Our Hearing Care Magazine (Opn S) Hearing Magazine | Página 3

HEARING CARE Are you over 50? HOW DO WE HEAR? 40% of over 50’s suffer from hearing loss Where ear wax is secreted Balance organ Inner ear The signs of hearing loss You have the TV volume louder than others You ask others to repeat what they have said or comment on people mumbling/not speaking properly Pinna Ear canal You may avoid social activities You fi nd it hard to tell where sounds are coming from You may raise your voice or people may comment that you talk loudly You have problems understanding speech in the presence of background noise Ear drum Middle ear cavity Eustachian tube Sound enters the ear canal as pressure waves of varying pitch and volume. These waves pass down the ear canal and beat on the ear drum causing it to vibrate. cells (called hair cells) according to the pitch and volume of the sound signal. This in turn triggers an electrical impulse along the auditory nerve to the brain. The ear drum sends these vibrations to the three middle ear bones which in turn vibrate against the hearing organ known as the Cochlea. In fact we are still discovering how much hearing activates new parts of the brain, although it is known that hearing stimulates more areas of the brain than any other sense. So it is very important to preserve and protect this most important ability. In the Cochlea the travelling sound wave stimulates specifi c sensory