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It’s easy to take your hearing for granted. When keeping up with conversations becomes a challenge or passing loud vehicles startles you in traffic, protecting your ears becomes a priority. Fortunately, some of the most common causes of hearing loss are preventable — as long as you take steps to combat them. Here, audiologists from Connecticut’s County Hearing and Balance discuss two kinds of hearing loss and some of their most common causes.

Conductive Hearing Loss — CHL

CHL occurs when there are issues with the eardrum, middle ear, or ear canal. For example, a malformed ear can cause CHL from birth. Otosclerosis — a hereditary disorder that affects the middle ear — can also cause CHL. Fortunately, these other common causes of conductive hearing loss are not permanent issues.

  • Fluid accumulation in the middle ear due to illness or infection
  • Allergies
  • Benign tumors
  • Impacted wax
  • Foreign objects stuck in the ear canal
  • Perforated eardrums

Sensorineural Hearing Loss — SNHL

hearing lossSNHL is typically the result of nerve damage in the inner ear. Hearing loss that occurs with age — or presbycusis — is a kind of SNHL. It affects approximately one in three Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 and nearly one in two individuals over the age of 75. Other common causes of SNHL include:

  • Exposure to loud noises
  • Head trauma
  • Viruses
  • Genetic disorders
  • Malformed inner ears
  • Tumors
  • Autoimmune inner ear disease

Hearing damage or loss is not something to take lightly. If you can no longer hear as well as you used to, turn to County Hearing and Balance in Connecticut. Their audiologists are skilled at diagnosing and treating some of the most common causes of hearing loss. Whether you suffer from CHL or SNHL, they have advanced hearing aids that can help. Visit their website to find the location nearest you, or call (203) 245-1950 to make an appointment with an audiologist at their Madison office. 

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