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You & Your ears
Hearing loss is not something
uncommon in our country. In fact, in the world right
now, hearing loss present at all age groups including
babies, children, teenagers, adults and old folks. By
knowing the nature of your hearing problem, you can
make the correct decision either to wear hearing aids
or you simply need to know some communication strategies
to help in your everyday life. You can also select the
correct hearing aids from the market once you know about
your hearing problem. But, it is best to know your ears
first in order to really understand what is your hearing
status right now.
The structure of
your ear
Physically, our ear can be divided
into three (3) parts, which are the outer ear, the middle
ear and the inner ear (Figure 1). The outer ear includes
our pinna and external ear canal. Mean while, the middle
ear includes the ear drum, ossicular chain ( the 3 smallest
bone in our body which is the incus, malleus and stapes)
the middle ear cavity and the Eustachian’s tube
( a tube that connect our ear to the throat).
The inner ear, instead, consist of the
cochlear, semi-secular canal and the auditory nerve,
the nerve that was responsible to deliver the sound
information to the brains. In the brain, this information
will be analyzed and will be interpreted as hearing
sensation. This is the reason why we can experience
the sensation of hearing.
In order to hear
normally, all of the ear structure mentioned above must
be in normal condition without any infection or abnormality.
Any problem at any part of the structure will cause
hearing problem and the impairment faced by the individual
depend on the severity of the hearing problem.
Figure 1
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