Hearing Loss Explained

To understand hearing loss one must first understand how the ear works. The ear is made up of three principal parts: the Outer Ear, the Middle Ear and the Inner Ear. All three perform separate through vital roles in helping us interpret sound.

The Outer Ear, known as the Pinna, is the part of the ear you can see. It collects sound waves, which are in turn directed down the ear canal to the eardrum, a highly sensitive wafer thin membrane. The vibrations in the eardrum are then picked up by three tiny bones and carried across the Middle Ear to the Inner Ear.

It is in the Inner Ear that special cells convert the sound energy into nerve impulses, which are relayed to the brain by the Acoustic Nerve. The brain then interprets these nerve impulses as sound.

Anything that disturbs this delicate balance will result in hearing loss.