With aging, tiny hair cells in the inner ear undergo changes. Nerve cells, also part of the inner ear, can also be affected. This is age-related hearing loss called presbycusis. Most people don't notice normal hearing loss until their middle years. Others might not notice it until late in their lives. It's most often a slow and painless process.

Exposure to loud noise may cause brief hearing loss and ringing in your ears called tinnitus. If your exposure was short, you may recover. But long-term exposure day after day can affect your hearing for life.

Did you know that loud noises can affect your whole body? Loud noises can:

• Raise blood pressure

• Disrupt sleep patterns

• Cause muscle strain

• Cause emotional stress

• Harm digestion

The ear has 3 parts, each with its own task. The outer ear collects sound and sends it to the middle ear. There sound is changed into vibrations. These vibrations travel to the inner ear where tiny “hair cells” (cilia) and the hearing nerve turn the vibrations into nerve impulses (signals). These signals are sent to the brain. The brain then figures out which ear the sound is coming from. With hearing loss, either a short-term (temporary) blockage or a lasting (permanent) problem in the ear or brain keeps sound from being heard or understood.

Conductive hearing loss is common in children. It can affect one or both ears. For someone to hear, sound signals must travel from outside the ear through the ear canal and eardrum into the inner ear. Conductive hearing loss results when sound becomes partly or fully blocked in the outer or middle ear. Some causes may include:

• Fluid buildup behind the eardrum (often a complication of repeated ear infections)

• Wax buildup in the ear canal

• Problems with the eardrum

• Infection

• Growths

• Abnormal formation of ear bones

• Object stuck in the ear canal, such as food or a toy part

Conductive hearing loss is often temporary and may be improved with medical or surgical procedures. Once the blockage or problem is correctly treated, hearing often returns to normal. If fluid buildup behind the eardrum is the cause, a tiny tube may be inserted into the eardrum to help drain the fluid. The healthcare provider can tell you more about what’s causing your child’s hearing loss and how it can be treated or managed.

Sensorineural hearing loss can affect one or both ears. It's due to problems with the inner ear or damage to the hair cells or nerves inside the inner ear. To hear correctly, these hair cells and nerves must process and carry sound to the brain. The brain then senses what we “hear.” With sensorineural hearing loss, the hair cells or nerves are damaged and don't send the signals needed for hearing to the brain. Some causes may include:

• Exposure to very loud noise

• Infection of mother during pregnancy

• Certain types of infection in the child

• Medicines that are toxic to the ear (such as some IV antibiotics or cancer medicines)

• Family history of permanent hearing loss

• Premature birth

• Severe jaundice

Sensorineural hearing loss is often permanent. So, treatment includes using devices that help the child hear as well as possible. These devices include:

• Hearing aids. Electronic devices that make sound louder.

• Cochlear implants. Surgically implanted devices that help the child sense sound. Cochlear implants are used when the hearing loss is too severe to be treated with hearing aids.

• Assistive listening devices (ALDs) or hearing assistive technology systems (HATS).  ALDs, such as FM (frequency modulation) systems, need the person speaking to wear a microphone. The person’s voice is then sent into the child’s hearing aids, cochlear implants, or earphones. ALDs let the child hear the person speaking without distracting background noise. FM systems can be used in classrooms to help children with hearing loss hear their teachers.

Mixed hearing loss is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Treatment depends on the cause of the hearing loss. A combination of treatment methods can be used to help the child hear well.