HEARING IMPAIRMENT AND

CAUSES OF DEAFNESS
What is Hearing impairment,
deafness, or hearing loss?
Hearing Impairment or Deafness
It refers to the total or partial inability to hear sounds.
Symptomsms may be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. A
patient with a mild hearing impairment may have problems
understanding speech, especially if there is a lot of noise around,
while those with moderate deafness may need a hearing aid.
What Causes Hearing Loss
and Deafness?
2 Causes Hearing Loss and
Deafness
1.) Congenital
2.) Acquired
Congenital Causes
-may lead to hearing loss being present at or acquired soon after
birth.
-Hearng loss can be caused by hereditary and non-hereditary
genetic factors or by certain complications during pregnancy and
childbirth.
Maternal rubella, syphilis or certain other ingections during
pregnancy;
birth asphyxia (a lack of oxygen at the time of birth);
inappropriate use ofparticular drugs during pregnancy, such as
cytotoxic drugs and antimalarial drugs.
Acquired Causes
May lead to hearing loss at any age, such as:
Infectious diseases including meningitis, measles and mumps;
Chronic ear infections;
collection of fluid in the ear (otitis media);
use of certain medicines, such as those used in the treatment of
neonatal infections, malaria, drug-resistant tuberculosis, and
cancers;
injury to the head or ear;
3 LEVELS OF HEARING LOSS
LEVEL Hearing loss
This is a reduced ability to hear sounds in the same
1 way as other people.

Deafness
LEVEL This occurs when a person cannot understand speech
2 through hearing, even when sound is amplified.

Profound deafness
This refers to a total lack of hearing. An individual with
profound deafness is unable to detect sound at all.
3 TYPES OF HEARING LOSS
1.) CONDUCTIVE HEARING
LOSS
This means that the vibrations are not passing
through from the outer ear to the inner ear, specifically
the cochlea. This type can occur for many reasons,
including:
An excessive build-up of earwax
An ear infection with inflammation and fluid
a perforated eardrum
malfunction of the ossicles
a defective eardrum
2.) SENSORINEURAL HEARING
LOSS
Hearing loss is caused by dysfunction of the inner
ear, the cochlea, auditory nerve, or brain damage.

This kind of hearing loss is normally due to

damaged hair cells in the cochlea.
3.) MIXED HEARING LOSS
This is a combination of conductive and
sensorineural hearing loss.
Long-term ear infections can damage both the
eardrum and the ossicles.
Sometimes, surgical intervention may restore
hearing, but it is not always effective.