Bad hearing what to do. Garlic and camphor oil will restore hearing. Clay compresses will improve hearing

Hearing impairment is based on inflammation of the sound-receiving or sound-conducting region. In medical terminology, this disease is called. This diagnosis means that a person’s hearing is deteriorating, but speech perception remains normal.

Usually, human body perceives sounds from environment How loud noise and an irritant factor. It is loud sounds that cause significant harm to the body, including the hearing aid.

Etiology

The causes of hearing loss can be very diverse. Sometimes they are easy to detect with the naked eye, for example, from excess wax or infectious ear diseases. And sometimes a patient cannot do without the help and consultation of a doctor. In some cases, the cause of the development of such a symptom is quite difficult to identify.

Frequent provoking factors are:

long-term influence of noise – loud music from headphones, construction, shooting;
age;
infectious diseases, for example;
mechanical damage to the head or ear;
genetics;
congenital disorders;
ototoxic effects of drugs.

Quite often, hearing impairment occurs with. With the development of such formations in humans, most often small children succumb to the disease, the nasal breathing. A mechanical obstruction forms in the nasopharynx, which causes significant discomfort to the patient. During development last stages adenoids may impair hearing.

If a person develops conductive hearing loss. During the development of such a symptom, a person may experience damage to the outer or middle ear. Problems with outer ear can begin in a person under the influence of such factors:

congenital malformations auricle or ear canal;
foreign body or excessive amount of sulfur.

But the reasons for the formation of the disease in the middle ear are the following indicators:

due to pathology or mechanical damage;
otitis;
destruction of the chain of auditory ossicles as a result of injury to the head or ear;

A person may also develop sensorineural hearing loss. It is based on the following etiology:

genetics;
age;
taking certain ototoxic drugs;
chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer;
mechanical damage head in the area of the temporal bone;
noise exposure;
kidney diseases;
congenital infections;
acquired infections;
neoplasms.

Until a certain time, the most common reason for the development of impaired hearing was age. However, in modern world great value gives in to music from headphones, loud rock concerts and other noisy places. All this affects hearing aid, therefore, the disease manifests itself not only in older people, but also in young people who are careless about their ears and eardrums.

Classification

Clinicians have determined that hearing loss can fall into different categories and forms. Thus, according to the criterion of localization of the source of inflammation, two types of symptom manifestation are distinguished:

in one ear;
in two ears.

If we consider the symptom according to the nature of its manifestation, we can define three forms of hearing loss:

conductive – hearing is impaired in the ear canal, eardrums and chain of auditory ossicles;
neurosensory – auditory receptors are damaged inner ear and the conduction of impulses along the auditory nerve is disrupted;
mixed - formed from a combination of the two previous forms.

IN in good condition, a person can hear a volume of 20 dB or less. The hearing threshold is determined individually for each person and manifests itself in minimum indicator volume that can be heard. Thus, doctors divided hearing loss into 4 degrees, according to which the stage of hearing impairment is divided:

1st degree – increase in the hearing threshold to 30 dB;
2nd degree – up to 50 dB;
3 degree – up to 70 dB;
Level 4 – up to 90 dB.

If a person’s hearing threshold exceeds 90 dB, then this is already called deafness.

Hearing loss according to the type of development can be congenital or acquired. The second type of disease can develop before or after the development of speech function.

Symptoms

Hearing loss in children and adults can develop gradually or abruptly. As a rule, a person notices any abnormalities in the hearing aid only when the hearing threshold rises above 30 dB. Therefore, any person needs to know what signs may indicate hearing loss in one ear or both. Patients often exhibit the following unpleasant indicators that cause discomfort in communication:

it is difficult to communicate with several interlocutors at once;
the feeling that everyone is talking quietly;
it is difficult to distinguish speech from ambient noise;
appears ;
watching TV with increased volume;
frequent repetition of one phrase;
tracking the lips of the interlocutor.

Quite often, hearing can deteriorate along with the manifestation of nervousness and irritability. Violation in nervous system provoked by frequent repeated questions, the feeling that everyone is talking much more quietly, and much more.

During the development of diseases that can lead to hearing impairment, the patient feels a manifestation various symptoms. It is these signs that inform a person that he needs the help of a doctor:

feeling of ear fullness;
exacerbation pain syndrome;
discharge from the ear;
noise in ears;
feeling of fluid in the ear;
weakness of facial muscles;
impaired gait.

If a person exhibits at least one or more of the above symptoms, it is advisable to immediately consult an ENT doctor.

Diagnostics

If a person feels a strange ringing in the ears, discomfort, anxiety or other unusual indicators for healthy condition, then the patient must consult a doctor. Before going to medical institution a potential patient needs to prepare:

remember all the symptoms that contributed to the manifestation of impaired hearing;
write down Additional information for the doctor - the presence of infections, injuries, ear surgeries, whether medications were used and what kind;
mention about professional activity, since it was this factor that could provoke the appearance of the symptom.

It is advisable to write down all the answers to questions on a piece of paper, since even communicating with a doctor can be difficult. Thus, the physician will not have to ask the patient great amount questions, and will be able to immediately begin diagnostics.

