- Causes in the outer ear.
Normally, problems in the outer ear are due to excessive accumulations of cerumen and ear canal infections. It is usually easy to solve these problems, although fast acting is important to avoid hearing damage.
- Causes in the middle ear.
The most common problems that interfere with the functioning of the middle ear are inflammation, the existence of fluid behind the eardrum, perforations of the eardrum and otosclerosis (the numbness of the bones of the middle ear). Most external and middle ear problems have an effective solution with medical or surgical treatment. When these treatments are not possible, permanent hearing loss can be compensated with the use of hearing aids.
Most hearing problems have to do with the inner ear. The most common cause is natural aging. Although exposure to loud noises, taking some type of medication or suffering fractures in the head can also adversely affect the hearing ability of people. These influences damage the fine hair cells and affect the transmission of signals to the auditory nerves. Normally, the hearing loss of the inner ear has no medical treatment. However, in most cases the use of hearing aids is enough to compensate for this type of hearing loss.