Hearing Loss Causes and Treatments: Improve Your Earing Ability

Hearing loss causes are many. There are ways to prevent hearing loss and to improve hearing if affected already.

Some hearing loss causes can be treated through home remedies, medicines, and surgery based on the severity and type of hearing loss. There is no such thing as hearing loss causing ear pain or an earache.

Table Of Contents
  1. Types of Hearing Loss
  2. Hearing Loss Causes
  3. Hearing Loss Symptoms
  4. Treatment for Hearing Losses
  5. Diet Benefits for Helping Hearing Loss
  6. Natural Remedy for Hearing Loss
  7. Prevention of Hearing Loss

Types of Hearing Loss

There are three main types of hearing loss.

Conductive Hearing Loss – This hearing loss is due to impacts in the eardrum, ear canal, middle ear, and middle ear bones ie; Incus, malleus, and stapes.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss – This is a nerve-related hearing loss from the inner ear (cochlea).  A sudden hearing loss in one ear is common for this type of hearing loss.

Mixed Hearing Loss – This is a combination of both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

human ear anatomy
Ear Anatomy

Hearing Loss Causes

Conductive Hearing Loss Causes

  • Abnormalities in the outer ear, middle ear structures, or ear canal
  • Formation of fluids in the middle part of the ear due to common colds
  • Otitis Media Ear Infection Hearing Loss – Infection in the middle ear causing accumulation of fluid, interfering with eardrum and ossicle movements
  • Otosclerosis – An inherited disorder where the ear is unable to amplify the sound
  • Allergies
  • Eustachian tube is not normally functioning
  • A benign tumor
  • Impact due to earwax
  • Punctured eardrum
  • Foreign particles in the ear
  • Ear canal infection

Sensorineural Hearing Loss Causes

  • Loud and noisy environment
  • Presbycusis – an age-related hearing loss
  • Trauma – especially a fracture in the skull
  • Virus infection
  • Autoimmune – Inner ear disease due to antibodies or lymphocytes
  • Hereditary hearing loss
  • Abnormality of the inner ear
  • Meniere’s Disease – A spinning feeling of vertigo
  • Otosclerosis – An inherited ear disorder were not able to amplify sound
  • Tumors

Hearing Loss Symptoms

In most cases, the hearing ability slowly begins to fade away. Impacted people tend to think that other people are mumbling. Sometimes they think that the phone’s sound volume is not enough for them to hear. This is how hearing loss symptoms start.

Generally, hearing loss is classified into 3 levels by doctors: –

Mild Hearing Loss – this hearing loss is when one can hear in a one-to-one conversation. However, it may be difficult to hear clearly if there is background noise.

Moderate Hearing Loss – This is when an impacted person may ask people to repeat what they said while having a conversation.

Severe Hearing Loss – This is an impacted person not able to follow a conversation with others. Wearing a hearing aid could be the only remedy.

Profound Hearing Loss – This is when you need other people to speak very loudly for the impacted person to hear. In this case, the hearing aid is required to hear the conversation clearly.

The following are the generic hearing loss symptoms: –

  • Not able to understand or follow conversations when more than one person is talking at the same time.
  • May think the other person is not talking clearly, but just murmuring to themselves.
  • Misunderstand or pretend to be understood and respond inappropriately.
  • Keeping the TV sound volume very high, as a result, others complain that the TV is too loud
  • Tinnitus – Ringing, hissing, or roaring sounds within the ears
  • Missing the ability to hear high-frequency sounds such as female or young children’s voices, and beep sounds from various devices.  The devices could be such as micro ovens, timers, and so on.  Difficulty in differentiating sounds from words with S, SH, and F.
Hearing Loss Causes and Natural Remedies
Hearing Loss Causes and Natural Remedies

Treatment for Hearing Losses

Conductive Hearing Loss Treatment

Mostly, conductive hearing loss is corrected through surgical procedures.  Procedures are to correct the affected part of the ear.

In cases where a surgical procedure does not work, to improve the hearing, the doctors may advise: –

  • Wearing a hearing aid with bone amplification
  • Surgically implanting a hearing aid with bone amplification
  • Use ofan FDA-approved Osseointegrated device
  • Conventional hearing aid

Sensorineural Hearing Loss treatment

Quite many treatments are available for this type of hearing loss, depending on the following hearing conditions.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL)– Viral infection is the cause of this hearing loss. The nature of sudden hearing loss in one ear is treated with corticosteroids.

Sensorineural hearing loss – Medical therapy with corticosteroids is applied to the affected ear with swelling or inflammation in the cochlear hair cells.

Fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss – So far, the cause is unknown, but it has a link to Meniere’s Disease. Symptoms of this disease are a ringing sound in the ear (tinnitus), hearing loss, and vertigo. Doctors may treat this condition using corticosteroids, diuretics, and a low-sodium diet.

Bilateral progressive hearing loss – This is an inner ear disease known as autoimmune.  As a result, our immune system misleads the protection against the ear structures. Finally, ends up causing damage to the ear. This condition is treated with drug therapy or long-term corticosteroids, depending on the condition of the ear.

