How your hearing works
The human ear is far more complex than it looks – our sense of hearing is known to be the most sensitive of our body’s senses. It is also the first to develop, and babies begin to hear their first sounds at just 18 weeks of pregnancy!
The human ear can be split into three sections: The inner ear, outer ear, and the middle ear. Let us explore how these three sections work together to enable your hearing.
Outer Ear
The outer ear is the part that is visible to us, all the way down the ear canal and up to the eardrum. The ear canal is where wax can build up – earwax is actually the body’s defence against dirt and other things that may enter the ear, and it also has antibacterial properties to keep our ears clean and healthy. Sometimes, however, it may become impacted and block off the ear canal, causing the feeling of a blocked ear and pain at times. It then needs to be removed by a professional (not with cotton buds!).
Middle Ear
Sounds go down the ear canal and hit the eardrum, which vibrates the bones in the middle ear. The three bones in the middle ear are the smallest bones in the body, and are responsible for detecting tiny movements of the eardrum and then passing on the vibrations into the inner ear. The middle ear also contains the eustachian tube, which connects to our nose and throat and ensures that the pressure in the middle ear is equalized with external pressure. However, because of this, sometimes when we get a cold or a throat infection we also experience pain and fullness in our ears.
Inner Ear
The inner ear has two portions; the cochlea (organ of hearing), and the balance organs. It is fluid-filled, and the cochlea consists of thousands of tiny hair cells that detect vibrations in the fluid that come from the middle ear. These hair cells then pass the sounds on to the brain via the cochlear nerve, creating nerve impulses in a way similar to the playing of a piano! Most sensorineural hearing losses are due to the loss of hair cells in the cochlea, caused by things like age, use of ototoxic medication, over-exposure to loud noises, etc. and are non-reversible.
Check out this illustrative video by MED-EL, one of the industry-leading companies that we work with to bring quality Cochlear Implant services to Tanzania.
Now that you’ve learned how your hearing works, take a look at how hearing loss occurs and how to prevent it.
