Deafness, or hearing impairment, is the partial or total loss of hearing, making it difficult for the affected person to understand and communicate. It can happen by congenital causes, when the person is born with the deficiency, or acquired throughout the life, by a genetic predisposition, traumatism or disease that affects this organ.
The cause will also determine the type of deafness, which is classified as:
- Conduction or transmission deafness : it happens when something blocks the passage of sound to the inner ear because it affects the outer or middle ear for usually treatable or curable causes such as rupturing the eardrum, wax buildup, ear infections or tumors, for example. Learn more about this type of deafness;
- Neurosensory or perception deafness : it is the most common cause, and arises due to impairment of the inner ear, and the sound is not processed or transmitted to the brain due to causes such as degeneration of the auditory cells by age, exposure to very loud sound, circulatory or metabolic diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes, tumors or genetic diseases, for example.
There is also mixed deafness, which occurs through the combination of the two types of deafness, due to the compromise of both the middle and inner ear.
Main symptoms
Hearing impairment is characterized by decreased ability to perceive sounds, in a partial way, in which some degree of hearing may still persist, or total. This hearing loss can be measured through a device called an audiometer, which measures hearing levels in decibels.
Thus, deafness can be classified by degrees:
- Mild : when the hearing loss is up to 40 decibels, it prevents the hearing of a weak or distant sound. The person may have difficulty understanding a conversation and ask for the phrase to be repeated frequently, appearing to be always distracted, but it does not usually cause serious changes in language;
- Moderate : it is hearing loss between 40 and 70 decibels, in which only high intensity sounds are understood, causing difficulties in communication, such as language delay, and the need for lip reading skills for a better understanding;
- Severe : causes hearing loss between 70 and 90 decibels, which allows the comprehension of some loud noises and voices, making visual perception and lip reading important for comprehension;
- Deep : it is the most serious form, and happens when the hearing loss exceeds 90 decibels, preventing the communication and the understanding of the speech.
In case of symptoms that indicate the hearing loss, it is necessary to have the consultation with the otorhinolaryngologist, who, in addition to the audiometry exam, will make the clinical evaluation to determine if it is bilateral or unilateral, what the possible causes and the appropriate treatment. Know what the audiometry exam consists of.
How is the treatment done?
Treatment for deafness depends on its cause, such as cleaning or drainage of the ear when there is wax or secretion, or performing surgery in cases of perforated eardrum or for correction of some deformity, for example.
However, to recover the hearing, one can resort to the use of hearing aids or implants of electronic devices. Learn more when it is necessary to use a hearing aid and the main types. After the hearing aid is indicated, the speech therapist will be the professional responsible for guiding the use, the type of device, besides adapting and accompanying the hearing aid to the user.
In addition, some patients may also benefit from some forms of rehabilitation that include lip reading or sign language that improve the quality of communication and social interaction of these people.
Causes of hearing loss
Some of the major causes of deafness include life-long causes of sudden or gradual causes, such as:
- Wax in the middle ear, in great quantity;
- Presence of fluid, such as secretions, in the middle ear;
- Presence of a foreign object inside the ear, such as rice grain, for example, common in children;
- Otosclerosis, which is a disease where the stirrup, which is a bone of the ear, stops vibrating and the sound can not pass;
- Acute or chronic otitis, on the outside or middle ear;
- Effect of some medications such as chemotherapy, loop diuretics or aminoglycosides;
- Excessive noise, exceeding 85 decibels for long periods, such as industrial machines, loud music, weapons or rockets, which cause damage to the conduction nerves of the sound;
- Cranioencephalic trauma or stroke;
- Diseases such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, Peget's disease, meningitis, Ménière's disease, high blood pressure or diabetes;
- Syndromes like Alport or Usher;
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Tumor in the ear or brain tumors that affect the auditory part.
Cases of congenital deafness occur when they are transmitted during pregnancy, as a result of alcohol and drug consumption, malnutrition of the mother, diseases such as diabetes, or even infections that arise during pregnancy, such as measles, rubella or toxoplasmosis. Learn more about identifying hearing loss in: How to tell if you are losing hearing.
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