After collecting a medical history from a child or adult, the doctor can begin to assess auditory functionality and analyze audiological manifestations. Therefore, the patient undergoes a study called tuning fork tests and recording of a tonal threshold audiogram.

The patient is also prescribed:

impedancemetry;
analysis vestibular apparatus;
otoscopy;
tomography;
radiography;
rotation test;
stabilography.

Treatment

Quite often, the manifestation of an unpleasant indicator is associated with poor hygiene of the auricle or contact with foreign body. Therefore, if such a minor cause is discovered, doctors can improve the patient’s condition and restore their previous hearing in one visit.

If a boil is detected, the patient is prescribed surgery under local anesthesia. The patient undergoes a minor operation to remove the tumor and is prescribed antibacterial medications.

When in chronic form without surgical care also indispensable. Hearing impairment after otitis media can be cured by cleaning the middle ear cavity and restoring eardrum. Patients with otosclerosis and cholesteatoma will also need surgery.

If gradual hearing loss was caused by deterioration in auditory receptor function due to ototoxic drugs, infections, or loud sounds, then recovery is impossible. The patient is given prophylaxis and the use of external devices to enhance the sound flow.

A problem such as deafness has certain causes. Some of them are quite possible to eliminate in advance, but sometimes hearing loss is inevitable and irreversible. If a person cannot hear in one ear, one can live with this, but with bilateral organ failure, disability occurs.

Features of hearing loss

First you need to find out what types of hearing impairments occur in people and what are their main differences. The classification identifies problems such as deafness and hearing loss. Hearing loss is a partial decrease in hearing acuity, that is, the lack of perception of frequencies of a certain height and sounds that do not reach the boundary value in volume. Deafness is a complete loss of hearing, the inability to perceive and process sound signals.

Acquired hearing loss occurs gradually and has the following signs and symptoms:

the appearance of extraneous noise, ringing in the ears;
deterioration in speech recognition;
inability to hear whispers from long distances;
lack of perception of high frequencies;
ear pain;
feeling of congestion and pressure from inside;
nausea and vestibular disorders.

If symptoms of a vestibular disorder appear, you should get checked inner ear.

The classification of hearing loss and deafness is considered separately. The main classification of types of deafness implies the following division:

Conductive (functional). Occurs when sound conduction in the outer and middle ear is disrupted due to dysfunction of individual elements or the occurrence of barriers to the passage of acoustic signals.
Sensory. This is a failure of the elements of the inner ear, or more precisely, the receptors in the organ of Corti.
Neural. Sudden deafness affecting one or both ears. May be due to damage auditory nerve. Together with sensory hearing loss, it is classified as sensorineural hearing loss.
Central. Disruption of the functioning of certain centers in the brain that receive nerve impulses.
Mixed. Combines two or more types of disorders of the types described above.

Further, the classification divides hearing loss into two types. There are acquired and congenital. Acquired occurs under the influence of diseases, injuries and other factors. Congenital hearing loss is a hereditary pathology or problem that arose during the formation of the fetus and the birth of a child.

If hearing is lost in only one ear, the classification indicates left-sided or right-sided pathology. When the ear is affected on both the right and left, bilateral deafness develops.

Separately, hearing loss is divided into degrees. The classification is as follows:

1 – light, up to 25-40 dB;
2 – moderate, up to 55 dB;
3 – heavy, up to 70 dB;
4 – very heavy, up to 90 dB;
5 – total deafness, complete indistinguishability of sounds.

The causes of deafness depend on its type. Congenital deafness occurs due to problems such as:

Wilson's disease;
hereditary factor;
asphyxia;
carrying severe infectious diseases a pregnant woman;
prematurity and low birth weight of the child;
severe jaundice;
taking ototoxic medications during pregnancy;
mother's disregard for healthy lifestyle rules ( healthy image life), bad habits.

What complicates the situation is that Wilson's disease, like deafness, is inherited. Deafness and Wilson's disease are recessive traits, that is, there is a probability of birth healthy child with existing pathologies in parents. Often this share is about 25%.

Wilson's disease is a disorder of copper metabolism at the chromosomal level, so it can be inherited; it is difficult to treat this disease.

Congenital pathology manifests itself as sudden, in the first days of a child’s life. It can only be treated with radical methods.

If the classification of the causes of acquired hearing loss is considered, they include the following:

lack of healthy lifestyle;
infections;
frequent otitis media;
chronic diseases;
injuries;
age-related changes;
intoxication;
influence of noise and vibration;
acoustic and barotrauma of the ear;
ingress of foreign objects;
failure to comply with hygiene rules;
professional activity.

Sudden and rapid hearing loss can affect one ear or both, and in just a few weeks lead to permanent hearing loss of varying degrees, but if treated immediately, the chances of hearing restoration are much higher than with an indolent disease. Wilson's disease complicates treatment.

Diagnosis and treatment

Hearing loss and its degree are determined through a thorough diagnosis. If only one ear is affected, it is still necessary to check both organs, especially if there is a tendency for deafness, which is inherited. For this use:

otoscopy;
audiometry;
tuning fork tests;
CT and MRI;
X-ray;
Dopplerography;
neurological tests;
tympanometry.

