In day to day life, a typical conversation takes place at around 60 decibels (dB) and any sounds below 85dB are considered safe, although there are many everyday sounds which regularly exceed this threshold, such as a typical kitchen blender, a ride on the London Underground and even squeezy toys for children and pets.Įxposure to these sounds may not cause immediate harm to your hearing but prolonged exposure may well do so. Of course, old age is not the only cause of hearing loss, and there are ways that we can all work to preserve our hearing. This can often be counteracted by the use of a hearing aid, which amplifies the incoming sound before sending it to the ear. Over the years, the tiny hairs and nerve cells of the inner ear can become damaged through natural wear and tear, causing a muffling of sounds. There are three main areas of the ear, the inner, middle and outer, and each plays a part in processing this sound. The ear works by processing sound waves and turning them into signals which can be understood by the brain. Naturally, aging is a major contributing factor when it comes to hearing loss. We all know that exposure to loud bangs and prolonged noise can cause hearing damage and ultimately deafness, but what is less commonly known is how it actually occurs. ![]() The specific configuration of which hair cells send signals allow us to determine what type of sound we have heard.How noise induced hearing damage and deafness occur (and how you can prevent it) These are carried along the hearing nerve to the brain, where they are processed and interpreted as sound. The tiny hair cells in the cochlea respond to these vibrations by creating electrical signals. This enables sound to be transmitted to the cochlea in the inner ear, which in turn sets the cochlea fluid in motion. The movement of the eardrum causes the tiny bones in the middle ear to vibrate, and these vibrate the oval window. Sound waves travel along the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate, in the same way as a normal drum. The organ of balance is also connected to the inner ear. These nerve endings connect to the hearing (auditory) nerve that transmits sound messages to the brain. The inner ear consists of the cochlea, a shell-shaped bony spiral filled with specific fluids and lined with tiny hair cells that connect to nerve endings. The function of the eustachian tube is to equalise the air pressure in the middle ear to the outside of the ear, keeping the eardrum in a state of equilibrium which promotes maximum sound transmission. A small passage called the eustachian tube connects the air-filled middle ear cavity with the back of the throat. The stapes bone is the smallest bone in the body, half the size of a grain of rice!They transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear, connecting with the inner ear at the oval window. These bones are called the Malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and stapes (stirrup). The middle ear consists of an air filled cavity containing a chain of three tiny bones. When sound waves hit the ear drum they cause this to vibrate. The two bends in the ear canal help to protect the fragile eardrum, which is the boundary between the outer and middle ear. ![]() The size and shape of the outer ear naturally amplifies speech sounds and allows you to localize the direction of a sound above, below, in front or behind you. The pinna collects sound waves in the air and channels them into the ear canal. The outer ear consists of the pinna, the ear canal and the eardrum. The Hearing System is made up of 3 areas:
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