| Type |
Conductive hearing loss |
|
Sensorineural hearing loss |
| What's wrong |
- parts in the middle ear (eardrum and 3 bones) don't work right
|
|
- parts in the inner ear (cochlea and/or auditory nerve) don't work right
|
| Causes |
- middle ear infections
- head injury
- birth defects
- disease such as otosclerosis
|
|
- normal aging process
- too much loud noise
- heredity/genetics
- head injury
- certain medications (cause damage to inner-ear hair cells)
|
| Amount of hearing loss |
- mild to moderate hearing loss
- putting fingers in ears mimics conductive hearing loss (sounds from outside ear are softer; your own voice may sound louder)
|
|
- mild to profound hearing loss
- sounds are not only softer, but may seem muffled or garbled; harder to separate one sound from another and interpret meaning of speech and sounds
|