Based on the data obtained, treatment of the identified pathology begins. In parallel with therapy, it is necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle and strengthen the immune system.

Hearing loss and deafness are treated with medications. The following groups of drugs can be used for therapy:

anti-inflammatory;
antibiotics;
antibacterial;
antihistamines;
detoxification;
neurostimulants;
general strengthening;
diuretics.

Treat exclusively conservative methods you can only initial stages pathology. Assistive treatment of deafness is carried out through the introduction of physical therapy. Hearing can be treated with electrical, pneumatic, laser and magnetic stimulation, UHF and UV irradiation. And, again, it is necessary to strictly follow the rules of a healthy lifestyle.

Progressive problems are treated promptly. These are operations on the middle and inner ear to eliminate inflammation and damage, neoplasms, infections, plastic surgery, as well as removal of the nerve if it cannot be restored. Hearing loss can be effectively compensated through hearing aids. If neurosensory disorders are to be treated, cochlear implants are installed in the ears.

Traditional recipes can be auxiliary methods. For deafness they use red clover, pelargonium, propolis, Birch tar, hare fat. It is popular to use healthy lifestyle recipes in nutrition. The same clover can be added to salads. Others available interesting recipes. Non-standard approaches include breathing exercises, pressure points, bioenergy treatment, etc.

For prevention, the basis is a healthy lifestyle and recipes proper nutrition. To prevent hearing loss, it is necessary to limit exposure to noise, vibration, infections and toxins. If you have Wilson's disease or another pathology in your family that is inherited, monitor your health. A healthy lifestyle will increase your chances of maintaining your hearing, and also contribute to the birth of a healthy child.

Folk remedies against hearing loss and hearing loss
The most famous and effective folk remedies for treating hearing loss are propolis and garlic. They help especially well if deafness is caused by otitis media or vascular disorders. Propolis is used as follows: 10% tincture is mixed with vegetable oil in a ratio of 1:3. Gauze flagella are soaked in this emulsion and inserted into the ear canal for 24 hours. The course of treatment is 15-20 procedures. Some people knead propolis in their hands in the form of a flagellum and insert it into the ear.

Garlic is used in the form of juice, mixing it with olive oil in a ratio of 1:3. Place 1-2 drops in each ear for 15-20 days. A week later the course is repeated. Often in traditional treatment For hearing loss, grated garlic is also used: it is also mixed with camphor oil - for 1 clove of grated garlic - 3 drops of camphor. oils, wrapped in gauze and inserted into the ear (HLS 2007, No. 18, p. 31, 2006, No. 22, p. 31)
These folk remedies for hearing restoration help well with almost all causes of hearing loss.

How to improve your hearing with viburnum
A 79-year-old man had complete loss of hearing in one ear, and hearing was somewhat limited in the other. Was constant noise in my head. It was possible to cure deafness with the help of turundas with viburnum juice. He took 5-6 berries, pierced them with a needle, squeezed out the juice, added the same amount of honey and mixed. I soaked cotton balls with a thread inside in this juice, inserted them overnight, and in the morning pulled them out by the threads. The man’s hearing improved after 10 procedures, and after 20 days his hearing was completely restored, and the noise in his head disappeared. (HLS 2011, No. 2, p. 32)

Treatment of hearing loss and traffic jams
If deafness is caused by wax, then putting 7 drops of warm almond oil in your ears will help. In addition, for 45 days you need to drink the following drink: 1 tsp. Dilute birch tar in a glass of milk and drink throughout the day. (HLS 2011, No. 3, p. 23)

Drops against hearing loss
Take 3 parts of oak bark and 2 parts each of calendula and linden flowers. Pour 20 g of the mixture with a glass of boiling water and leave for 2 hours. Place 3 drops of this product in each nostril. This recipe protects against many diseases of the ear, nose and throat. (HLS 2011, No. 3, p. 23)

Hearing restoration with geranium
Women began to lose their hearing with age. She managed to get rid of deafness with the help of geranium: she took 2 leaves, squeezed the juice and put 2 drops in her ears. You need to do this for 10 days in a row, once a day. I gave the same recipe to my neighbor, and her hearing was also restored. (HLS 2011, No. 5, p. 33) .
Hearing can be restored by washing your hair with an infusion of marsh geranium herb (2001, No. 20, p. 11).

How to restore hearing using breathing
For many years, the woman was tormented by chronic otitis, she constantly dripped drops into her ears, the inflammation went away for a while, but then it started again. As a result, she completely lost her hearing. The doctor said that at her age (63 years old) this could no longer be treated. Then she began to look for folk remedies for treating deafness. I read about breathing exercise yogis - bhastrika pranayama. It is performed in a clean, well-ventilated room. It starts with exhaling through the nose. At the same time, the stomach retracts, and when inhaling, it becomes convex, like a ball. The woman did the exercises slowly, holding onto the headboard of the bed. If my head started to feel dizzy, I would lie down, rest, and start all over again. You need to take 324 breaths per day. Begin with small quantity and increase every day. Three days later she began to hear. (HLS 2011, No. 11, p. 33)

Folk treatment of hearing loss with laurel
An 88-year-old woman has completely lost her hearing. Among folk remedies, her daughter chose bay leaf treatment. 5 fresh leaves should be brewed with a glass of boiling water, wrapped and left for 3 hours. Drink 1 tbsp. l. three times a day 30 minutes before meals. And bury 5-6 drops in your ears. This old woman did not really believe in folk remedies, so she drank the infusion for only a week, instilled drops 2 times a day, 3-4 drops in each ear, without any faith in success. But after some time I started hearing again. 4 years have passed since then, and I still haven’t used the hearing aid that the doctor advised me to buy. My hearing has been restored. (HLS 2011, No. 8, pp. 39-40). The same folk remedy helps with otitis media (HLS 2008, No. 8, p. 5).

