than the boys,
especially in the 1 kHz – to – 4
kHz range, which is very important
for speech discrimination.
•Demonstrated
that the anatomy of
the inner ear is significantly
different between the sexes: girls
are born with a cochlea which is
shorter and stiffer than boys. The
shorter stiffer cochlea provides a
more sensitive frequency
response.
•This
difference may help
explain the sex differences in
language acquisition. For
example, the average 18 month
old girl has a vocabulary of
about 90 words, compared to
just 40 words for the average 18
month old boy.
•Although
men were far more
likely to have hearing deficits
than were women, men
underestimate their hearing
difficulties compared to women,
“ men don’t hear as well as
women do, but most men are
blissfully unaware of the fact”.
•There
are 3 different senses
that work together to give us
balance.
•Composed
of the 3 semicircular
canals, utricle, and saccule,
which when working correctly
give us both the sensation of
acceleration and gravity.
The vestibular ocular reflex
allows us to focus during
movement.
Sense of touch, temperature,
proprioception and pain.
Proprioception is that portion of
somatosensory that contributes
to balance. It refers to your
ability to perceive body position
in your environment.
•Aging
•Viruses
•Injury
•Toxic
chemicals/medications
•Genetics
•Any combination of this list
•BPPV
represents 50% of all
vertigo patients. BPPV is easily
treatable with a head reposition
maneuver.
•Patients
in the acute stage of
their balance disorder need to be
treated by either medication or
surgery.
•Most
uncompensated vestibular
lesions (non-acute stage) can be
helped with physical therapy, either
by adaptation or substitution
techniques.
•Even
stable CNS lesion
patients can benefit from
physical therapy.
•BPPV
1.6 : 1
women to men ratio;
•Migraine
sufferers, which occurs
in 22 out of 100 individuals has a
3 : 1 female prevalence
•Meniere’s
disease, which occurs
in 3 to 20 out of 10,000 patients is
more prevalent in females than in
men.
•Autoimmune
Inner Ear Disease,
which is when the ear becomes
allergic to itself, has a significant
female bias with the onset of middle
age.
•Mal
de Debarquement syndrome,
which is disembarkment sickness,
has a significant female gender bias.
Who is fit with hearing aids?
Potentially anyone with hearing loss
that is sensorineural or is not
correctable by medicine or surgery.
•Get
a diagnostic hearing
test by an Audiologist
•Depending
on those results
you may also need to visit your
PCP or an ENT doctor.
•Review
with your Audiologist
what styles and range of prices
are appropriate for your situation.
•CIC
•ITC
•Low
Profile
•Full ITE
•BTE
•Open Fit BTE
•Ric BTE
•Pricing
•Who
pays for them?
•30 day trial period
Are there any questions?