About Hearing
How does my hearing work
Hearing connects us to people – of all the senses hearing is perhaps the most precious. Just think.....the joy of a grandchild’s laughter, your favourite song, friends chatting. This symphony of sound makes life sweeter.
Your ability to communicate effectively is compromised, with a hearing loss. It becomes difficult to enjoy participating in daily activities, and a challenge to talk on the phone, or listen to the television and radio.
How does my hearing work
Hearing connects us to people – of all the senses hearing is perhaps the most precious. Just think.....the joy of a grandchild’s laughter, your favourite song, friends chatting. This symphony of sound makes life sweeter.
Your ability to communicate effectively is compromised, with a hearing loss. It becomes difficult to enjoy participating in daily activities, and a challenge to talk on the phone, or listen to the television and radio.
The outer ear consists of the pinna (most visible part of the ear) and the ear canal. The pinna gathers or collects sound waves from the environment around you and directs them through the ear canal towards the eardrum (thin cone-shaped membrane).
The middle ear (an air filled cavity) is connected with the outer ear by means of the eardrum. It contains the 3 three smallest bones (ossicles) in the human body, namely the malleus, incus, and stapes. These three small bones transfer the sound waves from the middle ear to the inner ear.
The inner ear consists of the two main organs responsible for hearing (cochlea) and balance (vestibule). This area is filled with fluid and consists of tiny hair cells that move collectively in response to the movement from the tiny bones in the middle ear. The movement of the hair cells activates a chemical response within the cochlea. The hearing nerve is then triggered to transmit a sound signal to the brain via the auditory nerve. One of the brains functions is to interpret this sound signal which then enables the recipient to understand, interpret, and distinguish direction of sound.