Improving hearing with beet juice.
Boil beets in their peels, squeeze the juice out of them, drop them into your ears 3-4 times a day, and always 3-4 drops at night. Boiled beet juice relieves swelling, improving patency nerve impulse, has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effect. The course of treatment is 1.5-2 months. (HLS 2010, No. 9, p. 33)

Golden mustache against deafness.
The man was paralyzed and couldn't hear at all. I watched TV through headphones, my wife had to scream very loudly. Therefore, she decided to treat hearing loss with folk remedies. She made him a tincture of golden mustache - she crushed the knees into 1/3 of a bottle, filled it to the top with vodka and left it for 21 days. I gave my husband this tincture three times a day, diluting it in 50 ml of water. First, three days, 1 tsp, then three days, 1 dessert spoon, then 1 tbsp. spoon until the end of the month. And suddenly the husband began to hear, now he doesn’t have to shout and he watches TV calmly.
If it doesn’t help the first time, then rest for 10-15 days and take another course. (HLS 2010, No. 5, p. 33)

How to restore hearing after otitis - folk remedies for treating hearing loss.
From a conversation with Dr. med. Sciences Nikolaev M. P
The following folk remedies will help restore hearing:
1. Warm your ear with dry heat more often.
2. Drip mint tincture into the ear: three drops every three hours for a week. Prepare the tincture as follows: 2 tbsp. l. crushed mint leaves, pour 200 ml of vodka, leave for 7 days, strain.
3. Chew propolis as long as possible throughout the day. At night, instill 1 drop of 5% propolis tincture into the ear. Course 2 weeks
4. Eat 1/4 quarter of a lemon with peel every day.
5. Lubricate the ear canal with burdock juice boiled until thick. Do this 2-3 times a day. (HLS 2010, No. 16, p. 13)
6. Place plantain or wild garlic juice in your ear – 3-5 drops each
7. Compresses in the ears from grated garlic and campf. oils (see recipe above)
8. Angelica tea or calamus infusion restores hearing: 15 g of dry calamus rhizomes pour 500 ml boiled water and put on water bath for 30 minutes, leave for 10 minutes, strain. Take 1 tbsp. l. 3 times a day before meals. The course of treatment for hearing loss is 2 months.
9. Instill 5-6 drops of almond oil at night ((Healthy lifestyle 2006, No. 22, pp. 28-29 - also from a conversation with Dr. Nikolaev))

How to improve hearing - several folk methods.
The woman began to suffer from noise in her left ear, and her hearing decreased by 30%. Doctor med. Sciences Nikolaev M.P. on the pages of the newspaper gives her following tips:
1. Eat 1/4 of a lemon, including the peel, daily.
2. Drip into the ears almond oil 2-3 times a day, 6-7 drops. The oil can be bought at a pharmacy. After the procedure, cover your ears with cotton wool for several hours.
3. Drip plantain juice into your ear - 1-2 drops. Plantain juice helps soften sulfur plugs and prevents tinnitus.
4. To improve your hearing, you need to do following procedure: grind a clove of garlic, drop a drop on it camphor oil, about 3 drops, roll the mixture into gauze and insert into the ear. Hold it until it starts to burn. Then take out the turunda, after 20-30 minutes you can insert it again. Try to keep the compress on for at least 30 minutes. After this, insert dry cotton wool into your ear and tie a scarf overnight. The course is 10 days, if it is not possible to improve your hearing, then conduct another 1 course after 10 days.
(HLS 2009, No. 13, pp. 24-25)

Deafness – treatment with ASD-2 fraction.
A man is 65 years old and has had tinnitus for 20 years. All this happens in the background cervical osteochondrosis, violations cerebral circulation. IN last years There was a sharp decrease in hearing - I could not hear the speech of my interlocutor. Doctors refused treatment because they did not find any danger in his situation. Then the patient decided to take the ASD-2 fraction. Already on the third day of treatment, he heard noise from the refrigerator and the purring of a cat. he drank fraction 2 sessions a month later, general scheme. The tinnitus did not disappear, but my hearing returned almost completely. (HLS 2008, No. 23, p. 16)

White lily oil.
White lily oil helps cure deafness and hearing loss: fill a jar with lily flowers and add vegetable oil, store in the refrigerator. For otitis media and hearing loss, place 2-3 drops in each ear at night and close cotton swab. The woman managed to cure her son with this medicine. This folk remedy also helped two neighbors who lost their hearing after the flu - after two procedures they began to hear normally (HLS 2007, No. 20, p. 31)

