Common Types of Hearing Loss
At Woodard Hearing Centers, we want to start your journey to better hearing off right. Our providers are here to help you fully understand what type of hearing loss you have and how we can best treat it. Read more about your particular type of hearing loss below.
This is the most common type of hearing loss; about 95% of hearing loss in American adults is sensorineural. With sensorineural hearing loss, there has been damaged or degeneration of the inner ear (sensory) or the auditory nerve (neural). This type of hearing loss is due to poor hair cell function within your ear, but it can also be caused by external forces such as noise trauma, illness, drugs or hereditary deafness. Mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss can be treated with the variety of hearing technology available at Woodard Hearing Centers. Our Audiologists diagnose your specific sensorineural hearing loss and will work with you to find the best treatment option for your lifestyle.
Conductive hearing loss is a less common form of hearing loss than sensorineural, mostly because it is due to structural or mechanical damage to the outer and/or middle ear. Rather than prolonged exposure to noise or a genetic issue, conductive hearing loss results from factors like impacted wax, a perforated eardrum, middle ear infections or congenital anomalies. It can also result from conditions like otosclerosis (stiffening of middle ear bones) or cholesteatoma (abnormal skin growth in the middle ear). This type of hearing loss occurs when sound waves cannot be properly conducted anywhere along the route through the outer ear, eardrum or middle hear. Each case is unique, so our Audiologists work to discover the source of the hearing loss and can prescribe a course of treatment to fit your individual hearing loss. Treatment of this type of hearing loss can include a combination of fixing the structural abnormalities in the ear and finding the right hearing aid to amplify the hearing you still have.
Like the name suggests, mixed hearing loss is a combination of sensorineural and conductive hearing loss. This occurs when there is damage to both the inner ear, resulting in sensorineural hearing loss, and the outer or middle ear, which indicates conductive hearing loss. Your Doctor of Audiology or Hearing Specialist will thoroughly examine all of your symptoms to determine what the best course of action is for your unique hearing loss. At Woodard Hearing Centers our providers are committed to diagnosing and treating your specific hearing loss to get you back to hearing and back to your life.
To find out more information on your specific type of hearing loss or if you have any questions about your hearing loss or your treatment options, please contact Woodard Hearing Centers today.
