{"id":6036,"date":"2019-01-03T20:04:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T20:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/?p=6036"},"modified":"2022-06-07T12:40:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T19:40:27","slug":"how-do-your-ears-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/how-do-your-ears-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do Your Ears Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We would venture to guess that few Arizonans give their ears much thought unless they are attaching jewelry to them or covering them up when the weather turns cold. It\u2019s natural to take our ears for granted; they pretty much do their job automatically, after all. But for the roughly one out of every five people in Tucson with hearing loss, knowing how the <strong>ears<\/strong> work is essential in treating their condition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Ears: Complex Organs<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/kids-ear.jpeg\" alt=\"Child's ear \" class=\"wp-image-6042\" width=\"371\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/kids-ear.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/kids-ear-256x170.jpeg 256w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Our\nears are rather unassuming in appearance, but it turns out they are surprisingly\ncomplex organs that serve as more than handy perches for glasses. Working in\ntandem with the brain, the ears collect and process sounds in the external\nenvironment and the brain, in turn, makes sense of what we hear and assigns it\nmeaning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asha.org\/public\/hearing\/how-we-hear\/\">ear<\/a> is made up of three sections cleverly named the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear. All three play a crucial part in the hearing process.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The outer ear, sometimes called the auricle or pinna, is the\nexternal portion visible to others. Its job is to collect sound waves and funnel\nthem into the ear canal, where they are sent to the eardrum. <\/li><li>The middle ear consists of two parts: the auditory canal and\neardrum. Sound waves filtering in from the outer ear strike the eardrum,\ncausing it to vibrate and stimulating the ossicles \u2013 a trio of tiny bones (the\nmalleus, or hammer; the incus, or anvil; and the stapes, or stirrup. The stapes\nis attached to a membrane-covered opening called the oval window, which connects\nthe middle and inner ears.<\/li><li>The inner ear is home to the cochlea, a structure that looks\nsomewhat like a snail\u2019s shell. It is sectioned into three fluid-filled parts.\nVibrations from the eardrum stimulate movement of tiny nerve cells called\nstereocilia; they convert these vibrations into electrical impulses that traverse\nthe auditory nerve to the brain, where they are translated into recognizable\nsound. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And,\nvoila! The process of hearing is complete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately,\nfor 48 million Americans, a kink in the works prevents proper hearing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When the Ears Don\u2019t Work Properly<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/hearing-loss\/\">Hearing loss<\/a> occurs when any part of the ear sustains damage. There are two main types of hearing loss: conductive, which affects the outer or middle ear; and sensorineural (also known as nerve deafness), the result of damage to the inner ear. Conductive hearing loss may be caused by trauma, disease or medications. It is often temporary and may be reversed with surgery or drugs. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthyhearing.com\/report\/50276-Common-causes-of-sensorineural-hearing-loss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Sensorineural hearing loss (opens in a new tab)\">Sensorineural hearing loss<\/a> can be caused by natural aging, noise exposure, congenital factors and disease. This type of hearing loss is incurable but can usually be treated successfully with hearing aids. Nine out of ten patients in Tucson with hearing loss suffer from nerve deafness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope you have learned something from this exploration of a body part that few give much thought to. Should you or a loved one have trouble hearing, schedule an appointment with an <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/about\/\">audiologist in Tucson<\/a> as soon as you can. <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/hearing-aids\/\">Treatment<\/a> will ensure you enjoy a higher quality of life and will help prevent many of the side effects associated with untreated hearing loss. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We would venture to guess that few Arizonans give their ears much thought unless they are attaching jewelry to them or covering them up when the weather turns cold. It\u2019s natural to take our ears for granted; they pretty much do their job automatically, after all. But for the roughly one out of every five&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"39","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"(520) 399-7630 Tucson | Your ears collect and process sounds in the external environment and your brain makes sense of what we hear and assigns it meaning.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7635,"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6036\/revisions\/7635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonahearing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}