Traditional treatment of deafness and hearing loss with onions
Saves from deafness onion, baked in the oven with caraway seeds. Cut off the top of the onion, make a hole and add cumin seeds there. Place the top back and bake the onion for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the juice and place three drops in your ear at night. The course of treatment is 10 days (HLS 2007, No. 23, p. 31)

Hearing restoration in succession
A folk remedy will help against hearing loss: brew the string in a teapot and drink it like tea. The course is 20 days, then a break of 10 days and new course treatment. The man managed to restore his hearing in 1 course. (HLS 2006, No. 1, p. 32)

Exercise for hearing loss
The woman began to hear poorly, decided that it was sulfur plugs and went to the otolaryngologist. The doctor did not find any traffic jams and sent her home without prescribing treatment. And my hearing continued to deteriorate. She once noticed that if you insert forefinger into the ear and pull it out sharply, as if clearing the ear of water, a pop is heard, and the hearing improves for a short time. Then she began to do this exercise specifically, simultaneously on both ears, 50 times in a row. 2-3 times a day. Hearing is gradually improving. (HLS 2006, No. 24, pp. 31-32)

Wild garlic juice folk remedies treatment of hearing loss
To improve hearing, instill 6-7 drops of wild garlic juice into the ear for 2-3 weeks. The procedure is quite painful, especially if there is a tumor in the ear. Lubricate the skin around the ear amaranth oil to remove sharp pain. Fluid will leak from the diseased ear, there is no need to be afraid - this tumor is resolving. (HLS 2003, No. 21, p. 9)

Treatment of deafness with clover
A woman was treated for deafness and tinnitus with red clover. I brewed a pinch per 500 ml of boiling water. I insisted for 2 hours and drank 2-3 sips 2-3 times a day. I drank for a long time, all winter. And in the spring I began to hear the chirping of chicks in the birdhouse, the sound of a quietly turned on TV. The noise in my head went away. Before treatment, she couldn’t even hear her own voice. You can also use clover tincture with vodka (fill a liter jar halfway with clover and fill it to the top with vodka, leave until tea-colored), drink 1 tbsp. l. 1 time per day at night. The course is the entire portion, then a 10-day break and the next course. (HLS 2002, No. 13, p. 22).

How to improve your hearing with calamus
To improve hearing, vision and memory, powder from calamus rhizome is used. The roots need to be dried and ground. Take 1 tsp. powder per day, washed down with water. The course of treatment is 2-3 weeks. (HLS 2001, No. 20, p. 11)

Melissa
Pour 15 g of lemon balm into 1 cup of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes, filter. Take 2 tbsp. l. 5-6 times a day. (2001, no. 20, p. 11)

Tar in folk remedies for the treatment of hearing loss
The woman began to lose her hearing and constantly had noise in her ears. I read a recipe in a folk medicine book: 1 tsp. Stir birch tar in a glass of milk and drink in three doses. She bought tar at the pharmacy, but could not dissolve it in milk - it stuck to the walls of the glass. She didn’t like this treatment and decided to treat her deafness in another way: she smeared tar around her ear, tied a scarf so as not to stain the pillow, and went to bed. Already in the morning the noise in the ear disappeared and the acuity of hearing increased. She performed 4 procedures. So far so good, noise and deafness are not returning (2012, No. 7, p. 32)

The chief freelance otolaryngologist helped us understand the causes of hearing loss. Altai Territory Evgeny Timoshensky.

Why does hearing disappear?

There are several reasons for this. The first is chronic otitis media, which is often treated carelessly.

If a person has chronic otitis media, this means that his ear structures are destroyed and his hearing is gradually decreasing. This may end total loss hearing,” says Evgeniy Timoshensky. - The cause may also be another disease - sensorineural hearing loss, in which due to bad work auditory nerve also reduces hearing. This is mainly typical for older people.

But, unfortunately, this problem also occurs in children. If a baby was born with reduced hearing or no hearing, they talk about congenital pathology, if the hearing loss occurred as a result of any disease (for example, otitis) - about acquired.

Rubella, influenza, or other illness that carries future mom, may well be the reason why a child is born hard of hearing. By the way, this can also provoke Not correct treatment, for example, ototoxic antibiotics. Therefore, every doctor insists that self-medication for pregnant women is categorically unacceptable. The most sensory cells The brain is auditory, so it is not surprising that if something happens, they are the first to suffer,” Timoshensky emphasizes.

What to do?

All treatment for such people is aimed at two large sections. Where there is chronic otitis, the task of doctors is to perform an operation to restore the eardrum. Usually this is enough for a person to begin to hear well. If the cause is nerve damage, then intensive treatment is carried out first. conservative treatment and rehabilitation.

In our region, in Barnaul, such operations have been performed for more than 50 years. Firstly, there are more than 60 quotas for free hearing
improving operations. Such operations are performed free of charge for children and adults. In addition, patients can be sent to other regions - Moscow, Tomsk, Novosibirsk. About 20 people travel to other regions every year. Every year, about a hundred additional people are registered in the Altai Territory with chronic otitis media“, not all of them are ready to undergo surgery, so there are enough resources to help those who want to,” says the doctor.

