types of hearing loss

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

This is the most common type of hearing loss with more than 95% of people with hearing loss being affected.

Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when there is damage to the inner ear (cochlea) or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss is a permanent loss that cannot be corrected medically or surgically. It involves a reduction in the ability to hear soft sounds and also affects speech understanding and ability to hear clearly.

Sensorineural hearing loss can be caused by

• Aging process
• Excessive noise exposure
• Diseases such as meningitis and Meniere’s disease
• Viruses, such as mumps and measles
• Drugs that are toxic to the auditory system
• Genetic syndromes
• Head trauma
• Tumours

Central Hearing Impairment

When the problem is in the brain or in the nerve pathway leading to the brain, hearing difficulties are called central hearing impairment. Unlike conductive, sensorineural and mixed hearing losses, a central hearing loss does not necessarily result in a loss of hearing sensitivity. The ears may send a clear message to the brain, but the brain has difficulty understanding it. The problem here is speech understanding.

Causes of central hearing loss include

• Disease
• Brain damage from a stroke
• Car accident
• Trauma