New cures are regularly being discovered. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. You may decide that you don’t really have to be very cautious about your hearing because you saw some encouraging research about prospective future cures for deafness. By the time you start showing symptoms of hearing loss, you think, they’ll have found the cure for deafness.
That’s not a good idea. Without a doubt, it’s better to protect your hearing while you can. Scientists are making some phenomenal advances on the subject of treating hearing loss though, and that includes some potential cures in the future.
Hearing loss is awful
Hearing loss is just a fact of life. It doesn’t suggest you’re a bad person or you did something wrong or you’re being punished. It’s just part of getting older. But there are some clear disadvantages to dealing with hearing loss. Your social life, general wellness, and mental health can be considerably affected by hearing loss, not to mention your inability to hear what’s happening around you. Untreated hearing loss can even result in an increased risk of depression and dementia. Lots of evidence exists that reveals a link between social isolation and neglected hearing loss.
In general, hearing loss is a persistent and degenerative problem. This means that there’s no cure and, as time passes, it’ll get worse. That’s not true for every type of hearing loss, but more on that below. 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 protect your current levels of hearing. Often, this means using a hearing aid, which is usually the ideal treatment for most types of hearing loss. So there are treatments for most individuals but there’s no cure. And those treatments can do a world of good when it comes to enhancing your quality of life.
Two kinds of hearing loss
There are differences in kinds of hearing loss. Hearing loss comes in two main categories. One can be cured, the other can be managed. Here’s how it breaks down:
- Conductive hearing loss: This type of hearing loss happens because something gets in the way and obstructs your ear canal. Possibly it’s a bunch of earwax (a bit gross, but it happens). Perhaps it’s swelling from an ear infection. When something is obstructing your ear canals, whatever it may be, sound waves won’t be able to get to your inner ear. This type of hearing loss can certainly be cured, usually by eliminating the obstruction (or treating whatever is causing the obstruction in the first place).
- Sensorineural hearing loss: This is the more irreversible form of hearing loss. Vibrations in the air are sensed by fragile hairs in your ears called stereocilia. These vibrations can be translated to sound by your brain. Unfortunately, these hairs are compromised as you go through life, usually by exceedingly loud sounds. And these hairs stop functioning after they get damaged. And when this happens your ability to hear becomes impaired. Your body doesn’t naturally regrow these hairs and we currently have no way to heal them. When you lose them, it’s forever.
Treatments for sensorineural hearing loss
Just because sensorineural hearing loss is permanent doesn’t mean it can’t be managed. The purpose of any such treatment is to let you hear as much as possible given your hearing loss. Keeping you functioning as independently as possible, enhancing your situational awareness, and letting you hear conversations is the objective.
So, what are these treatment strategies? Here are some common treatments.
Hearing aids
Hearing aids are probably the single most prevalent means of treating hearing loss. Hearing aids can be specially tuned to your particular hearing needs, so they’re especially useful. During the course of your day, a hearing aid will help you make out conversations and communicate with people better. Many of the symptoms of social isolation can be prevented by wearing hearing aids (and, as a result, reduced your danger of dementia and depression).
There are many different styles of hearing aid to pick from and they have become much more common. You’ll have to speak with us about which is best for you and your specific degree of hearing loss.
Cochlear implants
Sometimes, it will be necessary to bypass the ears altogether if hearing loss is total. A cochlear implant does just that. Surgery is used to put this device in the ear. The device picks up on sounds and converts those sounds into electrical energy, which is then transmitted straight to your cochlear nerve. This allows your brain to convert those signals into sounds.
Cochlear implants are normally used when hearing loss is total, a condition known as deafness. So there will still be treatment solutions even if you have totally lost your hearing.
Novel advances
Scientists are always working on new ways to treat hearing loss.
In the past, curing hearing loss has been impossible, but that’s exactly what new advances are aimed at. Here are a few of those advances:
- Stem cell therapies: These therapies utilize stem cells from your own body. The concept is that these stem cells can then develop into new stereocilia (those delicate hairs inside of your ears). Studies with mammals (like rats and mice) have shown some promise, but some form of prescription stem cell gene therapy is probably still a long way off.
- Progenitor cell activation: So, stem cells in your ear initiate the production of stereocilia. Once the stereocilia develop, the stem cells become inactive, and they are then referred to as progenitor cells. New treatments seek to reactivate these progenitor cells, encouraging them to once again create new stereocilia. Encouraging results for these new therapies have come from early human trials. There was a substantial 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 researchers that is crucial for the regrowth of stereocilia. It’s hoped that by discovering this protein, researchers will get a better concept of how to get those stereocilia to begin to grow back. This treatment is really still on the drawing board and isn’t widely available yet.
Don’t wait to get your hearing loss treated
Many of these innovations are promising. But it’s worthwhile to emphasize that none of them are available yet. So it’s not a good idea to wait to get treatment for your hearing loss. Be proactive about protecting your hearing.
A miracle cure likely isn’t coming soon, so if you’re struggling with hearing loss, call us today to schedule your hearing test.
References
https://hsci.harvard.edu/major-step-toward-treatment-leading-form-hearing-loss
https://news.mit.edu/2022/frequency-therapeutics-hearing-regeneration-0329
