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Your Ear
Hearing involves much more than sound reaching your ears. Hearing depends on a chain of events, from sound waves entering the ear canal to the nerve signals being received by the brain. A problem at any stage in the chain can lead to loss of hearing.
The ear consists of three major parts: The outer ear, which is the part you can see plus the ear canal; the middle ear, which includes the eardrum and three tiny bones; and the inner ear, which includes your balance system and a network of nerves that carries information to the brain.
Problems causing hearing loss or a balance disorder can occur in any of these areas. Caused by a problem in the outer or middle ear, a loss is called a conductive loss. This can often be corrected with medication or surgery. A perceptive loss means the problem is in the inner ear. The use of a hearing aid can often help compensate for this type of hearing loss.
A hearing loss can be caused by many things, including infection, allergies, exposure to high noise levels, trauma and heredity. Most hearing loss can be treated; left untreated, it can worsen.
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