New cures are always being found. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. For example, you may look at encouraging new research in the arena of curing hearing loss and you decide you don’t really need to be all that cautious. By the time you begin exhibiting symptoms of hearing loss, you think, they’ll have found the cure for deafness.

That would be unwise. Without a doubt, it’s better to protect your hearing while you have it. Scientists are making some incredible advances on the subject of treating hearing loss though, and that includes some possible cures in the future.

Hearing loss is awful

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 penalized. It’s just part of the aging process. But developing hearing loss has some major disadvantages. Not only can you hear less, but the disorder can impact your social life, your mental health, and your long term health. Untreated hearing loss can even result in a greater risk of depression and dementia. Lots of research exists that reveals a connection between social isolation and untreated hearing loss.

In general, hearing loss is a persistent and degenerative condition. This means that there’s no cure and, over time, it’ll get worse. This doesn’t pertain to every type of hearing loss but we’ll get to that soon. But “no cure” is not the same as “no treatment”.

If you come see us, we can help slow the development of your hearing loss and preserve your current levels of hearing. Hearing aids are usually the form of treatment that will be most ideal 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 immensely improved by these treatments.

Hearing loss comes in two main kinds

Not all hearing loss is identical. There are two primary categories of hearing loss. One can be cured, the other can be managed. Here’s what you need to know:

• Conductive hearing loss: When the ear canal gets obstructed by something, you get this form of hearing loss. Maybe it’s a clump of earwax (a little gross, but it happens). Perhaps it’s inflammation caused by an ear infection. When something is obstructing your ear canals, whatever it might be, sound waves won’t be capable of getting to your inner ear. This type of hearing loss will be cured when the source of the obstruction is eliminated.
• Sensorineural hearing loss: This is the more irreversible type of hearing loss. Vibrations in the air are picked up by tiny hairs in your ears known as stereocilia. Your brain is able to interpret these vibrations as sound. As you go through life, these hairs become damaged, by loud noises typically. And these hairs stop working after they get damaged. And when this occurs your ability to hear becomes impaired. There’s presently no way to restore these hairs, and your body doesn’t grow new ones naturally. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Sensorineural hearing loss treatments

Sensorineural hearing loss may be irreversible but that doesn’t mean it can’t be treated. Given your loss of hearing, letting you hear as much as you can is the purpose of treatment. Keeping you functioning as independently as possible, enhancing your situational awareness, and letting you hear conversations is the objective.

So, what are these treatment methods? Prevalent treatments include the following.

Hearing aids

Most likely, the one most prevalent way of treating hearing loss is hearing aids. Hearing aids can be individually tuned to your specific hearing needs, so they’re especially beneficial. During the course of your day, a hearing aid will help you hear conversations and interact with people better. Hearing aids can even slow down many symptoms of social solitude (and the danger of depression and dementia as a result).

Getting your own set of hearing aids is extremely common, and there are lots of styles to choose from. In order to determine which model is suited to your taste and degree of hearing loss, you’ll need to come see us for a consultation.

Cochlear implants

When hearing loss is total, it often makes sense to bypass the ears altogether. A cochlear implant does just that. This device is surgically inserted into the ear. The device picks up on sounds and translates those sounds into electrical energy, which is then transmitted straight to your cochlear nerve. Your brain then interprets those signals as sound.

Cochlear implants are usually used when hearing loss is complete, a condition called deafness. So even if your hearing has completely gone, there are still treatment options available.

Novel advances

Scientists are continuously working on new ways to treat hearing loss.

These new advances are frequently aimed at “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 type of therapy. The concept is that new stereocilia can be generated by these stem cells (those delicate hairs in your ears). Studies with animals (like rats and mice) have shown some promise, but some kind of prescription stem cell gene therapy still seems a long way off.
• Progenitor cell activation: So, stem cells in your ear initiate the generation of stereocilia. The stem cells go dormant after they develop stereocilia and are then known as progenitor cells. New treatments aim to reactivate these progenitor cells, encouraging them to once more grow new stereocilia. Encouraging outcomes for these novel therapies have come from early human trials. There was a significant improvement, for most patients, in their ability to hear and comprehend speech. How long it will be before these therapies are widely available, however, is unknown.
• GFI1 Protein: Some scientists have discovered a protein that’s critical to growing new stereocilia. It’s hoped that by discovering 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.

Live in the moment – treat your hearing loss now

There’s a lot of promise in these innovations. But let’s remember that none of them are available to the public at this point. Which means that it’s smart to live in the here and now. Be proactive about safeguarding your hearing.

Don’t try and wait for that miracle cure, call us today to schedule a hearing exam.

Call Today to Set Up an Appointment

References

https://hsci.harvard.edu/major-step-toward-treatment-leading-form-hearing-loss
https://news.mit.edu/2022/frequency-therapeutics-hearing-regeneration-0329