Treatment Options for Hearing Loss

Treatment Options for Hearing Loss

The best treatment depends on the type and cause of hearing loss. There are several types of hearing aids that can be prescribed, and surgical treatments such as cochlear implants may be indicated. 

Each patient is unique and comprehensive work-up by an experienced team of neuro-otologists is the first step to determining the best treatment.

 

Hearing Aids

  • The hearing-aid fitting process typically consists of six stages: assessment, treatment planning, selection, verification, orientation, and validation.
  • A majority of eligible individuals with hearing loss are fitted with two hearing aids (binaural).
  • Approximately one-third of hearing aids in use today are equipped with a telecoil. This is an optional feature that couples directly with hearing-aid compatible telephones and assistive living devices, improving intelligibility in noisy situations, poor acoustical environments, and at long distances from the speaker.
  • There are over 1,000 models of hearing aids that can be chosen from based on the type and level of a patient's hearing loss.

 

Cochlear Implants

  • Currently, over 80,000 people worldwide have cochlear implants.
  • Approximately 25,000 people in the United States have cochlear implants.
  • Nearly half of all cochlear implant recipients are children.
  • Cochlear implants can help an estimated 200,000 children in the United States who do not benefit from hearing aids.
  • The demand for cochlear implants is increasing annually by 20%.
  • Cochlear implants function by bypassing the injured inner ear to directly stimulate the auditory nerve. Because most patients with severe sensorineural hearing loss still have an intact and functional auditory nerve, the implant is able to re-create the sensation of sound.
  • Cochlear implants provide a wide range of sound information and performance. With time and appropriate rehabilitation, most users understand more speech than they did with their hearing aids and many are able to communicate by regular telephone or enjoy music.
  • Nearly half of all cochlear implant recipients are children.