Irreversible sensorineural hearing loss –  A combination of hearing aids and surgical cochlear implants is considered for treating this condition.

Sensorineural hearing loss from tumors – Since nerves are involved in this case, the removal of the tumor helps in the early stages, while it is smaller in size. Removal of tumors helps to prevent hearing loss to some extent.

Mixed Hearing Loss Treatment

As this is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss conditions, doctors would first look to treat conductive hearing loss for the desired results.

Chiropractic Adjustment Treatment

A Chiropractic adjustment is a method of correcting the spine with the hands with a certain force. This is a proven method used by chiropractors.

Diet Benefits for Helping Hearing Loss

Certain foods can support ear health by providing essential nutrients like Omega-3s, Folate, Potassium, Magnesium, and Vitamin C. These nutrients are linked to improved blood flow, cell health, fluid balance in the inner ear, protection from noise damage, and immune function to prevent ear infections.

Healthy Foods for Your Ears:

  • Oily Fish (Omega-3): Eating fish like Salmon or Sardines at least twice a week helps blood flow to your ears.
  • Leafy Greens (Folate): Spinach and Broccoli are great for keeping your ear cells healthy as you age.
  • Bananas (Potassium): This fruit helps manage the fluid in your inner ear, which is how you turn sounds into signals for your brain.
  • Nuts and Seeds (Magnesium): Almonds and Pumpkin Seeds act like a shield to protect your ears from loud noise.
  • Citrus Fruits (Vitamin C): Oranges and Strawberries help your body fight off ear infections.
  • Dark Chocolate (Zinc): A small piece of dark chocolate can boost your immune system and may help with ringing in the ears.

What to Avoid:

  • Salt: Too much salt can cause fluid to build up in your ears.
  • Sugar: Eating too many sweets can damage the tiny blood vessels that help you hear.

Natural Remedy for Hearing Loss

We have been giving more details on the causes of hearing loss, symptoms, and how they are treated so far. Now, let us see some good natural remedies to recover from hearing loss.  Natural remedies for hearing loss are useful in the early stages of hearing loss, for preventing hearing loss, and to improve hearing.

Here are the 3 effective hearing loss home remedies that you can consider trying: –

1. Ginger for improving hearing

Ginger is well known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and other medicinal properties. It helps to improve hearing and reduce any inflammation or swelling affecting the hearing.

You can have ginger in the form of ginger tea. This is how you prepare your ginger tea: –

1 tablespoon each of cilantro, dried oregano, sage, rosemary, and cinnamon
3 slices of fresh ginger
4 cups of water

Mix all of the above in a saucepan with 4 cups of water. Cover the saucepan with a lid and boil it for about 15 minutes.  After that, strain and drink the made ginger tea three times a day for three weeks.

Ginger can be used for home remedies. More health benefits of ginger.

2. Bone marrow soup for improving hearing

3 lbs of sheep or calf bones
8 cups of water
3/1 cup of black beans
1/3 cup of adzuki beans
2 diced carrots
2 diced celery stalks
1 sliced onion
½ cup of seaweed
1 teaspoon of each turmeric, cumin, and black pepper
(salt not required)

Mix all the above in a pot of 8 cups of water and cook on a stove till the marrow bones are cooked well, making it a soup. Have the soup two or three times a week.

3. Immortal Beating the Heavenly Drum (Dao In Qi Gong) Exercise

This exercise mainly targets clearing your mind and bringing your focus back. It has also helped many people with conditions like tinnitus and vertigo. This is a valuable exercise to maintain a healthy ear and healthy hearing ability as well.

Here are the steps for the Dao In Qi Gong exercise: –

Immortal Beating the Heavenly Drum Exercise - Dao In Qi Gong - for hearing loss
Immortal Beating the Heavenly Drum Exercise – Dao In Qi Gong – for hearing loss
  • Sit comfortably on a chair or floor, with your back in a straight position
  • Keep breathing slowly with a good rhythm and inhale deeply, then exhale slowly
  • Now, with your palms covering both ears. In doing so your fingers should be pointing at each other at the back of your head.
  • Place your index fingers over your middle fingers (look at the finger positions in the picture for illustration).
  • Now snap with your index finger onto the head at the wind pond acupoints.
  • Repeat snapping with your index finger once every second only when you are exhaling
  • Continue to breathe slowly and keep snapping at exhaling for about 30 seconds till you have snapped 36 times on the wind pond acupoints.
  • Finally, put your hands down and continue breathing for a while before you end the exercise.

Prevention of Hearing Loss

In most cases, hearing loss may become permanent. Therefore, a little extra effort and care can protect your ears for good.

  • Avoid loud and noisy environments. If you are not able to avoid such environments, always wear a pair of earplugs to protect your ears
  • Be careful when listening to musicwhile wearing headphones. Set the right sound volume to hear music in the headphones. High volume can affect your eardrum and lead to hearing loss.
  • The use of certain antibiotics, such as gentamicin, aminoglycosides, and tobramycin, can cause hearing loss temporarily and sometimes permanently. Take your physician’s advice before using these antibiotics
  • Keep your ears always infection-free

Thank you for your precious time spent with NobleHomeRemedies.

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