Types of hearing loss
There is not just one kind of hearing loss. A simple way to remember it: conductive is a blockage, sensorineural is damage. Understanding which you have is the first step to knowing what will help.
The three types.
Your hearing test tells us which one is behind your symptoms.
Sound is physically stopped from reaching your inner ear. Often earwax, fluid or a perforated eardrum. Often temporary and treatable.
About conductive loss →Damage to the tiny hair cells in your inner ear or the hearing nerve itself, usually from ageing or noise. Generally permanent, but hearing aids help a great deal.
About sensorineural loss →A combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss happening at the same time, treated on both fronts.
Most hearing loss traces back to a handful of causes.
Not sure which type you have?
You do not need to work this out on your own. A free hearing test tells you exactly what is going on, and what type of hearing loss, if any, you have. Whatever the type, the first step is the same: a full assessment that shows exactly what is happening and what will help.
In our clinic, or in your home.
Same audiologists, same equipment, same full assessment. You choose where.
The full assessment at our Birmingham clinic, completely free, no obligation.
- 60 minutes, results before you leave
- Evening and weekend appointments
- Bring someone, they are tested free too
The same full test, brought to your living room, tuned to real life: your TV, your phone, your front door.
- Same audiologists, in the comfort of your home
- Whoever is with you is tested free
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Types of hearing loss questions.
The distinctions that actually change what happens next.
Not reliably, and this is exactly what a hearing test is for. The test separates conductive from sensorineural by checking how sound travels through your ear canal and middle ear, then how your inner ear responds. It takes about an hour and it gives you a definite answer.
They are different rather than ranked. Conductive loss is a blockage and is often treatable, sometimes just by removing wax. Sensorineural loss is damage to the inner ear and is usually permanent, but it responds very well to hearing aids. Mixed loss is both together.
Conductive loss often does improve, because the cause can be treated. Sensorineural loss does not come back on its own, which is why it is worth acting on rather than waiting. Sudden loss in one ear is the exception and needs urgent medical attention within days.
No. Plenty of people have more loss in one ear than the other, and a proper test measures each ear separately. A noticeable difference between the two is something we look at carefully, because it occasionally points to something that needs a medical opinion.