New cures are always being found. That could be a positive or a negative. You might figure that you really don’t need to be very vigilant about your hearing because you read some promising research about potential future cures for deafness. By the time you start exhibiting symptoms of hearing loss, you think, they’ll have found the cure for deafness.
That wouldn’t be wise. Clearly, protecting your hearing now while it’s still healthy would be the smarter choice. Scientists are making some remarkable advances when it comes to treating hearing loss though, including some possible cures in the future.
It isn’t any fun to lose your hearing
Hearing loss is just something that takes place. 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 definite disadvantages to experiencing hearing loss. Your social life, general health, and mental health can be significantly impacted by hearing loss, along with your inability to hear what’s taking place around you. Untreated hearing loss can even result in an increased risk of depression and dementia. Lots of evidence exists that shows a link between social isolation and neglected hearing loss.
Hearing loss is, generally speaking, a degenerative and chronic condition. So, over time, it will keep getting worse and there isn’t any cure. This doesn’t pertain to every form of hearing loss but we’ll get to that soon. But “no cure” is not the same as “no treatment”.
We can help you protect your levels of hearing and slow down the progression of hearing loss. Hearing aids are often the form of treatment that will be most ideal for most forms of hearing loss. So there are treatments for most people but there’s no cure. And those treatments can do a lot of good when it comes to enhancing your quality of life.
Two types of hearing loss
There are differences in types of hearing loss. There are two primary classes of hearing loss. 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 type of hearing loss. It might be due to an accumulation of earwax. Possibly, an ear infection is causing swelling. Whatever the cause, there’s something physically stopping sound waves from traveling up to your inner ear. This type of hearing loss can certainly be cured, typically by removing the obstruction (or treating whatever is causing the obstruction in the first place).
- Sensorineural hearing loss: This type of hearing loss is irreversible. There are tiny hairs in your ear (known as stereocilia) that sense minute vibrations in the air. These vibrations can be interpreted as sound by your brain. As you go through life, these hairs become damaged, by loud noises usually. And once they are damaged, the hairs no longer 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 mend them. When you lose them, it’s forever.
Treatments for sensorineural hearing loss
Just because sensorineural hearing loss is irreversible doesn’t mean it can’t be treated. The purpose of any such treatment is to let you hear as much as you can given your hearing loss. The goal is to help you hear discussions, improve your situational awareness, and keep you functioning independently through life.
So, what are these treatment methods? Here are some prevalent treatments.
Hearing aids
Most likely, the one most common way of managing hearing loss is hearing aids. They’re particularly beneficial because hearing aids can be specially adjusted for your unique hearing loss. Using a hearing aid will allow you to better comprehend conversations and interact with others during your daily life. Many of the symptoms of social solitude can be staved off by using hearing aids (and the risk of depression and dementia as a result).
Getting your own pair of hearing aids is incredibly common, and there are many styles to pick from. You’ll need to speak with us about which is best for you and your particular degree of hearing loss.
Cochlear implants
Often, it will be necessary to bypass the ears altogether if hearing loss is complete. That’s what a cochlear implant does. This device is surgically inserted into the ear. This device directly transmits sound, which it has converted into electrical energy, to your cochlear nerve. Your brain then interprets those signals as sound.
When a person has a condition known as deafness, or complete hearing loss, cochlear implants are sometimes used. So there will still be treatment options even if you have completely lost your hearing.
Novel advances
Scientists are continuously working on new ways to treat hearing loss.
In the past, curing hearing loss has proven impossible, but that’s exactly what new advances are aimed at. Here are a number of those advances:
- Stem cell therapies: Your own stem cells are used in this type of therapy. The concept is that these stem cells can then turn into new stereocilia (those little hairs in your ears). Studies with mammals (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 originate the creation of stereocilia. Once the stereocilia develop, the stem cells become inactive, and they are then called progenitor cells. New therapies aim to reactivate these progenitor cells, stimulating them to once again grow new stereocilia. Encouraging outcomes for these new therapies have come from early human trials. There was a significant improvement, for most people, 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 scientists that is critical for the regrowth of stereocilia. It’s hoped that by finding this protein, scientists will get a better idea of how to get those stereocilia to start growing back. Once again, this is one of those treatments that’s more in the “drawing board” stage than the “widely available” phase.
Stay in the moment – deal with your hearing loss now
Many of these innovations are encouraging. But let’s not forget that none of them are available to the public right now. So it’s not a good idea to wait to get treatment for your hearing loss. Protect your hearing today.
A miracle cure isn’t likely to be coming soon, so if you’re struggling with hearing loss, call us today to schedule your hearing test.
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References
https://hsci.harvard.edu/major-step-toward-treatment-leading-form-hearing-loss
https://news.mit.edu/2022/frequency-therapeutics-hearing-regeneration-0329