Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Hearing Loss

Definition

Hearing loss is any degree of impairment of the ability to apprehend sound.

Description

Sound can be measured accurately. The term decibel (dB) is a measure of loudness and refers to a unit for expressing the relative intensity of sound on a scale from zero, for a nearly imperceptible sound, to 130, which is the level at which sound causes pain in the average person. A drop of more than 10 dB in the level of sound a person can hear is significant.

Sound travels as waves through a medium like air or water. These waves are collected by the external ear and cause the tympanic membrane (eardrum) to vibrate. The chain of ossicles (tiny bones) connected to the eardrum—the incus, malleus, and stapes—carries the vibration to the oval window (an opening to the inner ear), increasing its amplitude 20 times on the way. There,...