Auditory impairment is the loss of hearing.
Hearing begins when sound waves (invisible waves of energy) travel through the air. It reaches the outer ear (pinna). This is the part you can see
The sound waves then travel from the pinna through the ear canal to the middle ear
The middle ear includes the eardrum (a thin layer of tissue) and three tiny bones called ossicles. When the eardrum vibrates, the ossicles amplify these vibrations and carry them to the inner ear.
The inner ear is made up of a snail-shaped chamber called the cochlea. The cochlea is filled with fluid and lined with thousands of tiny hair cells. When the vibrations move through the fluid, the tiny outer hair cells amplify (increase) the vibrations. The amplification (increasing) is important because it allows you to hear soft sounds, like whispering and birds.
Then, the inner hair cells translate the vibrations into electrical nerve impulses and send them to the auditory nerve, which connects the inner ear to the brain. When these nerve impulses reach the brain, they are interpreted as sound. The cochlea is like a piano so that specific areas along the length of the cochlea pick up gradually higher pitches.
Hearing loss results from damage to the inner ear (cochlea) or the auditory nerve. The person has trouble hearing clearly, understanding speech, and interpreting various sounds. This type of hearing loss is permanent. It may be treated with hearing aids.
In most severe cases, both outer and inner hair cells aren't working correctly. This is also a type of permanent hearing loss and can be treated with a cochlear implant
