Every day scientists are discovering new cures. That may be a positive or a negative. You may figure that you really don’t have to be all that cautious about your hearing because you saw some promising research about prospective future cures for deafness. You’ll feel like they will probably have a cure for deafness by the time you will notice any symptoms of hearing loss.
That’s not a smart idea. Without a doubt, it’s better to protect your hearing while you have it. There is some exciting research coming out which is revealing some amazing advances toward successfully treating hearing loss.
It isn’t any fun to lose your hearing
Hearing loss is just a fact of life. It doesn’t mean you’re a negative person or you did something wrong or you’re being punished. It just… is. But there are some distinct disadvantages to experiencing hearing loss. Your social life, general wellness, and mental health can be substantially impacted by hearing loss, not to mention your inability to hear what’s going on around you. You will even raise your risk of developing dementia and depression with untreated hearing loss. There’s lots of evidence to link untreated hearing loss to problems such as social isolation.
Hearing loss is, generally speaking, a degenerative and chronic condition. This means that there’s no cure and, as time passes, it’ll grow worse. That’s not true for every kind of hearing loss, but more on that in a bit. But “no cure” isn’t the same as “no treatment”.
If you come see us, we can help slow down the development of your hearing loss and preserve your current levels of hearing. Often, this means using a hearing aid, which is usually the ideal treatment for most forms of hearing loss. So, for most people, there’s no cure, but there are treatments. And your quality of life will be greatly improved by these treatments.
Two types of hearing loss
There are differences in forms of hearing loss. Hearing loss comes in two primary categories. You can treat one and the other can be cured. Here’s how it breaks down:
- Conductive hearing loss: When the ear canal gets blocked by something, you get this form of hearing loss. Perhaps it’s a bunch of earwax (a little gross, but it happens). Perhaps it’s inflammation from an ear infection. When something is blocking your ear canals, whatever it might be, sound waves won’t be able to get to your inner ear. This kind of hearing loss will be cured when the cause of the obstruction is removed.
- Sensorineural hearing loss: This is the more irreversible form of hearing loss. Vibrations in the air are sensed by tiny hairs in your ears called stereocilia. These vibrations can be interpreted as sound by your brain. As you go through life, these hairs become damaged, by loud sound usually. And once they are damaged, the hairs don’t function. And when this happens your ability to hear becomes diminished. Your body won’t naturally regrow these hairs and we currently have no way to repair them. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Sensorineural hearing loss treatments
Sensorineural hearing loss may be permanent but that doesn’t mean it can’t be managed. The purpose of any such treatment is to allow you to hear as much as you can given your hearing loss. Keeping you functioning as independently as possible, enhancing your situational awareness, and letting you hear conversations is the objective.
So, how do you manage this type of hearing loss? Here are some prevalent treatments.
Hearing aids
Hearing aids are likely the single most prevalent means of treating hearing loss. Hearing aids can be individually tuned to your specific hearing needs, so they’re especially beneficial. Wearing a hearing aid will let you better understand conversations and communicate with others over the course of your daily life. Hearing aids can even delay many symptoms of social isolation (and, as a result, reduced your danger of dementia and depression).
There are lots of different styles of hearing aid to choose from and they have become much more common. In order to identify which model is suited to your taste and level of hearing loss, you’ll need to come see us for a consultation.
Cochlear implants
Sometimes, it will be necessary to bypass the ears altogether if hearing loss is total. A cochlear implant does exactly that. Surgery is performed to insert this device in the ear. This device directly transfers sound, which it has converted into electrical energy, to your cochlear nerve. This enables your brain to translate those signals into sounds.
Cochlear implants are typically used when hearing loss is total, a condition known as deafness. So there will still be treatment options even if you have totally lost your hearing.
Novel advances
Scientists are continuously working on new ways to treat hearing loss.
These new advances are frequently geared towards “curing” hearing loss in ways that have previously proven impossible. Some of these advances include:
- Stem cell therapies: Your own stem cells are used in this kind of treatment. The idea is that new stereocilia can be generated by these stem cells (those tiny hairs in your ears). Studies with animals (like rats and mice) have shown some promise, but some form of prescription stem cell gene therapy is probably still going to be a while.
- Progenitor cell activation: So the stereocilia in your ear are being produced by your body’s stem cells. The stem cells go dormant after they develop stereocilia and are then known as progenitor cells. These new treatments are stimulating the stereocilia to regrow by waking up the progenitor cells. This specific novel therapy has been tried in humans, and the results seem encouraging. Most people noticed a significant improvement in their ability to hear and comprehend speech. It isn’t really known how long it will be before these therapies will be widely available.
- GFI1 Protein: There’s a protein which has been discovered by researchers that is essential for the regrowth of stereocilia. It’s hoped that by identifying this protein, scientists will get a better idea of how to get those stereocilia to start growing back. This treatment is very much still on the drawing board and isn’t widely available yet.
Don’t wait to have your hearing loss treated
There’s a great deal of promise in these innovations. But it’s essential to stress that none of them are available yet. Which means that it’s smart to live in the here and now. Protect your hearing today.
A miracle cure isn’t likely to be coming soon, so if you’re coping with hearing loss, call us today to schedule your hearing exam.
References
https://hsci.harvard.edu/major-step-toward-treatment-leading-form-hearing-loss
https://news.mit.edu/2022/frequency-therapeutics-hearing-regeneration-0329