We communicate largely by speaking and listening to one another, we listen to music and news from our televisons, radios, mobile phones and computers. Imagine how frightening  and isolating it would be if you are unlucky enough to be deaf since birth or if your hearing starts to decline as you get older.

Well thankfully, science and technology help many people who suffer from hearing problems in the shape of today’s hearing aids.

How our ears hear sound energy

Things make sounds when they vibrate (move back and forth), setting air in motion around them. Think what happens when you bang a drum: the taut drum skin vibrates very quickly, pushing and pulling on the air molecules (atoms joined together) that are next to it.

These air molecules move about more energetically and start crashing into other air molecules too. That's how waves of sound energy race out from a drum in all directions and that energy (the same energy you gave to the drum skin by hitting it in the first place) keeps traveling through the air until it reaches your ears.
 
How we can lose our hearing

The path between your outer ear and your brain can be blocked or damaged in many different places and in a number of different ways, so people can become deaf or lose some or all of their hearing for lots of different reasons. One of the most common types of hearing loss happens when the hairs in the cochlea become damaged.

If there are fewer hairs, sounds produce less stimulation in your brain—so things need to be louder for you to hear them. That's where hearing aids come in. They can't help everyone with impaired hearing, but they can often make a difference to hearing problems caused by a loss of cochlear hair cells, medically known as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

Why today’s digital hearing aids are a great investment

The latest high-tech hearing aids are not cheap, but neither is your hearing health. Hearing loss can cost you more in terms of your stress, cognitive function, help your balance, lift your mood and strengthen your relationships. Now how can you put a value on these? Addressing your hearing health issues is the smart thing to do and the best buying decision you can make.

By Dr George Panayiotou, Clinical Audiologist