World Hearing Day is held on 3 March each year to raise awareness on the prevention of deafness and hearing loss and to promote ear and hearing care across the world.
The theme for 2021 is
Hearing is much more than just sound; it is about inclusion, engagement, belonging and connection to people and the world around us. Good hearing health is vital in all stages to live a fulfilling life.
Hearing begins before birth at 20 weeks of gestation. It is the second sense to develop in utero, the first one being touch. Hearing is important for a child to learn spoken language, perform academically and engage socially.
New-born screening helps identify hearing loss early. This is done by otoacousticemission (OAE) test, which is a simple test that can be done within 24 hours of birth. It is vital in neonates with high-risk factors such as the family history of hearing loss, maternal viral infections during pregnancy, congenital birth defects, hyperbilirubinemia and low birth weight. Early diagnosis and intervention with amplification devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implant along with speech and language rehabilitation helps such children catch up to and equal other children developmentally by the age of 3 years.
For hearing to be normal, all parts of the mechanism are important starting from the outer ear which collects the sound waves and helps detect the direction of the sound to the nerve pathway to the brain. Hearing loss is classified as conductive, sensorineural, or mixed depending on the area of pathology.
Treatment of hearing loss also depends on the cause. It can be treated by simple drops and cleaning for wax accumulation. Surgery may be required for either draining the middle ear fluids or repairing the perforated ear drum. Recent advances in surgical instrumentation allow for performing these surgeries endoscopically and as day care procedures. For patients with sensorineural hearing loss, hearing aids are helpful and in severe cases, cochlear implants are ideal.
During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, schooling and working from home have increased the use of personal listening devices. Prolonged usage of earphones and headphones at a loud volume can cause local injury to the skin of the ear and also to the hair cells of theinner ear resulting in sensorineural hearing loss.
Hearing loss usually is gradual and the affected person is often unaware. Family members start noticing signs such as fall in grades in children, not responding to call or asking to repeat words, need to turn up the volume of radio or TV and withdrawal from the social setting. Hearing loss in the elderly is closely linked to balance and dementia.
More than 50% of all hearing loss is preventable and the majority of the rest treatable by an early and effective intervention.
Benjamin Franklin
Some preventive measures to maintain good hearing health:
No hearing loss is insignificant. Any hearing loss has some impact on some aspects of life. Good hearing gives benefit of better social interaction, memory and learning hence leading to a better quality of life.
Dr. Deepika M Vijai
Consultant ENT Surgeon
Kauvery Hospital, Chennai
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