If a person has a slight hearing loss, then hearing aids will come to the rescue. There are different forms of devices. There are behind-the-ear ones that are quite large, and there are miniature ones, the size of a pea, which are located in ear canal. There is an otorhinolaryngologist-audiologist in the region, who conducts consultations at the regional clinic, who selects devices for both adults and children, and forms a waiting list for those in need. For disabled people, war veterans, pensioners, and children, devices are issued free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis.

Hear and speak

Children with congenital sensorineural hearing loss are a different story. If we're talking about about 1 - 2 degrees, when there is hearing, then the same hearing aid comes to the rescue. 3 - 4 degrees are characterized complete absence hearing

In the first two years, such children need to undergo cochlear implantation, that is, an electrode is implanted, a special processor is placed under the scalp, and then such a child will have a semblance of sound in his head. Then, with long-term, and most importantly, constant lessons with teachers of the deaf and parents, you can achieve a reaction to sound, slurred, and then completely understandable speech, says Timoshensky.

This process takes long time. If parents understand the need for joint activities, there will be changes. If not, then doctors alone will not achieve anything.

Of course, there are more than enough difficulties in this method. Firstly, the equipment is not as miniature as we would like. In order to install the processor, you need to make a hole in cranium, place the device under the skin. At the same time, another device will be attached outside, which is needed in order to charge this very processor, because there are no batteries that last a person’s entire life. In addition, a special battery is required... However, the most important thing is that the person begins to hear.

As the doctor says, bilateral rehabilitation of deaf children is being carried out all over the world. This means that the devices are placed on both ears. In Russia, so far they can only afford to rehabilitate one thing, but in any case the child will hear. This is due to the cost of the equipment, its installation and maintenance - 1.5 - 3 million rubles. It is clear that the state is not able to provide such an operation to absolutely everyone, but the annual number of quotas amounts to thousands. In particular, in our region, several dozen children have already received such cochlear implants.

In Russia there are only five centers that deal with cochlear implantation - in Astrakhan, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Blagoveshchensk, says Evgeniy Timoshensky. - In recent years, we have been trying to send specifically to Tomsk, because trips will be necessary to set up and maintain the device. And getting to Tomsk from our region is cheaper than getting to other cities. Nowadays, device configuration via the Internet is being developed. Most of them have software for remote maintenance. The cost of the devices is gradually decreasing. This suggests that over time we will still be able to install devices for absolutely everyone in need.

There are contraindications. For example, the presence of active tuberculosis. In this case, it is easier to first cure the disease, and then deal with hearing. In addition, cochlear implantation is contraindicated in oncology.

In general, hearing loss is an extremely unpleasant thing, but there is a way out.

Are all people at risk of becoming deaf in old age? What diet will support your hearing? How to urgently go to the doctor if your ears are ringing? All about the rules for preserving hearing from Dr. Alexander Matison.
Recently, a 75-year-old MK-Latvia reader came to the doctor with a problem: he began to hear poorly, and the doctor answered: “What do you want at your age?” So, is it inevitable that we lose our hearing as we age? And is it possible to save our ears from impending deafness? Does everything depend only on age or are we harming ourselves? What treatment is available today for those who have become hard of hearing? We addressed these questions to Doctor of Medicine, otolaryngologist Alexander Matison.

How to preserve your hearing?

As a person ages, a person's hearing actually decreases.

– Tell me, doctor, will we all go deaf from old age?

– We will all hear worse, because with age any function of the body worsens, including hearing. Deafness is extreme degree hearing impairment.

How long a person's hearing lasts depends on several factors. Firstly, of course, it depends on genetics, secondly, on lifestyle and, thirdly, on harmful external or internal factors.

The preservation of all human functions, including hearing, depends on its general condition. This is especially true for such internal organs, like the kidneys and liver, because the hearing organ has subtle relationships with these organs.

Hearing is a very interesting function of the body. His main body– the inner ear, one of the first to be formed in embryogenesis (even before the heart). And it plays an important role in our lives, which we don’t even pay attention to. For example, we smell when we inhale; We see only when we open our eyes; we feel taste when we put something in our mouth. And hearing is constant. The organ of hearing never sleeps, it continuously perceives sound vibrations and carries them to the brain. Another thing is that some sounds remain unconscious. But even such encoded signals are still perceived by the body and have big influence to all our vital functions.

– Why do we begin to hear worse than before as we get older?

– The most important organ inside the ear, which perceives all sound vibrations, is the cochlea, which is located in the temporal bone. It has two and a half turns. In this part of the inner ear there are hair cells, which, through a system of transmitting devices, including both bone and fluid media, perceive mechanical sound vibrations, convert them into electrical ones, and these vibrations travel through the nerve to the brain.

But with age, resorption occurs bone tissue(destruction, bone resorption) and auditory ossicles are also undergoing changes. Hair cells are very sensitive to oxygen consumption. The lack of oxygen associated with the condition of the blood vessels and their blockage with cholesterol plaques leads to the death of hair cells.

Is it possible to improve hearing?

– Is it possible to restore these auditory cells?

- It's practically impossible. And if, according to the latest information, brain cells are still being restored, then the hair cells that are located in the cochlea (they are located in one row, they can barely be seen under a microscope), if they have died, are already dead.

