Managing a hearing loss – what can we do?

For issues such as middle ear infections and conductive losses, the audiologist will perform a tympanometry test to assess the function of the middle ear. This will help the ENT with deciding on a treatment plan – whether medical or surgical.

For most sensorineural hearing losses, the recommended treatment is the use of hearing aids. Hearing aids are devices that amplify sounds according to a person’s hearing, and when properly fitted can be of great benefit to someone with a hearing loss. Hearing aids today come in all sorts of styles and sizes – from tiny in-the-ear models to more powerful behind-the-ear versions. They also use numerous advanced processors, and some can even connect to your phone via Bluetooth!

However for a small number of people with severe to profound hearing losses, they may not be as beneficial as they need to be. For this group of people, a cochlear implant is recommended – a surgically implanted device in the inner ear that detects sound and sends neural impulses through the cochlear nerve.