How do we hear?
Every
sound we hear starts as a sound wave which travels through the hearing
system. The hearing system is made up of
the outer, middle and inner ear:
Sound waves are collected by the outer ear and travel along the ear canal to the ear drum. When sound waves hit the eardrum, they become vibrations that transfer across the three tiny bones (the ossicles) of the middle ear to the inner ear (cochlea).
When the vibrations reach the inner ear, the nerve endings or ‘hair cells’ in the inner ear are set in motion, sending very detailed information about the pitch and loudness of the sound to the auditory nerve and on to the auditory portion of the brain, so that the sound can be perceived and made sense of. Hearing loss can occur as a result of a disorder to any part of the hearing system. The management of hearing loss depends on the site of the problem. Types of hearing loss
When the vibrations reach the inner ear, the nerve endings or ‘hair cells’ in the inner ear are set in motion, sending very detailed information about the pitch and loudness of the sound to the auditory nerve and on to the auditory portion of the brain, so that the sound can be perceived and made sense of. Hearing loss can occur as a result of a disorder to any part of the hearing system. The management of hearing loss depends on the site of the problem. Types of hearing loss