– It cannot be restored, but perhaps some preventive work can be carried out so that these valuable cells die more slowly?

– Of course, prevention is very important, because the blood supply to the inner ear is different from the blood supply to the whole body. The vessels leading to the inner ear are located in the bone. And if there is whole group drugs that we prescribe to ordinary patients to dilate blood vessels, it is practically impossible to act on the vessels of the inner ear, because the blood vessel running along the bone canal cannot open and become wider.

Therefore, it is very important to consider the quality of the vessel wall itself. The capillaries feeding the wall are of great importance here. blood vessel. These microscopic vessels have great importance for the entire body as a whole (if the capillaries become clogged, the defect closes cholesterol plaque, which protects the vessel from hemorrhage). In order for the blood vessels to be in order, it is necessary to monitor the health of the liver and biliary tract, these are the main organs that cleanse our blood, and also follow a proper diet.

– And what kind of nutrition can we support our hearing?

– Firstly, each person has his own intolerance to certain foods, and they need to be excluded from the diet. Secondly, of course, is not to overeat. But in addition to nutrition, factors such as stress, smoking and alcohol are of great importance. It would seem that people have already been buzzing about the dangers of smoking and alcohol, but people continue to abuse them. It is doubly bad if a person both drinks and smokes. Alcohol has the ability to dilate blood vessels, after which the body reflexively narrows them. In this case, the smallest capillaries suffer - those that pass through the wall of blood vessels. And nicotine has the ability to further constrict blood vessels that are already experiencing sharp spasm after exposure to alcohol. All this leads to malnutrition of the vessel wall, its spasm and atherosclerosis, which, in turn, leads to hearing problems.

A person who cares about hearing needs to get enough vitamins from food, and not those sold in pharmacies. Pharmacy multivitamins in most cases do not work, and one vitamin neutralizes the effect of another. In order for vitamins to have their effect on the body, it is better to take them with foods of natural origin or in as a last resort Take vitamins separately, with an interval of one and a half to two hours.

Thirdly, you can help your hearing with hygiene. It is very important not to overload your ears. For example, monotonous sound leads to atrophy of hair cells, and super-strong sound leads to acoustic trauma and death of these cells.

– Why do many older people complain not only of hearing loss, but also of ringing in the ears?

– If the brain does not receive constant information from the inner ear, then the person begins to experience abnormal arousal auditory analyzers. He hears ringing or noise in his ears. This problem plagues most people with hearing complications. They complain not so much that they cannot hear well, but that they are tormented by this sound in their ears or in their heads. And this one annoying sound is constant (while periodic ringing in the ears occurs due to a lack of oxygen to the inner ear).

– Here you can remember Van Gogh, who cut off his own ear, which was constantly ringing.

– The artist probably had acoustic neuritis or even Meniere’s disease. Never-ending ringing in the ears (it happens different frequencies) leads many patients to depression. Van Gogh cut off his ear because he thought it solved his problem. I haven't decided.

– What should be done to solve this problem?

– As soon as the first signs of ringing or hearing loss appear, you should immediately contact a specialist. If you start proper treatment in the first two or three days, then the problem can be dealt with. If a week has passed, then the chances of cure are reduced. If the ringing continues for more than ten days, it can be extremely difficult to remove it.

– Nowadays almost everyone listens to music through headphones, especially young people. Why is this harmful?

– Let’s start with the fact that no earphone conveys the fullness of the sound spectrum of the surrounding world. And as you rightly said, you need to listen to music, and not let it hit your eardrums. Headphones turned on at high volume cause atrophy of the very hair cells that I mentioned above.

– They say that modern music is more harmful to hearing than classical music...

– Primitive sounds, which our youth often listen to, affect not only the ear, but also the brain, and cause disruption of many functions and imbalance of the brain. Listening to such music, especially on headphones, is not at all harmless. In addition, when a person constantly puts something in his ears and does not clean the headphones (they should be treated at least alcohol solution), then inflammation of the outer skin occurs auditory canal and the resulting various pathologies.

– What do doctors think about long conversations on a mobile phone?

– The “cooler” mobile phone, the more dangerous because it works on certain audio frequencies, which act on the small muscles that pull on the eardrum (the eardrum needs to be in a certain position, and when the muscle regulates its tension, then everything is fine). The frequencies emitted by mobile phones atrophy this muscle, it begins to work incorrectly, and the person hears worse. And if you talk on the phone for more than an hour every day, pressing it to your ear, you can be sure that your hearing will begin to decrease.

– Are big headphones that don’t fit into your ears also harmful?

“They also affect the ears because they produce directional sound. Headphones are an electromagnetic device that is worn on the head. It affects not only your ears, but also your brain, and by and large, the brain doesn't like it. Large headphones make the ear sweat, and failure to properly ventilate can lead to both fungal and bacterial infections in the ear that require specific treatment. The ear should be ventilated - this is how nature designed it.

- So what to do? Give up mobile phones? You probably also have a mobile phone?

- Yes, even two. I try to speak as concisely as possible, and if I have a big conversation, I turn on the speakerphone.

Signs of Hearing Loss

– By what signs can a person determine that he is beginning to lose his hearing if he does not have “ringing in the ears”?

