Ver pagina en: English | Español
Hearing is complex, requiring a series of actions and reactions to work. The process involves many parts of the ear working together to convert sound waves into information the brain understands and interprets.
Sound waves enter the ear canal and travel toward our eardrums.
The sound waves cause the eardrum and bones in the middle ear to vibrate.
Tiny hair cells inside the cochlea, the sensory organ of the ear, convert these vibrations into electric impulses that are picked up by the auditory nerve.
At birth, each typical ear has about 12,000 sensory cells, called hair cells, which sit on a membrane that vibrates in response to incoming sound. Each frequency of a complex sound maximally vibrates the membrane at one location. Because of this mechanism, we hear different pitches within the sound. A louder sound increases the amplitude of the vibration, so we hear loudness.
Signals sent to the brain from auditory nerve are then interpreted as sounds.
Once the hair cells in the inner ear are damaged, permanent sensorineural hearing loss occurs.
Currently, sensorineural hearing loss cannot be restored in humans, but HHF’s researchers are working to better understand the mechanisms of hearing loss to find better treatments and cures.
More Resources
What I have discovered is that unlike many other disabilities and chronic conditions, there are no anthologies or collections of personal stories published in book form about hyperacusis. So by publishing this book, I hope to develop greater awareness and understanding about hyperacusis.
Eventually I told my boss that I would have to resign. As it turns out, that was the best decision I could have made. The enormous stress of my job had been a large contributing factor to the severity of my disease, and letting that responsibility go was decidedly the medicine I needed.
I’ve approached hearing loss with humor over the years and I try to normalize hearing aids in my professional life. They're nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, they’re essential tools that keep us engaged with the world.
As a person with hearing loss, you can alert the airline to this at the point of booking, or before you fly. This is usually covered in a special assistance section of the booking, or you can email the airline and let them know.
After years playing water polo without my hearing aids because it’s a must, I’ve figured out my own game. I’ve got my own tricks.
Understanding the multiple mechanisms behind how aminoglycoside antibiotics are able to kill hair cells may provide new potential therapeutic avenues to make these important drugs safer.
It has now been 13 years since my vestibular neurectomy, and it ended up being the best decision I ever made for my Ménière’s. I’m back to a somewhat normal life, although I’ve lost about 80 percent of the hearing in my right ear and have high pitched tinnitus in the same ear 24/7.
When I was obtaining my doctorate in audiology, I started noticing some telltale signs of hearing loss when talking to my grandmother.
We can now treat otoferlin-related hearing loss. In the next 10 years, we will continue to reach more groups with specific causes of hearing loss—momentum that will help accelerate the process for everyone.
My firsthand experience with hearing, speech, and language development challenges, both personally and as a parent, helped shape my writing.
Les Paul persisted to refine the design for a solid body electric guitar, create multiple gold records, invent today’s recording techniques, be inducted into multiple halls of fame, and play his guitar until two months before he died at 94 years old in August 2009.