Support From Our Department of Internal Medicine in Marbella When Managing Deafness
21/06/2019In many cases of hearing loss, there's no cure. But, some things can be done to compensate for this loss of hearing as much as possible. Our department of internal medicine will work closely with you to manage your hearing loss and compensate for it as best as possible, whether this is through the use of hearing aids or a cochlear implant.
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are one of the most recognisable methods our department of internal medicine recommends for people dealing with hearing loss. A hearing aid will help amplify sounds. However, it won't restore your hearing to normal. Despite this, you should notice a significant difference with a hearing aid, and it should help to improve your communication. A hearing aid may also allow you to enjoy sounds again.
Some people don't want to wear a hearing aid because of their cost and concerns over comfort, appearance and social stigma. However, the team in our department of internal medicine will discuss each of these concerns with you and will potentially encourage you to see an audiologist to identify the benefits hearing aids could have for you.
People who have arthritis may find it difficult to manipulate small hearing aids, but larger ones are available if this is the case.
Cochlear Implants
Most people with severe hearing loss cannot hear sounds or understand words even with a hearing aid. Cochlear implants differ from hearing aids in that they provide electrical signals directly into the auditory nerve using multiple electrodes inserted into the inner ear structure (the cochlea).
A cochlear implant is needed when people with a hearing aid aren't able to understand more than half the words in a sentence. With an implant, an external microphone and processor pick up sound signals and convert them to electrical impulses. These impulses are then transmitted electromagnetically by an external coil through the skin to an internal loop, which connects to the electrodes. The electrodes stimulate the auditory nerve allowing it to pick up the sound. For this reason, our department of internal medicine often recommends implants to patients who have tried hearing aids but haven't experienced much improvement.
Although a cochlear implant won't transmit sounds as well as a healthy cochlea, it will provide substantial benefit to those experiencing hearing loss. An implant could help people to read lips and enable them to distinguish words without reading lips so that they can also use the telephone.
A cochlear implant also helps deaf people hear and distinguish between environmental and warning signals. These can include doorbells, telephones, and alarms. Also, an implant may help them modulate their voice. Generally, cochlear implants are more effective in people whose hearing loss is recent.
Although these are the two most common methods used by our department of internal medicine to manage hearing loss, there are a number of procedures and techniques that can also be used. The recommendation given by our team will largely depend on the severity and cause of your hearing loss.
To find out more about the support offered by our department of internal medicine, visit our website and book an appointment today.