– Firstly, a person begins to ask again and does not fully understand someone else’s speech. Another factor is that a person begins to speak louder, because he thinks that if he himself does not hear, then everyone else cannot hear either. Hearing loss may also be associated with a hereditary disease - otosclerosis. This hereditary disease and is more often transmitted by female line. If my mother lost her hearing at the age of forty, and without visible reasons, or the grandmother did not hear well, then this can happen to her daughter.

IN in this case this is about early age, because in old age, hearing loss after 70 is natural, although I have seen patients who even at 90 years old can hear perfectly, thread a needle without glasses, and read. I was called to such patients only to wash out the wax plugs in the ears. This problem always requires the participation of a specialist, because you don’t need to get into your ear yourself using all sorts of improvised means. Most often people try to clean their ears cotton swabs. Meanwhile, trying to clean his ears with such a stick, a person simply pushes this sulfur plug even deeper, and then the doctor suffers trying to get it all out. Sometimes you can quickly wash it all out with a syringe, but sometimes you have to fiddle around for almost an hour. If you push the wax plug deeply, it begins to put pressure on the eardrum, and inflammation may occur in it.

– Let's get back to hearing loss. So, the man noticed that he had problems and consulted a doctor in time. What treatment methods exist today? How far has the progress of healing gone?

– If this is an acute onset with ringing in the ears and sharp decline hearing, then the disease requires urgent inpatient treatment in a specialized ENT clinic. If this is a gradually developing pathology, then hospital treatment is not required, and any ENT specialist will try to stop hearing loss. To support hearing, it is recommended to take courses of group B vitamin therapy twice a year for a month and take vascular drugs, such as ginkgo biloba. Preparations from this tree have a beneficial effect on a person’s quality of life and normalize the tone of small capillaries. Preparations such as quercetin, which is extracted from the sprouts of various plants, and preparations made from red grapes are also effective.

– Sometimes patients with hearing loss can turn to acupuncture, bioresonance therapy, homeopathy, but only sometimes. In this case, we are talking about what to do to prevent hearing from continuing to decline.

– Are there any operations that can restore hearing?

– Surgery is indicated when the patient has severe pathology of the middle ear. If there is a hole in the eardrum, then you can improve your hearing by having a plastic eardrum. Surgery It is also indicated for otosclerosis. It may be beneficial for a while, but then hearing loss still occurs because it is due to genetics and bone resorption in the middle ear. But the process of hearing loss can be delayed by ten to fifteen years. True, if the inner ear is affected, then surgery will not help.

– I heard that now a person with hearing loss can be given special implants, and he begins to hear.

– Indeed, there is an operational technique for introducing implants for children who are either very hard of hearing or deaf from birth. Valid in Latvia Government program, which subsidizes this, and the introduction of such an implant to a child leads to the fact that he begins to perceive at least some sounds, and this adapts him socially. This is a new direction that has existed in medicine for only 15–20 years. These implants are constantly being improved; such operations are also performed in Latvia, but mainly for deaf children.

– Why can’t such operations be performed on older people?

– It’s possible, but these are very expensive operations. In addition, a person who heard normally before the disease will still not hear as well as he or she is used to or would like after implantation.

– Do modern hearing aids solve the problem?

– Many people do not like to wear hearing aids because they irritate them. But there are modern, very expensive multi-channel devices that provide the closest effect to physiological hearing. Thus, devices operating at several frequencies (from four to six) amplify all sounds, including background ones (the rustling of leaves, the sound of the wind), which our brain filters out during natural sound perception.

- Do you really think that's good?

– Indeed, background extraneous sound it intensifies so much that the person feels as if he is being knocked on the head. Therefore, it is not a fact that a person will use an expensive device for which he paid several thousand euros.

– How to choose the right hearing aid if the price does not guarantee quality?

– It is important that the device is selected as much as possible and adjusted to the sound perception of the sick person.

It is also very important to prevent hearing loss to pay attention to the kidneys and liver, blood pressure and the condition of the spine, especially its cervical region, since in many cases the state of our auditory analyzer depends on them.

- Sometimes it happens that old man He hears you well when you’re standing next to him, but as soon as you move away, that’s it – conversation is impossible. What it is?

– This disease is called presbycusis - senile hearing loss. In this case, a person can hear normally at a certain distance, for example, at a distance of 1 m to 50 cm from him. At this distance, he hears everything, as he heard in his youth, and if you go one and a half meters further, his speech intelligibility is lost. If you come closer and speak in the same tone, he replies: “What are you yelling at?” If you talk to such people from the right distance, you can communicate wonderfully. This advice applies to relatives who are often unnerved by such inappropriate behavior of a person, and sometimes it comes to conflict. Therefore, you need to approach old people at a certain distance that is comfortable for them and speak clearly - then there will be no problems in the family.

– Older people like to watch TV with the volume turned up to maximum. Are they damaging their hearing even more?

- Not for myself. So at least they hear something. But they definitely irritate those around them. Today, these people can be recommended to wear headphones, but not in their ears, but large ones, in order to allow those around them to live in peace. Better yet, use separate speakers, placing them directly in front of the person at the desired volume.