Having any degree of hearing loss that interferes with communication, development, learning or interpersonal interactions.
Type of Hearing loss:
1. Conducting hearing loss
- When sound waves are blocked to reach inner ear because of external and middle ear disorder.
- Obstruction of external and middle ear may be due to dry wax, foreign bodies and tumors.
- Thickening and perforation of ear drum.
- Otosclerosis (immobility of joint between stapes and oval window due to bone overgrowth or otitis media).
- Hearing loss caused by permanent or temporary damage to the sensory cells or nerve fibers of the inner ear.
- It results from damage of any structure in cochlea (such as hair cell, organ of Corti, basilar membrane and cochlear duct) or disease of nerve pathway ear and cerebral cortex
- Degeneration of hair cell and VIII cranial nerve (vestibulocochlear nerve) due to some antibiotic like streptomycin and gentamicin.
- Damage of cochlea due to prolonged exposure to loud noise more than 85dB.
- Myxedema, DM, trauma, surgery and infection
- Meniere's Syndrome or endolymphatic hydrops - Excessive endolymph fluid called meniere's syndrome, which cause tinnitus, vertigo and hearing loss.
- Presbycusis (presby means old) - Atrophy of ganglion cell (group of nerve cell bodies) in cochlea & loss of elasticity of basilar membrane, occur mainly old age.
Test uses for hearing impairment are audiometry test and Tuning fork tests.
Audiometry test:
- It is use to measures hearing acuity.
- The nature and severity of auditory defect could be determined by the techniques called audiometry.
- The instrument used is called audiometer.
- Audiometer is capable of generating sound waves of different frequency from lowest to highest.
- At a particular frequency, if the patient hears the sound with than 30 dB above zero level, the person said to have hearing loss of 30 dB.
- Tuning fork test used to differentiate, conductive or sensorineural hearing loss.
- These are two types e.g. Weber's tuning fork test (test for unilateral deafness) and Rinne's tuning fork test (it use to compare bone conduction hearing with air conduction).
- Advice to use hearing aid (an electroacoustical device that amplifies sounds).
- Face the patient when speaking to facilitate the communication.
- Talk to person in normal volume and lower pitch because shouting is not helpful and higher frequency are less easily heard.
- Advice to avoid exposure to loud noise.
- Cochlear implantation in sensory neural hearing loss.
- Management of Meniere's disease in acute attacks are bed rest, antihistamines, vasodilators (e.g. nicotinic acid), sedatives, discontinuation of smoking avoid watching T.V, low-salt diet (less than 2 g/day) and diuretics.
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